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 

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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

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #84

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries a vintage whisky from Glenrothes. The Glenrothes distillery is one of five in the village of Rothes in the heart of Speyside. The first distillate ran from the stills on the same day as the Tay Bridge disaster in 1879. Most of their whisky matures in European oak and they bottle their whisky not with an age statement, but with a vintage. Why not try one of those beautiful vintages, say the 1978? And what a dram it turned out to be! 

http://youtu.be/WnhCb6X7AdA

www.ralfy.com reviews an unofficial Mortlach instead of the new official and expensive Mortlachs with Whisky Review 443 – Mortlach 16yo @ 60.2% (Single Malts Of Scotland)

Gordon & MacPhail Mortlach

There’s a lot of talk in the whisky world at the moment about Mortlach. They’re not the most mainstream of distilleries, but they are much loved by whisky connoisseurs (or geeks, as I like to call us). However, Diageo have recently discontinued their one regular ongoing bottling, the 16 year old Flora & Fauna release, and have announced a new, premium range that will be arriving in June:

New. Shiny. Hopefully tasty.

We’re not going to talk about the new range yet, other than to show the rather blingy bottles in the piccy above, as we’ve not tasted it yet and don’t want to wade in to any debates about pricing and the like until we have. Reports are starting to surface that the spirit is really good and we are feeling encouraged.

We have also recently found a cache of the Mortlach Flora & Fauna 16 year old, so don’t fret about its disappearance quite yet (although don’t hang around for too long if you want a bottle). However, for those looking to the future and want something to keep you going when the Flora & Fauna runs out – step forward Gordon & MacPhail.

G&M are well known for putting out ridiculously good-value bottlings, mainly things that you don’t see elsewhere. While you get the slightly more quirky things, like their 8yo Bunnahabhain and Highland Park, and the Macallan Speymalts, you also get releases that would slot happily into most distillers’ ranges – step forward Longmorn 12, Linkwood 15 and 25, Old Pulteney 8 and 15, and, relevantly, Mortlach 15 and 21.

Coming in at about £45 and £70 respectively, they’re already competitively priced for 15 and 21 year old whiskies, but with the new Mortlach range on the horizon, they’re looking even better than ever. I recently cracked open a bottle of the 15yo at a tasting that I hosted in honour of my birthday (I hate organising parties, so thought that hosting a whisky tasting would get me out of doing one – it worked) and it went down particularly well:

Gordon & Macphail Mortlach 15 Year Old, 43%. £42.95

Nose: Sugared raisins, buttery pastry, cinnamon toast, stewed apples, linseed oil, fruit gums and garibaldi biscuits. There are some dark notes hiding around the back, with a touch of liquorice and demerara sugar.

Palate: Lighter than the nose suggests, with sweetness and woody spice up front – sweet apple, nutmeg, cinnamon and a touch of clove. The buttery notes from the nose carry through, with darker and more savoury flavours developing – damp wood and mulching leaves.

Finish: Medium length, with anise and cinnamon providing heat that fades into apple skin, apple sauce and liquorice.

Comment: Not too sherried but showing off some sherry influence – good spice and dark fruit notes balanced by some more fresh and rich buttery notes. A great everyday whisky that firmly ticks the traditional Speyside box.

We suspect that the days of G&M’s prices on Mortlach staying where they are may well be numbered, but for now they are an easily obtainable, alternative source of Mortlach and we’d recommend checking them out sooner rather than later.