Whisky Wednesday Reviews Tincup Colorado Whiskey – American Whiskey News
October 15th, 2014
This week Joe Ellis reviews Tincup Colorado Whiskey and then makes an Old Fashioned cocktail!
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Ralfy Publishes Whisky Review #493 – Scotch Whisky News
October 14th, 2014
www.ralfy.com splashes out on the more expensive older stuff with Whisky Review 493 – Benriach 25yo single malt @ 50%vol
The Whisky Show Masterclass – I Did It My Way – Scotch Whisky News
October 13th, 2014
The Whisky Show Masterclass – I Did It My Way
The stunning line-up for Dave Broom’s Whisky Show Masterclass, I Did It My Way
While there are hundreds of delicious drams to be had at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show, our excellent Masterclasses raise the bar a notch higher, offering a taste of some of the rarest malts in the world. One such example was I Did It My Way, hosted by drinks writer Dave Broom, which showcased half-a-dozen independently bottled whiskies chosen by TWE Director Sukhinder Singh.
I’ve tried plenty of whiskies in my time, but my favourites have only emerged sporadically over the years, with gems appearing here and there. This Masterclass, however, offered six of the finest malts I’ve ever tried in one sitting – the quality was exceptional. This is what we tasted:
1. Glenlossie-Glenlivet 1957, 21 Year Old, 45.7%, £699 (Cadenhead’s)
Nose: Gorgeous aromas of sandalwood, leather and libraries. More subtle notes of herbs and Parma violets, with some sherried richness. Beguiling.
Palate: Rich texture, but still fresh. Deliciously spicy and complex, with the fruit intermingling with the nutty notes and spicy oak. Subtle and classy.
Finish: Very classy stuff, this has complexity in spades, with perfectly judged oak matched by the fruit and spice. Slowly unravels.
Dave Broom comment: ‘Like walking into an old bookshop with someone smoking in the corner of the room’
2. SMWS 27.11 (Springbank) 1967, 23 Year Old, 50.4%, £1,500 (Scotch Malt Whisky Society)
Nose: Fresh and invigorating, with clean notes of green apple, menthol, eucalyptus and hay. A touch grassy, too. Very precise nose, but a drop of water really opens the fruit.
Palate: Richer than expected, but still clean, precise and polite, with a refined peatiness, and intense green notes (apple and eucalyptus).
Finish: The fruit leads the way, but still very refined and restrained.
Dave Broom: ‘Water is your friend here; it changes the palate completely’
3. Bowmore 1968, 31 Year Old, 43%, £699 (Signatory)
Nose: A heady blast of tropical fruit, with peach, passion fruit and banana – this is Bowmore, right? There’s some lovely peatiness lurking in the background, but this is all about the fruit.
Palate: The swathe of ripe tropical fruit continues on to the palate – peaches on steroids. The peat provides perfect backup, even if it struggles to make itself heard.
Finish: Fruity and rather wonderful.
Dave Broom: ‘Carmen Miranda walking through a fruit market’
4. Highland Park 1955, 30 Year Old, 53.2%, £1,500 (estimate) (G&M, bottled for Intertrade; taken from Sukhinder’s personal collection)
Nose: Where to start? Dark chocolate at first, then tightly knit oak and cigar-box notes, followed by chewy spice and stewed fruit (rhubarb compote). Water cranks everything up a notch; there is so much going on here.
Palate: Herbal and peppery, with spicy oak not far behind. Water intensifies the fruit and the pepper, offering strawberry and balsamic notes. A hearty dram, but not overblown – if anything, deceptively soft. Complex and delicious.
Finish: Stewed fruit is the dominant note, ably supported by the oak and spice.
Dave Broom: ‘Add water to this one, I’m getting a bit of horse blanket’
5. Campbeltown ‘Fragments of Scotland’ (Longrow) 1973, 50%, £1,100 (Samaroli)
Nose: Rich, dense and meaty, freshened up with aromas of cherry-menthol and orchard fruits.
Palate: Surprisingly big whack of peat, but get past that and this dram retains its poise and focus. A lip-smacking saline, maritime kick, too, with a touch of oiliness.
Finish: Well balanced, with the coastal elements and smoke shading it.
Dave Broom: ‘Big and boisterous, but has purity and elegance, too, although that sounds paradoxical’
6. Ardbeg 1975, 27 Year Old Old Malt Cask, 50%, £999 (Douglas Laing)
Nose: Wow! Starts off with dried orange peel from the sherry cask, then seaweed and engine oil arrive, along with ozone and hot shells, and a refreshing herbal streak (sage). Rich, unctuous and intriguing.
Palate: Superb balance – equal parts peat, fruit, oak and sherried notes. Lovely maritime note adds precision and freshness. This is a ridiculously complex whisky.
Finish: Great balance, with the coastal elements and smoke shading it.
Dave Broom: ‘This takes me to Japan – soy sauce and umami really comes through’
With Dave on hosting duties, this Whisky Show Masterclass was never going to be a sombre affair, but there was a definite sense of occasion – and no little awe – as these sensational whiskies were tasted. Trying them was a window into another era, and showed that technological advancement does not always equate to a superior product. These drams were – sorry, are – unforgettable. A stunning selection.
Whisky Ramblings Via Video #95 – American Whiskey News
October 13th, 2014
Whisky Ramblings Via Video #95
Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries the Bulleit Bourbon. It is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with the emphasis on rye. It is actually distilled at the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, but marketed by Diageo after the bourbon was re-invented by Tom Bulleit, the great-great-grandson of Augustus Bulleit, the man who originally launched this Frontier Whiskey in 1830. A true sippin’ bourbon it turned out to be. The Rambling was shot in front of the Colosseum in Rome of all places…
Liz and Paul Were Chatting to Andrew at Edradour Distillery 1 October, 2014 – Scotch Whisky News
October 12th, 2014
Liz and Paul were chatting to Andrew at Edradour Distillery 1 October.
Andrew its good meeting up again. Can I ask very briefly why you bought Edradour and what (then) were your plans? I bought Edradour back in 1988, I had the Signature brand at that time but my goal was to have my own distillery. I was heavily into wines at the time, then I developed my taste for whisky and thought “I can do something with this!”. I started with one cask (Signature, a 1968 Glenlivet 20 year old, it just started from there!
Last time we chatted you mentioned new ideas and new developments to the distillery, can you enlarge on this? I am planning on a new warehouse for 15,000 casks, to double my production to around 30,000 litres annually, two new stills (Forsyths) at exactly the same spec as I have now, so large plans ahead and in progress.
The new stills; how much extra production will you obtain from these? As mentioned, aiming for 30,000 litres of Edradour and Ballechin – which both Liz and Paul sampled at the interview, a peaty dram but not a peat to scare off non peaty lovers, Liz accepted it happily and she doesnee like peat.
Last time here, I bought the Fairy Flag whisky, it is all gone now by the way. Will this be an on – going expression? Yes but not a large output, it is proving very popular.
Are you discontinuing any ranges? The straight from the cask bottlings currently, will be replaced by fully wine matured from the cask, a new exciting range.
Can you tell us what number of other distillers casks you have? and type? The oldest cask I have is a 1959 North British, with half the cask remaining, I have a Bowmore 71, 71 , an Inchmurrin @ 64.2% abv, many as you know Paul, but these are a few.
Edradour is well known for trying new ideas and new finishes, Can you tell me what new whisky’s you are planning? Some packaging will change, a nice Madeira 100%, virgin oak, Chateau la Tour, the best way to describe what is new and up and coming, is to visit the distillery.
Why do you think people are curious in your brands? What makes you stand out from the pack? They seem to like our labels, the colours and boxes/packaging. We do offer many styles.
If pushed what is the next best whisky making country after Scotland? I like Bourbons from USA.
Do you obtain casks from “Bourbon land”? Yes, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, but also Speyside Cooperage etc, quite a wide selection.
Would you say there is an age that any good whisky has to be bottled? In other words, is there a cut off point (in your view) where a whisky HAS to be bottled ? It all depends on the cask, as a guide maybe, sherry 30 – 40 years if no cask problems.
Does winning a gold medal really help sales of a whisky? For me, no. It is a medal for this, a medal for that, it is a question of “whose turn is it next”. I do not go into all the medal winning hype – as Paul agrees entirely!
Can I ask, day to day, what is your role/s at the distillery? My time is split over the whole process – as you can see by my dirty jeans! I still roll casks, I oversee many parts of the day to day running of the distillery, but I also have a good team.
Finally, how do you relax after a hard week? Standard procedure, a large dram (or two) followed by a couple of glasses of wine.
During our chat with Andrew he introduced a few drams to sample, a superb smooth 21 year old sherry Edradour (£325 approx), we both wanted more. A 14 year old sherry Edradour, to be honest, almost as good and less than half the cost, again – we both emptied the glass, the newly introduced Ballechin peat finish, even Liz liked this! We knew we had taken up much of Andrew’s valuable time, the interview went well, but we also chatted on many other whisky related things, it was like sharing a few drams and time out with a pal, so relaxed. We didn’t even notice our Swedish guests were looking for us after their tour, Andrew took a phone call (mobile) from his wife asking where we were, she sent them along and they all shared more drams at the bar, met Andrew, who – by the way, walked everyone back to the car, a nice touch.
Andrew Symington is a Master of the Quaich.
Wee note; Paul is back at Edradour again 17 October with a whisky tour group from Poland, so more Fairy Flag please!
Interview by Liz and Paul; www.mcleanscotland.com/ and www.angelswhiskyclub.com
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HAIG CLUB at World of Whiskies – Scotch Whisky News
October 11th, 2014
Visit our Airport stores: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gatwick North and South, Heathrow T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5,
Manchester T1, Newcastle and Stansted.
Pre-order collections are available at all our stores, and at Aberdeen and Heathrow T3
(from main World Duty Free stores).
Please drink responsibly. www.drinkaware.co.uk
All featured items are subject to availability.
Prices are correct at time of going to print and are available exclusively after security control.
Paul John Prize Draw – Happy Diwali! (in two weeks) at The Whisky Exchange – Indian Whisky News
October 11th, 2014
Paul John Prize Draw – Happy Diwali! (in two weeks)
We like parties at TWE, and one excuse for a shindig that we we get involved with every year is Diwali – the Festival of Lights. A celebration of the triumph of light over darkness, the sky is full of fireworks at the end of October (and we eat quite a lot of sweets).
To celebrate the festival this year, we’ve got together with the Paul John Distillers, the most recent makers of Indian single malt whisky to bring their wares to the UK, to run a big prize draw:
Buy a bottle of one of the four Paul John whiskies below, and be in with a chance to win a £500 shopping spree on The Whisky Exchange website.
The first two bottles that get you into the draw are their first two ongoing single malts: Paul John Edited (a mix of peated and unpeated spirit) and Brilliance (completely unpeated). They made waves when they hit our shelves early last year, with lots of great reviews, including 96.5pts for Edited in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2014.
You can find out more about them in our blog post from last year, as well as information about the distillery and how the whisky is made.
The next two are more recent releases, the Paul John Classic and Peated Select Cask. These came in at the end of last year, and add a cask-strength element to the Paul John range. As well as being more intensely flavoured than the Edited and Brilliance, the Peated Select Cask is also the first opportunity to try the peated spirit on its own.
Paul John Classic Select Cask, 55.2%
Nose: Like Brilliance, but turned up a notch. More vanilla, more cake batter, more fruity sweets and more spice. Stacks of cereal, with rolled oats, freshly milled barley and lots of fruit – apples, pears and hints of the more tropical: pineapples and Refresher chews (without the fizzy sherbert middle). With that there is sweet lemon drizzle cake, window putty and a light gluey note, as well as sweet pastry cream.
Palate: Sharp cinnamon up front: fireball gobstoppers and Hot Tamales. It calms down to show off apple sauce and sweet vanilla, as well as spiced, heavily buttered pastry with a grind of black pepper. Behind that, squirty cream from a can on top of a bag of Haribo. Water kills the heat and ups the sweetness, revealing caraway and spirity notes, along with even more vanilla.
Finish: Haribo fruitiness fades to spicy oak.
Comment: The natural step up from Brilliance, taking the sweet and grainy character of Paul John’s unpeated spirit, and ramping up the intensity.
Paul John Peated Select Cask, 55.5%
Nose: Earthiness rather than smoke to start, with lots of mulchy greenness, fruit skins and some medicine-cabinet touches. Ozone and swimming-pool notes grow in the glass, with tropical fruit matching their expansion. Smoke reveals itself after a while, along with black pepper, orange marmalade with smoky edges, and sweet, loamy earth.
Palate: Softer than expected to start, with big peppery spice and earthy smoke rolling in from behind. Sweet coal smoke, barrel char and crushed stone appear, with a touch of charcoal developing. Black-pepper spice underpins everything, with toffee sweetness for balance, and tropical fruit on top.
Finish: Gentle smoke and char, with sweet earth, aniseed balls and dark chocolate.
Comment: Smokiness done differently, with a more inland woodsmoke character than the more maritime peat that you find in Scotch whisky.
The competition runs until 11.59pm on 30 October 2014, and it’s open to all TWE customers. You can find full details over on our Paul John prize draw page.
Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Paul John Prize Draw – Happy Diwali! (in two weeks)
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Michel Couvreur K&L Exclusive Overaged Peated Malt Whisky 750ml ($89.99) – Whisky News
October 10th, 2014
- Michel Couvreur K&L Exclusive Overaged Peated Malt Whisky 750ml ($89.99)
The chance to work with Michel Couvreur on a special K&L whisky project was something that David and I had been dreaming of for years. We had heard the stories. This crazy Belgian had moved to Burgundy in the 60s, carved out a wine cellar inside a mountain, only to fill it with Scottish single malt whisky instead of pinot noir. He set up camp in Beaune, ordered new-make spirit to be delivered by tanker, and drove down to Jerez himself; selecting his own sherry butts to insure only the finest quality casks for his contracted spirit. Unfortunately, Michel Couvreur passed away last year from pancreatic cancer, thus ending the career of one of the industry’s most courageous pioneers. Luckily for us, however, apprentice Jean-Arnaud has carried on after studying under Michel for more than a decade. When we visited the underground cave this past Spring, we were all in total awe. The tunnels of dripping stone go on forever, and the amount of whisky stored in this secret lair is jawdropping. We put our trust completely in Jean-Arnaud and are happy we did. Our peated version of the incredible “Overaged” sherry expression is a seamless creation that drinks like the best version of Johnnie Black ever, mixed with the most supple and soft expressions of Macallan. It’s a lush, creamy, caramel-laden dream of a whisky composed only of malts 12 years and older. There’s a bit of peat on the finish, but the soft sherry is the star. (NOTE: do NOT cut the hard wax seal, tap it so that it breaks)
K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com/
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
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New Whisky Arrivals! – Rare single casks, lost blends, Barrel proof bourbon at Abbey Whisky – Whisky News
October 10th, 2014
Aberlour 24 Year Old – 1989
Single Cask #11338
A 1989 vintage Aberlour aged for 24 years in a single cask hogshead (cask #11338). A mere 118 bottles surviving the angels’ share, bottled August 2014 at 51.2% vol.
£127.50 (£106.25 ex vat)
Click here to purchase Aberlour Single Cask #11338
Compass Box The Lost Blend
The latest creation from John Glaser and the team at The Compass Box has been named, ‘The Lost Blend’. Inspired by the O. Henry story of the same name and the retirement of Eleuthera back in 2004 this blended malt Scotch whisky has been created from malt from the Clynelish distillery, the Allt-A-Bhainne distillery (aged in American oak barrels and just a few years shy of two decades), combined with malt whisky from the Caol Ila distillery.
A limited release bottled in 2014 at 46% vol.
£78.50 (£65.42 ex vat)
Click here to purchase Compass Box The Lost Blend
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof / 12 Year Old 67.4%
A limited edition release of Elijah Craig 12 year old, bottled straight from the barrel (Barrel Proof). Made in the same traditional method as other Elijah Craig bottlings, but this small batch release (batch 5) has been bottled at a staggering 67.4% vol (134.9 proof)!
£68.40 (£57.00 ex vat)
Click here to purchase Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
Clynelish 24 Year Old – 1989 Single Cask #5890
Distilled in 1989, this Clynelish single malt Scotch whisky has been aged for 24 years in single cask #5890. Bottled in 2014 at 52.0% vol as part of the Celebration of the Cask range by Càrn Mòr.
An out-turn of only 248 bottles.
£127.50 (£106.25 ex vat)
Click here to purchase Clynelish 1989 Single Cask #5890
GlenDronach 1995 / 19 Year Old / Cask 3250 UK Exclusive
One of two UK Exclusives released by GlenDronach towards the end of September 2014 (#4887 being the other). Single cask #3250, distilled in 1995 and aged for 19 years in a Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheon. Bottled at 52.5% vol, with an out-turn of 554 bottles…
£89.90 (£74.92 ex vat)
Click here to purchase GlenDronach Single Cask 3250
Dallas Dhu 1975 – 21 Year Old
The Rare Malts Selection
A 1975 vintage Dallas Dhu aged for 21 years and bottled as part of The Rare Malts Selection range. Launched by Diageo this was a remarkable series of cask strength whiskies that has now, sadly been discontinued. Dallas Dhu ceased production in 1983 making this bottle rather rare indeed…
£380.40 (£317.00 ex vat)
Click here to purchase Dallas Dhu 1975 / The Rare Malts Selection
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Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary Bourbon at Mora’s – American Whiskey News
October 10th, 2014
Newly Arrived at the Shop
Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary Bourbon
Price $129.99
Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary Bourbon
97 Points! – Wine Enthusiast, September 2014
“Made from a blend of very rare 13- to 16-year-old whiskies, this bottling pays tribute to Master Distiller Jimmy Russell’s 60 years at the Wild Turkey Distillery. This light, silky Bourbon shows lots of vanilla-maple and brown sugar flavors accented by a hint of peach, and tapers off delicately, with clove, cinnamon, ginger and burnt orange peel notes on the finish.” -Kara Newman
