Dramboree 2014 – Loch Lomond and a bottle of Ledaig

Strangely, the UK has fewer whisky festivals than elsewhere in the world. While we have more than 100 of the most famous distilleries in the world sitting north of the Scots border, it’s on the continent that we see the most whisky-enthusiast gatherings.

While we have a range of whisky shows, from the beginner-friendly Whisky Lounge through to our own big-ticket Whisky Show, the enthusiast-run festival is something we see a lot less of. One of my favourites of the past few years has been Maltstock, which takes place in Nijmegen in the eastern Netherlands – it’s a gathering of whisky fans who all bring a bottle or two for a weekend of sitting around, talking rubbish and drinking whisky.
Ever since my first year at Maltstock, one constant topic of conversation has been as to whether the event would work in the UK. Generally, the feeling was that it wouldn’t, what with us not having so much of a tradition of fan-run whisky festivals. Fortunately, that didn’t stop Jonny Macmillan and Jason B Standing, who set up a British version of Maltstock in 2013 – Dramboree.

The fine folks who made it to Dramboree 2014.

Annoyingly I missed the first one, although m’colleague Rocky made it and reported back on an excellent weekend. However, in July I made up for it by going to Dramboree #2.

Held on the shores of Loch Lomond, it was an excellent weekend of whisky and general shenanigans. Along with a table full of bottles to share, it also featured tastings of some new and upcoming bottlings from Dewar’s (keep an eye out for a range of single malts from Craigellachie, Aultmore, Glen Deveron and Royal Brackla sometime soon) and Highland Park (one of the first tastings of the new Dark Origins), a range of old bottlings from the 1950s onwards, a sensory whisky experience with Annabel Meikle, and a call for action from The Whisky Shop Dufftown’s Mike Lord to define Dufftown as a new whisky region in itself.

However, the bit that most excited me was the reveal of something that we at TWE had put together for the weekend: an exclusive Dramboree bottling. Finding something peaty, sherried and affordable is no mean feat, and we were very pleased to have some tasty Ledaig in our stocks. Here’s what I thought:

Ledaig 8yo, Dramboree Bottling, £55

Nose: Sweet peat, mulchy ferns, bandages, candied peel, Haribo and, under it all, sweet, earthy smoke.
Palate: Big and feisty, with sweet bacon and charcoal hitting up front, followed by black pepper, liquorice, driftwood, rich river mud, tingly cinnamon and a touch of dark chocolate. Water reveals more dried fruit, as well as spice and sweetness.
Finish: Spicy and leafy, with liquorice and cinnamon slowly turning into Fisherman’s Friends.
Comment: I’m a bit of a sucker for Ledaig, so this ticks all the boxes for me – peaty, dark and sweet.
The Dramboree gang have now stocked up, so we’re opening sales to everyone who would like a bottle – just head over to our main website to grab one. Don’t wait too long, we’ve not got that much left…

The source of this single malt is a carefully guarded secret of the directors of Gordon & Macphail. Presented in a lovely decanter and case. £195

Glenturret 1986
Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

The Famous Grouse (Official whisky sponsor) have released this limited edition whisky to celebrate the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. This special edition whisky is actually a Glenturret 1986 cask strength single malt; chosen because 1986 was the last time the Commonwealth Games was hosted in Scotland.

£148.00
(£123.33 ex vat)

Click here to purchase The Famous Grouse / Glenturret 1986

Highland Park Dark Origins

Dark Origins is the latest addition from Highland Park and has been created using twice as many first fill sherry casks than in the classic Highland Park 12 year old. Inspired by the cunning spirit and courageous personality of Highland Park’s infamous founder, Magnus Eunson.

£65.00
(£54.17 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Highland Park Dark Origins

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ryder Cup 2014

A limited edition design on this Johnnie Walker Blue, released in celebration of the Ryder Cup 2014, which is to be hosted later this year at the magnificent Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire, Scotland.

£258.00
(£215.00 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Johnnie Walker Blue Ryder Cup 2014

www.ralfy.com has an apple-infused malt-moment with Whisky Review 478 – Springbank Calvados Wood 12yo @ 46%

This week Joe Ellis reviews the Glenfiddich 21yo Gran Reserva Rum Cask Finish. 

http://youtu.be/CE6LpPCpTBI 

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

GLENGOYNE…COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU?

Our distillation process may be the slowest in Scotland, but once it’s matured there’s no stopping Glengoyne. We have a dram-packed summer of events to look forward to, starting with our role as Whisky Partner of Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms Fringe for the third time, which comprises both the extraordinary George Street Assembly Rooms and the spectacular Spiegeltent located, this year, in St Andrews Square. Both venues will play host to a variety of world-class music, comedy and cabaret shows throughout the month of August.

Glengoyne will also be making guest appearances in Australia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Prague. Click here for full details of what’s happening when.

Glengoyne Awards – the more the merrier… 

Making Glengoyne is a huge privilege and pleasure but it’s also hard work, so it’s always nice to see our efforts rewarded.

We’re therefore delighted to announce recent successes at some of the world’s most prestigious and highly regarded whisky competitions. Glengoyne lifted multiple awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, The Asian Spirits Masters, the International Spirits Challenge and just last week at the International Wine and Spirit Competition. Click here for more details of these awards. 

Fantastic news not just for everyone at the distillery, but for fans of Glengoyne everywhere!

Grouse Commonwealth Games Glenturret 1986 46.4% | 70cl

The Glenturret 1986. Presented in a gift box that tells the story behind the whisky and its connection to the Commonwealth Games.

As the official whisky provider to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, The Famous Grouse has released a limited-edition single malt to mark its sponsorship of this momentous sporting event.
This special bottling will see the release of just 1,800 bottles of Glenturret 1986 Cask Strength single malt whisky, making this a true collector’s edition.
The Glenturret single malt is one of the core ingredients of Scotland’s favourite whisky and is made at Glenturret Distillery, the home of The Famous Grouse Experience. Commenting on why he handpicked this particular single malt whisky Gordon Motion, the Master Blender, said:
“We are extremely proud to be the Official Whisky of Glasgow 2014 and wanted to mark this momentous occasion with what we do best – whisky.

When deliberating what to release it became apparent that Glenturret 1986 was the ideal choice and very timely. Glenturret is not only integral to The Famous Grouse blend but this particular batch was laid down to age in oak casks 28 years ago, the very year when the Commonwealth Games last visited the home of Scotch whisky.

This exceptional whisky gives off notes of fresh mango and passion fruit to nose with sweet honeycomb and ripe melon to taste.
So why not, pour a dram, raise a toast to Glasgow 2014 and be part of something famous.”
This deluxe 28 year old single malt whisky will be presented in a bespoke gift box that tells the story behind the whisky and its connection to the Commonwealth Games and will be available from our website for £159.
The whisky brand’s sponsorship of the Commonwealth Games builds on their strong sporting links, working with the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) as their official whisky partner for over 24 years. More recently it announced its sister brand, Ginger Grouse, as the Official Pint Partner of endurance race, Tough Mudder.

Price: £132.50 ex VAT
£159.00 inc VAT

GlenDronach Grandeur 24 year old

The Glendronach Grandeur 24 year old has been matured exclusively in Oloroso sherry butts and is one of only 569 bottles which have been bottled at a natural cask strength of 48.9% volume. The brand new Batch 5 release is the second 24 year old Grandeur released by Glendronach. Stock is very limited on this item and all orders will be treated strictly on a first come first served basis.

Click here to buy – £385

Glenfiddich Excellence 26 year old

A rare and aged single malt Scotch whisky that has spent 26 long years carefully maturing in American Oak ex-bourbon casks. This expression was created to honour Glenfiddich’s line of continuous family ownership since William Grant founded the distillery in 1887.

Nose: A mild nose, with light fresh fruits: pineapple, blood orange, tinned peach a hint of candlewax and the interior of a new car’ after a while. Palate: The taste is fresh, sweet and citric – reminiscent of lemon sherbet sweets and Schweppes Bitter Lemon. Finish: A short to medium finish and a lingering spiciness. A drop of water flattens the aroma but introduces almonds to the taste. Tasting notes by Charlie Maclean Bottled at 43% volume. Housed in a splendid gift box.

Click here to buy £350

Tincup – Colorado whiskey from Indiana

American whiskey is booming. From the rye explosion (an explosion in popularity, rather than an actual detonation) a few years back to the huge number of craft distilleries appearing all over the USA, American whiskey of all types is doing very well. Hand in hand with that growth comes the crowning of the elders of this new wave – the distillers who helped kick-start things and are now held up as examples of how things should be done. 

Sitting between the big-distillery old guard and the new-wave ‘kids’ is Jess Graber of Stranahan’s. Founded in 2004 after volunteer firefighter Jess met brewer George Stranahan while fighting a blaze at Stranahan’s barn, it is one of the earlier craft-whiskey distilleries and the first to appear in Colorado. Their whiskey became really popular and they rattled through stocks particularly quickly, having to reduce allocations around the USA and beyond. Eventually they had to stop selling it outside of their home state – even we’ve not been able to get Stranahan’s since 2009. Fortunately they’ve got things back under control and we hope to see their whiskey flowing around the world again soon.

But Stranahan’s isn’t the only whiskey taking up Jess Graber’s time. He is also the name behind a new whiskey: Tincup. Jess has selected mature whisky from MGPI, a large producer currently making some of the best rye and bourbon in the USA, and created a whiskey to his specification, without the lead time of distilling and maturing it himself. In the USA, they call this ‘sourced whiskey’ – basically the same as an independent bottler or blender in Scotland.

Rather than following the path of many sourced whiskies, where they simply pick a ready-made whiskey from a menu, Jess has selected spirit made to a number of different recipes and blended them to create something different. From our investigations online, it looks like he combines a whiskey made with a very high rye recipe (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley) with one made with a lower but still quite high rye recipe (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley) in a 3:2 ratio, to produce something big and spicy, but still sweet and easy drinking. 

Tincup American Whiskey, 40% ABV, £32.25

Nose: Big spice and fruit – apple with cinnamon, clove and toasted, spiced brioche. Rich toffee and caramel, Ginger Nut biscuits and sweet oatcakes with honey.

Palate: Quite light with sweet grain, cinnamon spice and a trio of apple notes – ripe, skin and Jolly Ranchers. Toffee follows, with spicy rye and toasted fruit loaf.

Finish: Cinnamon toast, tannic raisins and soft caramel sweetness.

There’s definitely a bit of marketing involved here, with a big emphasis on Colorado (they bottle it at Stranahan’s in Denver, cutting it to bottling strength with local water, so it’s not a completely spurious claim) and a beautiful tin-cup-topped bottle put together by top designers Stranger and Stranger, but fortunately the spirit lives up to it.

Around the office it’s already been a bit of a hit in Old Fashioneds, with the slightly drier take on bourbon working well with sugar and bitters, as well as in Manhattans, where the rye spice helps it stand up to a slug of Antica Formula or Cocchi Vermouth di Torino.

While people are understandably sniffy about some of the sourced whiskies that have appeared on the market in recent years, hiding behind brand and concealing their nature, Jess Graber has been upfront about Tincup. The company website may not delve into the nature of the spirit, but Jess himself has been telling anyone who asks about his new whiskey: he’s sourced spirit from a great producer, used his expertise as a blender to make something uniquely his, and put it out into the world with his face all over the company website. Good work, Jess.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Tincup – Colorado whiskey from Indiana