Hello Fellow Scotch Lovers –

We live in strange times. 

Case in point: Harold Camping, the 89-year-old leader of the ministry Family Radio Worldwide and who’s spent a good part of his life flipping pages of The Bible, has authored a book report that would make his mother proud. In it he convinces himself and his followers that the world is going to end on May 21, 2011….that’s right, this Saturday…as in three (3) days from now .

Actually, the complete destruction may take up to six months, but certainly no one should make plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So this weeks Whisky Wednesday opportunity is about broadening horizons and trying something new before “Last Call”…three truly terrific whiskies from Wales (yes, Wales): Penderyn Single Malt Welsh Whiskies.

There are three delicious expressions from Penderyn: Penderyn Madeira Finish($68.60); Penderyn Sherrywood Finish(75.50); and Penderyn Peated Single Malt Welsh Whisky ($75.50).  

As usual, these are very limited production whiskies, so the availability is also limited…and once it’s gone, it’s gone.  So please  purchase your bottle(s) ASAP if you are interested.

Oh…and by the way…did I mention to keep a very close eye on these emails?  You should, because over the next few weeks I’ll be making some exciting announcements…including really great news about our Whisky Explorers Club…so STAY TUNED!

Doug Stone
Founder
www.ForScotchLovers.com

PENDERYN SINGLE MALT WELSH WHISKIES

  
THE STORY OF PENDERYN WELSH WHISKY 

The first Welsh distillers in more than a century, the Penderyn distillery is located in the old village of Penderyn, nestled in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, and the Brecon Beacons National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty famed for its breathtaking scenery, open moorland, clear rivers and tumultuous waterfalls.

The distillery produces just one cask per day of the finest malted barley spirit. The majority of thier spirit goes into cask for ageing in thier cellars. Minute quantities are diverted to craft other award-winning products. The availability of their whisky has to be on strict allocation to markets outside Wales. It is one of the rarest, finest and most delicate malt whiskies available.

PENDERYN MADEIRA FINISHED SINGLE MALT WELSH WHISKY

“This single malt Welsh whisky defines our ‘house style of whiskies’ being distilled in our unique copper pot still, matured in bourbon barrels, finished in rich Madeira wine casks and bottled at premium strength. This single malt whisky is smooth, light in character and softly golden in colour.

At premium strength (46% vol) Penderyn single malt whisky has an exceptionally balanced taste with an aroma of cream toffee and fleetingly of fresh new leather. Then, as the initial sensations fade, the finishing notes of tropical fruits, raisins and vanilla emerge strongly and are long lasting.” – distiller

REVIEW OF PENDERYN MADEIRA FINISHED – by CHRISTOPHER NULL/ DRINKHACKER.COM 

Yes, Virginia, they make whisky in Wales. And as in Scotland, they spell it without the E.

Penderyn is the best known Welsh whisky on the market, probably because it’s the only operating distillery left in the region.

Penderyn makes several bottlings, but this, in the company’s “house style,” is one of its best-known, a single malt which is matured in bourbon barrels and finished in old Madeira wine casks. It bears no age statement but is lightly golden in color and the balance indicates it’s quite young.

Wood and leather notes are surprisingly prominent in the body, which exhibits a buttery, honey-like consistency. The Madeira character is considerably different than in, say, Balvenie’s Maderia-finished Scotch, ending not so much with wine-like notes but with bittersweet chocolate and more cask wood character. I’d like more balance and cohesion in all of these flavors, but I do appreciate this whisky’s moxie. – 92 proof/ B+

PENDERYN SHERRYWOOD FINISHED SINGLE MALT WELSH WHISKY

“The fine single malt whisky is finished to impart a generous flavour of subtle complexity.  Hand crafted to perfection, the unique distillation and maturation produces a single malt whisky in which the Penderyn style is enhanced by rich tones of dry Sherry. This fine whisky captures the true spirit of Wales.

At premium strength (46% vol) Penderyn Sherrywood single malt whisky yields rich dark fruits and caramels from dry Oloroso sherry casks which intermingle with green apples, hazelnuts and hints of sugared almonds. The nose is quickly reminded of Penderyn whiskies’ classic freshness. The taste begins with remarkable sweetness that gives way for a moment to a refreshing dryness in the mid palate.  Caramels and sultanas persist into a long finish.” – distiller 

PENDERYN PEATED SINGLE MALT WELSH WHISKY

“Our peated single malt whisky is finished to impart a generous flavour of subtle complexity. Hand crafted to perfection, the unique distillation and maturation produces a single malt whisky in which a delicate spirit underlies a medium peaty character with light golden tone. This fine whisky captures the true spirit of Wales.

At premium strength (46% vol) the sweet aromatic smoke of Penderyn Peated single malt whisky is immediately obvious but soon vanilla, green apples and refreshing citrus notes mingle to give an array of gentle flavours that challenge even the most sophisticated palate.  A medium finish with residues of smoke and vanilla that leaves the palate thirsting for more.” – distiller

As the new boy here at TWE Towers the time has come that I must reveal myself to the world via a blog post. Hello, I am Billy. I’m a former computer programmer turned whisky blogger who now has the semi-official job title of “Tim F’s Minion”. That’s enough about me, on to some drink… (please click HERE to read the rest of the article).

“I’m happy to report that a fresh E-pistle from Nabil has just been published;

http://www.maltmaniacs.org/whisky-articles/Malt-Maniacs-2011-03-The-Reverse-Angels-Share.pdf

Like the title suggests, it deals with the strange phenomenon that the share that the Scottish angels are taking seems to be returned halfway around the globe.

Sweet drams,

Johannes”

(fanfare of trumpets)  …. heeeeeeeeeeeers Raaaaalfy’s 200th review (lots of cheers and applause)

Whisky Review 200 (1/2) – The Anniversary Mystery Malt Review

Visit Ralfy at www.ralfy.com

Angels Whisky Club Interview with Cooley Global Brand Manager John Cashman

1. JOHN; how pleased are you about all these awards? There are MANY now… It’s always pleasing to be recognised by your peers for the quality of what you do. Over the past few years we have been named European Distiller of the year for 3 consecutive years as well as World Distiller of the Year in 2008 and Malt Advocate’s Distillery of the year in 2010. We don’t make whiskey to win awards, we make whiskey to be enjoyed and savoured by whiskey drinkers around the world; awards are a nice bonus.

2. You obviously have a great team working with you, (we know a few) … Yes the quality of our whiskeys are testament to that. Cooley is a small operation and the team led by David Hynes started distilling in 1989. It has always been a work in progress with many learning their trade on the job. To think that in less than 20 years these dedicated people have been recognised as some of the best in the world at what they do is phenomenal. Our team also extends to our distribution partners all over the world who knock on doors and sell the whiskeys on our behalf.

3. Have you any plans for any special bottle releases soon? We are interested and I know my friends in Germany hang on for news – This year we have released two 18yr old whiskeys. Kilbeggan and Greenore. We are very excited by these releases and our focus is on getting distribution for these limited batch whiskeys. We have recently started distilling Single pot still whiskey in the traditional Irish way of malted and unmalted barley and we hope to release some new spirit as a potcheen later in the year. Paul’s note; my cousins make their own potcheen

4. How do you see Irish whiskey in relation to Scotch? Irish whiskey is a completely different category to Scotch. We have been distilling whiskey longer than in Scotland and for a long time up until the beginning of the 20th century Irish was the dominant force. I don’t like to generalise when it comes to describing whiskeys; there are variants in all categorys. I don’t class one as superior to the other; there is plenty of room in people’s glasses for Scotch, Irish, American, Canadian or Japanese.

5. You are the only Irish drams that double distill, is there a reason? There is no law in Ireland dictating how many times a whiskey should be distilled. By nature Irish whiskey is soft and mellow and we feel that double distillation keeps some of the extra flavours that can be distilled out with a third distillation run.

 6. Do you have any road shows or events lined up for this year? We met you in Holland at Whisky Live and hoping to see you again at Chester, sorry we cannee make Dublin whisky live, next year;  We are always on the road! We all travel quite extensively attending shows and events across the globe. Recently we have taken on some brand ambassadors in the United States and Germany who can attend many events on our behalf. In the next few weeks we have Whisky Live Dublin; the first event of its kind ever held in Dublin and at the beginning of June a large 5 day Food and Garden event run by the Irish Food Board in the Phoenix Park also in Dublin.
 
7. IF there is one whiskey you like best from your range, what is it and why? Always difficult to choose just one; different occasions and different moods call for different whiskeys. However since you are insisting (WE ARE JOHN, NAE HIDING FROM US) I would go for Connemara. I think Connemara has the perfect balance of all what is great about Irish whiskey; slightly sweet, balanced and mellow. All of these flavours are then wrapped up in a lovely light peating; a taste of how Irish whiskey used to be many years ago.
 
Paul McLean
Angels Whisky Club
www.angelswhiskyclub.com

Single Cask BottlingsThe team have been busy of late, foraging through the warehouses of BenRiach and GlenDronach, for casks that really are considered to be ‘the cream of the crop’. They will in turn form this year’s single cask bottlings. We’ve got some superb selections marked for July’s releases, including casks that have been maturing since 1971. We’re not quite ready for the grand unveiling of the final choices just yet, but watch this space over the coming weeks and keep an eye on our websites for updates.

BenRiach Website & GlenDronach Website

 New Releases

The GlenDronach 21yoIn addition to the single cask bottlings that will be released by the GlenDronach Distillery this year, we’re very excited to announce a brand new addition to our product portfolio – The GlenDronach 21yo

click here for more information

The Powers family distilled whiskey for seven generations and two centuries on John’s Lane in Dublin, and John Ryan is the seventh and final generation to carry on his family’s tradition. While the Powers Distillery closed nearly 40 years ago, its legacy is now part of Irish Distillers, and John shares that history with us in this episode. In the news, plenty of new whiskies, awards, auctions, and a chance to buy a piece of Ponzi scheme history!

Visit WhiskyCast at www.whiskycast.com

The Spirit of Unity Blended Whisky.

As sent to the Royal Mile customers who ordered specifically from them;

The response to this initiative to aid Japanese Disaster Relief has been overwhelming and as such all stock has been completely pre-sold.

This is the first time that there has been this level of cooperation between different independent distilleries to produce one bottle of whisky and due to the complex nature of the project there has been a delay.

Please rest assured that as soon as we receive the stock, your order will despatched as swiftly as possible.

Here is the latest information we have available:

“As the Spokesperson for the Spirit of Unity Project I would like to bring you up to date with regards to the availability of the bottles.

In bringing together such a unique bottling there are inevitably going to be a few hitches along the way and unfortunately this has been the case. As a result of some issues with the packaging we are now looking at bottling the whisky on May 18th with the stock available for despatch to Royal Mile Whiskies and then onwards to actual consumers/customers as soon as possible. Your patience in this matter is greatly appreciated and rest assured we are pulling out the stops to ensure you get your hands on the bottles as quickly as we can.

In terms of the objective of the project we are collaborating with an organisation called Refugees International Japan to put the funds to the best use possible. The CEO of RIJ, Jane Best, has recommended funding a number of long-term projects in the affected Tohoku area to assist with the rebuilding of this shattered community. More information on how the money is being spent will follow in due course.

Thank you once again for your terrific support of this very worthwhile cause” (Euan Mitchell, MD Isle of Arran Distillers)

We would hope that the inconvenience of this delay can be put into perspective and seen as relatively nothing compared to the hardship still being experienced in Japan. The most important thing is that the money raised by your generosity is already being used to get the disaster hit areas back on their feet. Here is a brief report from David Kroll who visited the affected areas late last month;

“Both Jane (from RIJ) and I have been up to the affected areas in the past couple of weeks and came back with very similar conclusions, namely that the first-aid stage is over. People have shelter and food, but haven’t even started to rebuild houses or livelihoods. If anything, there is too much short-term aid – people no longer need blankets and bottled water and indeed many places are now refusing to take any more.

Jane’s advice therefore, with which I concur, is to continue to make contacts locally and just wait a while for things to develop. Once the rebuilding starts for real, it should be a lot easier to identify projects that will make a real and long-lasting difference to people’s lives.”

For each bottle sold through Royal Mile Whiskies £40.94 (retail price, less VAT and Duty) per bottle has gone towards the relief effort. This equates to a grand total of £29,231.16 raised.

Thank you all for your great contribution.

The seven distilleries involved; 

THE ARRAN MALT
THE BENRIACH
BLADNOCH
THE GLENDRONACH
GLENGYLE
KILCHOMAN
SPRINGBANK

“The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention.”

Japanese proverb

Slainte!
Royal Mile Whiskies
Whisky Magazine’s ‘Retailer of the Year 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011’
379 Royal Mile
Edinburgh EH1 1PW

3 Bloomsbury Street
London WC1B 3QE

info@royalmilewhiskies.com

Hello Fellow Scotch Lovers –

Last weeks email for the Balvenie 21 YO Portwood created such an incredible response from you that we actually ran out of inventory, and were unable to fulfill all our orders.  So for this weeks offering, I sought out a similar whisky that might ease the disapointment of those who were shutout of last weeks offering.

Another of my favorite distilleries visited during my recent trip to Scotland was the Glengoyne distillery in Dumgoyne, on the south-western edge of the Scottish Highlands.  The name Glengoyne comes from ‘Glenguin’ or ‘Glen of the Wild Geese’, where they have been producing amazing whiskies since 1833.

Of course our distillery visit included time enjoyably spent nosing and tasting their range of whiskies. Every whisky tasted was thoroughly delectable, but the one that jumped out at me was their 21 Year Old Sherry Matured whisky.  And the regular retail price makes it an incredible value for a 21 YO whisky.

So this this weeks Whisky Wednesday opportunity: a really amazing 21 YO sherry matured whisky, at a great value price: Glengoyne 21 YO Sherry Cask Matured whisky for $109 (a whisky that is a steal at the reg $129.25).

As usual, the product supply at this price is very limited…and once it’s gone, it’s gone.  So please purchase your bottle(s) ASAP if you are interested.

Oh…and by the way…did I mention to keep a very close eye on these emails?  You should, because over the next few weeks I’ll be making some exciting announcements…including really great news about our Whisky Explorers Club…so STAY TUNED!

Doug Stone
Founder
www.ForScotchLovers.com

GLENGOYNE 21 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT WHISKY  
 
Like all of Glengoyne’s Single Malts, Glengoyne 21 YO is distilled from air-dried barley, untainted by harsh peat smoke, capturing the authentic ‘Real Taste of Malt’. First released in April 2007, Glengoyne 21 achieves the optimum balance of flavors and the maximum benefits from specially selected 100% first fill European Oak Sherry casks. Another four years in the cask sees Glengoyne 21 YO achieve the optimum balance of flavours and the maximum benefits from the wood.
 
DISTILLERY TASTING NOTES 

COLOR: Deep Copper, Meandering Legs

NOSE: Red apples, toffee, sherry, spicy strudel. 

PALATE: Initial taste of lots of Sherry, honey, oak with a developing aromatic sensation.

FINISH: Ends with a heavenly cinnamon nip.  The finish is long, sherry, spicy, warm and dry.

GLENGOYNE 21 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED WHISKY