Readers, I hope this finds you well. The weather is turning, The Ryder Cup is in full swing and there is no better excuse for enjoying a wee dram. September has been a busy month as ever and her is my latest news. Enjoy the weekend.
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Annabel
The Whisky Belle
A slight detour into Scotland by Anders Malmsten, Finland
August….what is August good for? Asking myself that question and also coming up with a very good answer, why not go to Scotland. Why, yes please. So, five days in and around Perth sounded like a good idea. And I also would get the chance to help making my own cask at Strathearn distillery.
Day 1 Flying from Helsinki via Amsterdam onwards to Edinburgh. I had to wake up at an unearthly hour as my flight left Helsinki 7:00AM. Well, the positive side was that I would be in Edinburgh already at 10:30AM so time to explore. At the airport I got a brand new Yaris as the rental car and off I went scared completely witless as it was the first time I was driving on the left side of the road (Yes, it is the wrong side). And as a bonus some traffic designing moron had placed some very tricky roundabouts right outside the airport. Well, after the commotion, and changing underware once I finally got out on the highway, and next stop was the quaint little village of Glenfarg. Luggage to the room and off I went again. Had to drive to St Andrews to see the nice town with the old cathedral and castle/monastery thingie, and the on the way back I took a detour to Lindores Abbey to see the place where it all started. Legends(read: Wikipedia) say that the monks there were the first ones to make whisky in Scotland. Who am I to argue with legends? Then back to the hotel pub for a nice evening with local people who were very friendly.
Day 2 Paul and Liz had promised to take me for a quick tour so I left early to Perth to pick up Paul and then off to leave my car at my temporary hotel. With Paul behind the steering wheel we headed towards Edradour. I went on their tour which included a couple of nice drams and a very nice walk around the compound. We also got to see the older barrels in their warehouse belonging to Signatory. There were old Glenlivets, Dallas Dhus and so on. Then picking up a bottle at the shop and lunchtime at a pub quite nearby called The Old Mill. Then we trundled onwards to Aberfeldy where I took the whatchamacallit tour where in the end you get to taste whisky from a cask. And then we still had some tasters at the bar, including the Bits of Strange and Unravel. Both were grand drams, so I had to make a quick decision which one to buy….and because I am strange I had to go for the Strange one J. In the evening there was still some tasting at Liz´s place. The Edradour Fairy Flag was one of the best ones we had that evening. Nice new expression from Edradour.
Day 3 Thursday was the big day, as that was the day my cask was to be made at Strathearn Distillery. So, after the quite not so light dramming the night before, I oozed down for a quick breakfast and after filling up on bacon and other nutritious and healthy substances I was ready to tackle the challenges ahead. On my way to Strathearn I dropped Paul off at Perth and continued my sojourn alone. When I arrived at the distillery Tony Reeman-Clark had already started to fill the spirit still with the low wines. Tony then instructed me on the fine art of distilling, and then with the 10min crash course(including mandatory safety instructions like don’t touch the still, it is hot!) I was then ready to make whisky. After meticulously making sure that every last drop of juice was pumped into the still we fired up the steam. After approximately 30-40 minutes the excitement hit the roof as the first drops of new make spirit was trickling out from the condenser. This was the “heads” which contain methanol and other not so nice compounds so these were separated. After about 12 liters the heart of the run was starting to come out of the still. The way to measure this is quite interesting. You have a glass tube that you put some cold water into. Then you take a small sample of the distillate and if there is any impurities they show up as a zone of shady liquid in the middle of the tube. Also the alcohol content is measured constantly by having a hydrometer, a temperature gauge, and a big book of charts. Lots of moving bits in the process. The distillation took the whole day, as in the end after getting about 110 liters of new make, we still got a big tank of feints. That is the alcohol where the ABV is so low and containing impurities that it cannot be used. It is then used in the next distillation again. Then there was still the most fun part…filling the cask. So now I have a nice 50 liter cask maturing. That was a very nice and unique experience. So big thanks to Strathearn Distillery and Tony who arranged the day for me. As the hour was late, I started driving back to the hotel and after consulting my trusty gps I decided to take the scenic route. So over the hills and far away. And ye gods the roads were small and crooked. And the speed limit there is just insane. One car can safely navigate the road and then you are still allowed to do 90 km/h. No, I did not. After getting lost and after receiving help from a local I finally got back to the hotel. Mission accomplished!!!
Day 4 TGIF! Friday is always nice. Paul was coming with me again as the navigator. I am quite sure that he just wanted to sit and laugh as I tried my best to drive on the left side of the road. Anyhoo, we went over to Glengoyne for a quick visit as I enjoy their products (no, not only the fudge but the whisky also). No tour but just some shopping and idling at the distillery visitors center. Then we headed off to a very silly place. Silly as in Monty Python silly. Doune castle. The place they filmed The Holy Grail. So I got to stand outside and listen when imaginary French soldiers were taunting up on the parapet. “I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”. After that humiliating defeat we went for lunch at a nice little pub in the countryside. And again, to my surprise in a small shed outside the pub was a grand real ale shop. Why do they hide that kind of awesome shop in a gardenshed??? Then we drove over to Deanston where we just planned on having a wee look and a coffee break. But alas, plans change as the visitor center manager walked by and recognized Paul. So we got an ex-tempore quick tour of the still house and the warehouse. Thank you Peter if you read this! On our way back to Perth we still went by Tullabardine for a shop and run at their visitors center. While not actually finding anything to buy there the nearby local grocery shop had a bottle of the Secret Stills series. Isle of Sky 1986, I wonder what is in the bottle J Saying goodbye to Paul I then drove back to Glenfarg for my final evening in Scotland this time. So I went to the pub as I always do.
Day 5 Step one, pack all the loot in the suitcase. Step two, ask the receptionist to break his back while trying to get the suitcase down two staircases. Step three, drive to the airport, leave the rental car and then check in to the flight and after that just wait. And wait. And after a quick one hour flight to Amsterdam wait for another 4 hours. Fortunately there are whisky shops at the airport so I kept myself entertained. To sum the trip up in one word: AWESOME!
Thank you Paul and Liz for a grand time. You are the greatest!
www.mcleanscotland.com www.whiskytourscotland.com www.angelswhiskyclub.com
Last weekend was the very successful 6th edition of Maltstock. A big thank you to all of you who made it happen again. This relaxed whisky weekend would not have been possible without the great help of our sponsors. One of them this year was the Dornoch Castle. Maltstock has stayed at the hotel earlier this year and highly recommends it! Great place, great staff, great food and the whisky bar… very relaxed! At Maltstock this year 3 lucky winners won some amazing Dornoch Castle prizes: free stays and a 100 pound bar credit!
For all of you who didn’t win or couldn’t attend maltstock this year, Phil and Simon from Dornoch Castle have this very special offer for you:
Are you after some exceptional Whisky? With somewhere to rest your head if you had one too many? Then Dornoch Castle Hotel is the perfect location with the one of the best Whisky bars in the World, right in the centre of Highland Whisky country. We specialise in old discontinued and very rare bottling and all bottles are priced and dated when opened and stored under Argon gas for perfect preservation, only the best for our visitors! With over 300 to try there is something for everyone!
As dedicated Whisky Geeks we know just what you want!
Our Whisky Bar is run by Simon and Phil Thompson, Whisky Enthusiasts, for Whisky Enthusiasts who know a thing or two about what a top dram of Whisky should really taste like!
Our Whisky is never less than excellent!
It might sound like we’re bragging, and I suppose we are, but we are only being honest! And here’s the proof! We are currently rated Number One Whisky Hotel in the World on Whiskybase.com and are Nominated for Scottish Field/SLTN whisky bar of the year.
Where better to bring your Whisky Club! So that’s why we have come up with these EXCLUSIVE offers especially for all Whisky Enthusiasts:
*20% room discount for a minimum of a two night stay
*30% room discount for 3 or more nights
*Parties of 10 and more receive one persons stay complementary ON TOP of the discounted rates
So come and experience something new!
If you want to find out some more info all you have to do is text ‘MORE WHISKY PLEASE’ to 0044(0)7849108246 Alternatively email Phil on Philip@dornochcastlehotel.com or go to our Facebook page; whisky collector
Simon and Phil Thompson, whisky geeks extraordinaire will be on hand to answer any questions you may have and make your experience one to remember!
Sláinte
Simon and Phil Thompson
Dornoch Castle Hotel,
Dornoch, Sutherland IV25 3SD
Tel 0044(0)1862810216
www.dornochcastlehotel.com
Philip@dornochcastlehotel.com
enquiries@dornochcastlehotel.com
– THE –
TUN 1509
Batch No. 1
Malt Master David Stewart is one of the most respected experts when it comes to marrying whisky casks. Following on from his highly regarded Tun 1401, comes Tun 1509. Larger than its predecessor, Tun 1509 allows David to select a wider range of component casks; 42, in fact, resulting in a remarkably complex expression.
Of the 42 selected casks, 35 are traditional American oak barrels and seven are European oak sherry butts – all from the distillery’s precious aged stocks. Among these casks are some of the finest The Balvenie has to offer. And all have been allowed to marry together and sit for several months in Warehouse 24 before bottling.
The result is an expression that is deep and rich on the nose with floral notes and clear hints of sweet vanilla and orange peel. It is velvety smooth to taste with distinct tangy citrus, mellow cinnamon spice and blossom honey overtones. In short, this is a truly exceptional expression.
Each bottle comes with a series of graphics representing the flavour profile of each cask.
To learn more about this extraordinary expression, click the link below.
Buy Trent’s first batch of Double Cask
Ladies and Gentlemen we have a treat for you. Our main man, blender and bottler extraordinaire Trent Bowring, is very proud to present his first batch of Double Cask, and so are we! After some careful selection involving a lot of sipping and sampling he settled upon a mix of one FRENCH OAK and three AMERICAN OAK barrels.
French Oak Cask HH0597 was chosen for its rich, oily mouth feel and gives structure to the body. It also brings a deep fruity nose. American Oak Cask HH0169 adds balance in the finish. American Oak Cask HH0147 fills out the body with some beautiful fruity notes and finally American Oak Cask HH0074 supports the body with spicy notes and underpins the finish with caramel and raisin notes.
Double Cask 71 Tasting Notes
Colour: Light golden straw
Nose: Fragrant and floral with vanilla sponge cake drizzled in honey. Oak rounds out while spice lingers.
Palate: A medley of basket fruit with fresh cut pears and green apples bursting through. Rum, raisins and oak spice soften out the palate.
Mouth feel: Lightly oiled, well coated.
Finish: Dark dried fruits, raisins and caramel intermingle, warming and sweetening over time. Medium finish, inviting another sip soon after!
The Whisky Exchange
TWE London Shop Hours – Whisky Show changes
With The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show rapidly approaching, we have some work to do in our London shop to get ready. As such we will be changing our opening hours over the coming week to avoid any banging and crashing while our customers are perusing the shelves.
PLEASE NOTE: web orders are unaffected by these changes.
It won’t be quite as extreme as this…
Here’s the schedule:
Friday 26 September: Midday-9pm
Saturday 27 September: 10.30am-8pm
Sunday 28 September: CLOSED
Monday 29 September: Midday-7pm
Tuesday 30 September: Midday-7pm
We’ll back to normal as of Wednesday 1 October, but will be running slightly different hours over the show weekend:
Saturday 4 October: 10.30am-8.00pm
Sunday 5 October: Midday-8.00pm
Monday will be business as usual, although after a weekend of Whisky-Show-related exertion, running up and down ladders may not be as fast as normal.
Billy – The earliest TWE photograph of me, with our customer service queen Ali and Diageo’s Colin Dunn
Balblair 2000 – TWE exclusive first-fill sherry butt
Time has rolled on a bit. It seems like only yesterday that I was a balding computer programmer, sat at a table in The Whisky Exchange shop in Vinopolis, confronted by 10 excellent whiskies. It was the company’s 10th anniversary tasting, and I was a punter who liked whisky.
Move on five years to the present day. I’ve got even less hair and while I still sit in front of a screen all day, I now do so at TWE HQ and attempt to write words that make sense to people rather than computers. That extra five years also means that TWE has now hit another milestone – we are 15.
To celebrate our birthday, we’ll be releasing a few whiskies over the coming months, and the first is something special: a Balblair 2000 single cask, fully aged in a first-fill sherry butt.
It’s special because sherry casks are not really Balblair’s day-to-day business. They’re well known for their bourbon-cask-matured whiskies, and other than occasional indies it’s rare to see a fully sherry-matured dram – distillery manager John MacDonald specially selected this cask, as he reckoned it would be to TWE Director Sukhinder Singh’s taste. He was right, and it was a must-have as soon as we tasted it.
Balblair 2000 #1343
Natural colour, of course.
Balblair 2000. First Fill Sherry Butt #1343. 53%. £95
Nose: Rich and heavy ginger cake, studded with burnt raisins and maraschino cherries, and covered in bitter-sweet dark chocolate. Dry oloroso sherry, the kind they love in Spain, provides a heavy, vinous backbone, with cherry-jam-slathered black bread, rich earth, liquorice and dark sugars – demarara and molasses. Damp and charred notes develop, with flamed orange zest, charred oak and driftwood bonfires, doused by a rainstorm. Water brings out chocolate-fudge-brownie sweetness, sweet leather and brown toast. The fruit is subdued, but the raisins are less burnt and the cherries sweeter.
Palate: Intense treacle toffee, baked apple and bitter coffee. Cinnamon bark is joined by freshly sawn oak, driftwood and clove, leading to a drier palate than the sweet nose suggests. There is still sweetness, with plump raisins and touches of brown sugar joined by fruity dark chocolate and cinnamon sugar. Water adds more sweetness, but also sharpens the wood, bringing more oak, with sweet butter, nutmeg and bitter-but-balanced barrel char.
Finish: Lingering char notes, with liquorice pastilles, plump raisins, cinnamon sugar and bitter dark chocolate. Hints of Murray Mints develop as you consider your next sip.
Comment: The biggest and boldest sherry cask matured Balblair I’ve ever tasted. Rich and dark with controlled sweetness – a grown-up whisky. Drams like this make me lament the small amount of sherried Balblair available.
To go with the launch, we’re also running a prize draw:
Buy a bottle of the 2000 or any of the other core vintages from Balblair’s range and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a trip to the distillery, including a tutored tasting with distillery manager John MacDonald.
You can find full details over on our competition page, but the most important bit is that it closes at 11:59pm GMT on 14 November 2014. To whet your appetite, here’s my blog post from when I visited a few years back. They’ve finished building their visitor centre now, and it’s even more worth a trip.
www.ralfy.com cheers himself up with Whisky Review 488 – Springbank 12yo cask @54.3%
As we fast approach the official end of British summertime and the kids go back to school, we’re getting all nostalgic here at Wolfburn. The sun beams in onto our faces from the open roller shutters, and one can’t help but shut the eyes, take in a deep breath of malty air and wonder about all the previous summers that have been before this. Did the manager of Wolfburn of yesteryear take in the same summer flavours back in 1820-something? This summer the Stillhouse smell has had an edge of peat to it, as some of you will already know, we experimented with a month’s run of peated malt. Find out what happened here.
It’s highly likely, being that peat was the main fuel available in those days, that the original Wolfburn had a smoky aroma.
We’ll never know of course, as there is nothing left for us to sample and so far, no record of the taste. We’ve been doing a bit of digging in the archives, and found some very interesting stuff on the people involved though. Check out our history article for more.
Lastly, a bit of fun to tempt your inner artist and a bit of nostalgia put to words. Read ‘Reprise’ written by our fabulous photographer Brian Hamilton here.
Slàinte
The Wolfburn Team
The Johnnie Walker Ryder Cup Limited Edition – the final few bottles available online at The Whisky Shop.
The Whisky Shop is proud to present the brand new limited edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ryder Cup bottling.
Johnnie Walker celebrates 2014 Ryder Cup with Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Ryder Cup Limited Edition’ in celebration of The Ryder Cup’s return to Scotland.
Each bottle of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label “Ryder Cup Limited Edition” is individually numbered, making it a rare and unique keepsake or gift. The distinctive design of both the packaging and the bottle depicts the unforgettable, classic view of the iconic Gleneagles Hotel and celebrates the return to Scotland after 41 years of The Ryder Cup, the world’s leading match play competition.
All orders will also receive a three pack of limited edition Ryder Cup Titleist golf balls!
Tasting notes:
Nose: A mellow, rounded nose, with a dry smokiness (a Johnnie Walker signature flavour) mixed with raisin sweetness.
Palate: The first sip reveals a velvety mouth-feel, then an explosion of flavour – hazelnuts, honey, rose petals, sherry and oranges. Subsequent sips reward you with more hidden secrets like kumquats, wispy aromatic smoke, sandalwood, tobacco, and dark chocolate.
Finish: A rich and uniquely long and satisfying finish of smoke and pepper, ending with a glorious touch of spice.
New Arrivals
Scotland – Single Malt Scotch
United States – Bourbon and Rye
Back in Stock
United States – Bourbon and Rye
Scotland – Single Malt Scotch
United States – Bourbon and Rye
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
