Hooray, we are actually getting a spring this year by the look of things! We hope you are finding some time to spend with your loved ones and take it easy at least for a few days…

With that in mind, we have a whole raft of new tastings to tell you about, including a new nationwide series, a couple of festivals and much more as always. We also have the latest industry news and a competition to win tickets to London Whisky Weekend in May.

So, let’s not dilly-dally… 

‘SPIRIT OF INDIE’ 

Having taken close looks at Indian and Irish whiskies over the last couple of months, we felt it important to drill back into our roots.

For us, one of the most important and exciting categories of whisky is Independent Bottlers.  Usually a great source of quality (and good value) whiskies that have been sourced and bottled by someone other than the distillers themselves. Their whiskies are normally bottled at cask strength and non chill-filtered. Which is nice.

For this series we will be presenting to you 6 whiskies from some of the finest Independent Bottlers in the UK. Simple as.

SPIRIT OF INDIE DATES & VENUES:

LONDON             Wednesday 30th April 7pm THE RED LION, CROWN PASSAGE
BRIGHTON         Thursday 1st May 7pm        HILTON METROPOLE, KING STREET
NEWCASTLE      Friday 2nd May 7pm            BLACKFRIARS, FRIAR STREET
SHEFFIELD        Tuesday 6th May 7pm         THE SHEFFIELD TAP, SHEFFIELD STATION
LIVERPOOL        Wednesday 7th May            JENNY’S BAR, FENWICK ST.
LEEDS                Thursday 8th May                CROSSKEYS, WATER LANE
MANCHESTER   Friday 9th May                     BRITONS PROTECTION
YORK                  Saturday 10th May              BRIGANTES, MICKLEGATE

Just click on the venue closest to you to book now.

Coming up fast – on Saturday 26th April – we have our second festival of the year.

Once again partnering with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, this should be a cracking day out. As well as the SMWS library, with a huge number of bottlings, we have the likes of Diageo, Glen Garioch, Berry Brothers and Highland Park showing off new bottlings.

We have added some really interesting classes, including a special class looking at historical and old bottlings from various distilleries with specialist Angus McRaild.

If you haven’t got your tickets yet you can do so by clicking here for the full day at £30 or here for the half-day at £20.

LONDON WHISKY WEEKENDER

Hot on the heels of Edinburgh, we have perhaps our most ambitious and innovative event yet.
Having teamed up with the sprawling expanse of arts and music venue, Oval Space, we are attempting to create a world-class whisky event with pre-war whisky tastings, sensory experiences, BBQ and local food producers, pickle-backs and craft beer in the Pickle Factory, classes from the likes of Laphroaig and Talisker and so much more.

This is really going to be tremendous and umissable.
You have one more chance to get the ‘Early-Bird’ tickets at 2 for £50 (2 for £40 Sunday), which have to end this Sunday, so please be quick to avoid disappointment or paying the full price of £35 (Friday & Sat sessions) or £25 (Sunday session).

FRIDAY 16th MAY 7PM-12AM       Early-Bird 
SATURDAY 17th MAY 12PM-5PM Early-Bird
SATURDAY 17th MAY 7PM-12AM  Early-Bird
SUNDAY 18th MAY                         Early-Bird

Just click on the session you would like to attend and Bob’s your sister’s brother! 

After our ‘Spirit of Indie’ series we have a fantastic series of Glenlivet ‘vertical’ tastings starting in June. One of the oldest and most established distilleries in this highly distillery populated areas, it has long been seen as pioneering and a leader in quality – with many distilleries in the area not only trying to replicate their whiskies, but even going so far as taking their name!

You will be tasting through a range of 6, from 12yo to the legendary 25 Year Old (at over £200 a bottle…). A fascinating look at a tremendous distillery.

THE GLENLIVET VENUES & DATES

LONDON            Wednesday 4th June 7pm    SALT BAR, SEYMOUR ST., W2
SHEFFIELD        Wednesday 4th June            VENUE TBC
BRIGHTON         Thursday 5th June 7pm        HILTON METROPOLE, KING STREET
NEWCASTLE     Friday 6th June 7pm             BLACKFRIARS, FRIAR STREET
LIVERPOOL       Wednesday 11th June 7pm   JENNY’S BAR, FENWICK ST.
LEEDS                Thursday 12th June 7pm      THE CROSSKEYS, WATER LANE
MANCHESTER   Friday 13th June 7pm           BRITONS PROTECTION
YORK                  Saturday 14th June 7pm       BRIGANTES, MICKLEGATE

BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO…

Our ‘Beginner’s Guides’ continue in London with sessions on Whisky, Cognac and Gin designed to help those with an interest and a burning desire to learn more.
2 hours of intensive fun, education, tasting and enlightenment for just £20. Where can you go wrong?

VENUES & DATES

COGNAC Tues 13th May 7.30pm  RED LION, CROWN PASSAGE
GIN           Weds 14th May 7.30pm RED LION,CROWN PASSAGE
WHISKY   Thurs 15th May 7.30pm SALT BAR, SEYMOUR ST., W2

We are now only a few weeks away from this momentous event on Islay.
We have a handful of places left on our second half to the week, so if you are free at the end of May and fancy joining us, take a look at this page and get booking!

INDUSTRY NEWS

The Herald Scotland, Tuesday 8th April
DAVID BECKHAM, SIMON FULLER JOIN NEW HAIG WHISKY BRAND (Seriously)

The Moodie Report, Friday 4th April
BOWMORE LAUNCHES TRAVEL RETAIL EXCLUSIVE WHISKY RANGE

The Drinks Report, Tuesday 1st April
AURIVERDES WHISKY INSPIRED BY THE WORLD CUP

Retail Times, Tuesday 1st April
GLENGOYNE INTRODUCES NEW 25 YEAR-OLD MALT WHISKY

Harpers.co.uk, Tuesday 1st April
CHIVAS WHISKY’S EDUCATION PROGRAMME DRIVES GROWTH

BBC News, Wednesday 19th March
CHANCELLOR FREEZES DUTY ON SCOTCH WHISKY

The Spirits Business, Friday 14th March
TULLAMORE DISTILLERY EDGES TOWARDS COMPLETION

The Spirits Business, Wednesday 12th March
KILCHOMAN RELEASES FIRST TRAVEL RETAIL EXCLUSIVE

The Drinks Business, Friday 7th March
SUNTORY RELEASES ‘NO-AGE’ WHISKIES

COMPETITION TIME

A war and whisky themed comp this month, to tie-in with our Pre-war tastings at this year’s London Whisky Weekender.
Your answers please to the following questions;

1. What was Winston Churchill’s tipple of choice?
2. How old is the Scotch being drunk around the table in the infamous tavern scene in the film ‘Inglorious Bestards’?
3. Name two Scottish distilleries that were commandeered by the military during World War 2.
4. What is the name of the ship that is wrecked off the fictional islands Great and Little Todday in the film ‘Whisky Galore’
5. Which famous American Distiller served in the US Air Force in World War 2?

Submit your answers by clicking here and the first 2 people emailing the correct answers will win a pair of tickets to a London Whisky Weekend session of their choice (or equivalent if not able to make it to London)

For answers to our last competition click here. Congrats to Wayne Parker, Richard Turner and Alan Gregson who is our winner and will receive a sample of the new Paul John Peated Cask.

Wow! That’s a lot to work through but hopefully worth it!

Have great Easter, stay safe and enjoy.

Slainte,
Eddie, Amanda and Joe
The Whisky Lounge Team. 

NOW SHIPPING TO THE USA

After many months of hard work, sweat and toil, we at Single Malts Direct are delighted to announce that we have commenced shipping to the United States. I would like to thank those of you who have contacted me directly over the past number of months for your patience while we got all of the pieces of the Jigsaw into place, so “Thank you guys”, and I will contact you all personally. I hope you like the new look website and the selection we are carrying but, as always we want to provide you with the best possible service and DO listen to your ideas and suggestions, so if you have any, please contact me directly ronnie@singlemaltsdirect.com

You will find our carriage rates under the shipping tag on our website, these charges include the FDA charge and a signature charge as our consignments need to be signed for to ensure the recipient is over the age of 21. The only additional charges to this is the cost of the whisky you select (you will get the ex-VAT price) and the US import duty which is calculated at checkout point depending on the strength of the whisky and the size of bottle. e.g. a 70cl bottle at 40% abv = £1.19.

Just for your information, we are also an Independent Bottler and have an extensive range of our own label “Whiskies of Scotland” single malt whiskies bottled at natural colour and natural strength and in a range of sizes, mostly 50cl but also in 70cl and 20cl. The 20cl size allows you to choose a selection from various distilleries, and there’s a couple of blends in the range too. In 2013 our own label whiskies won 6 gold medals and 3 silver medals in the Whisky Magazine’s “Independent Bottlers’ Challenge”.

Japan – Single Malt Scotch

• Suntory Hibiki 12 Year Japanese Whiskey 750ml (Ships as 1.5L) (1 bottle limit) – 6 available ($64.99)

• Suntory Yamazaki 12 year old Japanese Single Malt Whiskey 750ml – 2 available ($59.99)

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• BenRiach 17 Year Old Solstice 2nd Edition Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 3 available ($99.99)

United States – Bourbon and Rye

• Tuthilltown Hudson Baby Bourbon (375ml) – 12 available ($42.99)

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

www.ralfy.com gets there first with Whisky Review 446 – Isle Of Arran 17yo malt @ 46%

www.ralfy.com explores the quiet malt with a big conversation with Whisky Review 445 – Hazelburn 10yo Rundlets & Kilderkins @ 50.1%

We are delighted to announce the arrival of the first three expressions in our Limited Edition anCnoc Peaty Collection.

Aiming to unravel the mysteries of peated whisky for modern drinkers, this new collection from our Knockdhu Distillery features anCnoc’s classic light, easy-drinking style but with a dark, distinctive and smoky twist.  Click here to shine a light on your dark side and discover the anCnoc Peaty Collection.

To celebrate the launch of the new collection we are giving you and a friend the opportunity to win a trip to Scotland to visit Knockdhu Distillery and enjoy a whisky masterclass with our Distillery Manager.  Visit our website to enter before the 30th April for your chance to win.

Regards,
Knockdhu Distillery

This week Joe Ellis reviews the very popular Travel Retail exclusive Talisker Dark Storm! 

http://youtu.be/LOK8JwZ_Llo 

http://Facebook.com/whiskytube 

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

www.ralfy.com has a malt-hug with Whisky Review 444 – Springbank 12yo Cask Strength @ 52.3%vol

I’m quite glad to see March come to a close. It’s been a busy month with a total of nineteen evening events, forty whiskies to judge for the Spirit of Scotland festival, twenty whiskies to review for Whisky Magazine and writing my first piece for The List.

The month started with an amazing collaboration between The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Seafood Scotland and chef, Mark Greenaway. Mark created an imaginative menu presenting some of our finest seafood in imaginative ways not seen before. My task was to pair the dishes with the unique single cask bottlings from the Society. Because the tasting notes are so descriptive, finding aromas and flavours that will bring something to the party is made easier. Armed with wee samples bottles I set about nosing and tasting with Mark and the results were some of the best I’ve tried.

The event was a great success with bloggers and journalists able to mingle with all of the parties present, the highlight for me was to meet the characterful Jimmy Buchan of BBC’s Trawlermen fame.

I also had the opportunity to visit some wonderful venues this month including a night at Archerfield House in East Lothian, Harburn House for a fiftieth birthday party for twin brothers, then to Drumlanrig Castle for the Duke of Buccleuch. Six Nations was the theme for the Traveleads party on the weekend of the 15th March with all six countries featuring – some artistic license used!

At Whisky Live in London Robin Tuke of Hardiesmill Farm and I teamed up to experiment with food pairings. Robin and Alison Tuke produce 100% Aberdeen Angus beef and manage to spare time to smoke and cure a range called Tombuie. They also smoke a cheddar cheese and the nuances of flavour work brilliantly with a range of whiskies.

A good way to end a good week. It was also announced at the show that I am to be working more closely with the team at Whisky Magazine, my new title is Contributing Editor for Scotland. I’m thrilled to be covering events and reporting back to the magazine.

And finally I’m delighted to be working with the new Isle of Harris distillery. This is a project that is close to my heart and I am happy to say that you can be one of the very first to invest in this, the first social distillery. The distillery is being built to support long term employment and investment of this special island. If you are interested in owning an exclusive part of it you can be one of two hundred to purchase a cask. I have!

Please get in touch and visit the website and I look forward to hearing from you.

Annabel

The Whisky Belle
www.thewhiskybelle.com

Here is a brand new E-pistle by the Malt Maniacs Awards Coordinator Keith Wood who has been working hard to bring the annual awards up to date with current developments.

Click HERE to read the article