The Master Blender

 

What’s the best whisky to go with Easter eggs?

Admit it, since you opened up those Easter eggs today you’ve been thinking “hmm, chocolate is nice, but what’s the best whisky to be having with them?”

And now I’m here to give you the answer…

As with all things involving whisky and chocolate, it really is a matter of preference – only an idiot would say there’s one definitive answer that covers every person, so get all your whisky bottles and Easter eggs out to mix and match and then when you find the right combination, just sip and savour away.

Having said that, the basic rule to consider is this: the darker the chocolate the older and more complex the whisky should be, so something like Whyte & Mackay 13 year old or Dalmore 15 year old whiskies for the standard milk chocolate Easter egg. If it’s darker perhaps something along the lines of the Dalmore King Alexander III, Dalmore Mackenzie or the Whyte & Mackay 30 year old (though I think that last one goes quite well with milk chocolate too).

How to taste it

Don’t just throw it all in your mouth and go “mmffm mmmmff mmfffm” and swallow – that’s the equivalent of just knocking back the whisky. (and for God’s sake don’t speak with your mouth full.)

If you’ve got coffee involved as well (because that can really add to the flavours), start with the coffee, feel the flavour rising through your mouth, warming it for what’s to come. Then take the whisky and – holding it in your mouth at least one second for every year the whisky is aged – move it over and under your tounge, letting the complexities of the dram come out. Finally, add the chocolate and the coffee and whisky will bring out the flavours embedded there, but again treat it with respect, enjoy it in your mouth, not just “chomp chomp chomp”.

And compare and contrast, try the coffee, chocolate and whisky without combining them to see what the pairings bring out in each of them.

But most of all, enjoy and have a fantastic Easter. (This arrived a little late but is sound advice none the less)

Visit Whyte & Mackay at http://www.whyteandmackay.co.uk

WHISKI Rooms

Address: 4, 6 & 7 North Bank Street, Edinburgh
Located on the Mound with fabulous open views over Edinburgh, just around the corner from Edinburgh Castle.

General Information

The WHISKI Rooms is due to open in early summer 2011 (planned for June) and will be a completely new concept in whisky retailing. Comprising of three separate units, (formerly two gift shops and a branch of the Bank of Scotland ) knocked through into three interlinked spaces, it will comprise a whisky shop with a dedicated tasting room, a bar and a bistro where customers can walk from one to the other.

The principle for the venture has came from customers repeatedly asking where they can buy the whiskies they tried and enjoyed in the original WHISKI bar. Hence the “try before you buy” concept has evolved where customers can try a whisky at the bar and if they like it, go into the whisky shop and buy it there and then or alternatively order it online and we will ship it to their home. With an all day fresh Scottish food offering, extensive drinks list including 100’s of whiskies, daily whisky tastings and educational videos being shown in the tasting room – we feel that the WHISKI Rooms will be a unique venue to promote and showcase Scotland’s national drink, whisky and Scottish produce in general.

Background

WHISKI launched in May 2007 on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile with the intention to create an upmarket whisky bar offering fresh Scottish food and a great Scottish experience in Edinburgh. Within two years the bar had received many awards and gathered a worldwide following, appearing in many TV shows and magazine articles across the globe. 

Owners Background

Owned by husband and wife team, Gary & Anne Still. After very successful corporate careers, they decided it was time to take the plunge and move into hospitality – a industry they had passion for and had talked about doing for years. They eventually bought Clever Dicks in the Royal Mile and took over in Dec 2006, launching WHISKI in May 2007. 

Main Contact : Anne Still

Web:       www.whiskibar.co.uk
Email:     info@whiskibar.co.uk
Twitter:   www.twitter.com/whiskibar

Charles Maclean is one of the world’s top whisky writers, and is marking 30 years of writing about the water of life this year. We’ll hear from this Master of the Quaich about how he developed his love for whisky and his nosing skills, along with what he likes and doesn’t like about whisky these days. In the news, Graham Eunson leaves Glenglassaugh to become distillery manager at Tomatin, Diageo’s Scotch distilleries show an increase in visitor traffic, and the UK prepares to mix whisky with politics…in one polling place.

Visit WhiskyCast at www.whiskycast.com

Tweeddale Whisky – What to do for Batch two?

Well the 1st Batch of Tweeddale whisky for 70 years is nearing an end. There are now only 120 bottles of Batch one of The Tweeddale Blend (10 year old) left in bond. Oh aye and case 1 containing the 1st 6 bottles from the 1st batch that are not for sale.

So what to do about batch two? Well it is back to my Great Grandfather’s cellar book and every batch of The Tweeddale blend he produced was slightly different as like me he had to work with the whisky that was available to him. Seven of the nine whiskies in batch two will be the same, from the same casks as batch one but two will be from two new casks. As we know every cask is different. Aye the perils of working with single cask whiskies to produce a wee batch of blend. Also I am planning to go for a slightly older grain whisky this time, my Great Grandfather was not limited by age statements (there was none on the original blend) but it is looking like batch two may well be a 12 year old so no more 10 year old Tweeddale Blend!

Don’t worry though batch one is still available from Loch Fyne Whiskies; The Whisky Exchange; Gordon & MacPhails; Masters of Malt; Vino Wines; Wood & Winters; Clyde Whiskies; Robbies Drams; Abbey Wines; Penicuik Wines and Royal Mile Whiskies currently have a promotional offer on batch one. Also the Good Spirit Company will have batch one of The Tweeddale Blend when they open next month.

There will also be Tweeddale Whisky tastings at The Scotch Whisky Experience shop this Easter Saturday 23rd April; at Whisky An’ A’ That VIII – Whisky Festival in Ayr on 4th June.

For more details see our website The Tweeddale Blend

Regards,
Alasdair.

Discover the lost blend……..
Coming soon Batch 2 (hopefully June 2011)
THE TWEEDDALE BLEND.

http://www.stonedean.co.uk
http://twitter.com/@tweeddaleblend
http://www.facebook.com/Tweeddale-Blend/

Hi everyone,

I am particularly busy this week, supporting Grant’s events in Paris, Philadelphia and New York. I actually woke up in the US this morning feeling surprisingly refreshed after a few hours sleep and it did cross my mind that perhaps I had overslept and the time may be 6pm not am. Thankfully, it wasn’t…(click on the link below to read the rest of the post)…

http://blog.grantswhisky.com/2011/04/grant%e2%80%99s-live-in-paris/

Kind regards,
Ludo

Fiona’s Secret

This February saw the start of Glengoyne’s Shop refurbishment project. Things have progressed rather smoothly, with no major hiccups.

According to Glengoyne Retail Manager, Fiona McManus, “we’ve worked with our designers to create what we think might just be the WORLD’S GREATEST WHISKY SHOP. That is quite a boast, but it’s one I am happy to make. There are some wonderful features, which you won’t see anywhere else and I am convinced the overall effect will be stunning. The work is now very close to completion, but we are not revealing any further details at this stage. You’ll just have to await your next newsletter, or better still, visit Glengoyne in mid April to see for yourself.”

Well folks, that’s our Fiona for you, she always did play her cards close to her chest.

Duncan’s Long Walk

 
Glengoyne Stillman Duncan McNicoll has talked his family into walking The West Highland Way to raise money for a very worthy cause.

Five of them will step out at the end of April on the four-day, 95 mile walk that passes Glengoyne on its way to Glencoe and Fort William. Duncan, his brother John and John’s son Craig will be raising money for charities that help sick children.

Duncan volunteered for the walk after a chance discussion with a couple visiting Glengoyne, who were keen to raise funds for their grandson who had been very ill. They will set off early on April 29th and will pass Glengoyne around midday. We’ll cheer as they pass, perhaps you could raise a dram of Glengoyne to help them on their way. If you’d like to know more, or how to contribute directly, please contact yvonne@glengoyne.com

500,000,000 Drams

Life at sleepy wee Glengoyne will be changing; just a little bit.

For decades we have stored as much of our whisky here as possible, but have been sending a few Glengoyne casks for storage with some of our friends in the industry too. We have now augmented our traditional Dunnage warehouses with some shiny new, modern ones, which will mean we can now house around 50,000 casks on site, a tenfold increase. Glengoyne will still make the worlds slowest distilled Single Malt Whisky, but the pace of life for our Warehousemen (and Warehouselady – sorry Steph) will never be quite the same again.

Robbie, our distillery manager believes that our new warehouses will “make things easier and more efficient for the company and will represent a significant saving on transport and third party warehouse rent. This will secure current job expenditure and has created three full time posts. The warehouses have given the Glengoyne site a real boost of activity. Do you realise that 50,000 casks equate to half a billion drams? My goodness, you are a thirsty lot!”

Glengoyne Ahoy!

Next month sees the start of our new partner-ship with Cruise Glasgow, the Greenock Ocean Terminal which attracts some of the finest vessels afloat to visit Scotland’s sun-kissed shores.

What better way to be welcomed ashore than with a healthy dram of Glengoyne.

During their two day stay, a goodly portion of the passengers will visit Glengoyne, to see for themselves Scotland’s slowest distilled whisky trickle out of our Stills. The Glengoyne crew really know the ropes and will be happy to show them around our tightly run little ship. Full steam ahead.

10% Off for Father’s Day

We are offering our loyal newsletter readers 10% Off Glengoyne Personalised Bottles in the run up to Father’s Day (19th June). This discount is in addition to the existing promotion of Personalised Bottles for the price of Standard Bottles. Use the discount code DAD10 at the Glengoyne Online Shop.   Visit the Glengoyne Online Shop >

And finally…You’ll Be Flocking Here Now

We are building a new car park.

Let’s be honest, this isn’t the most exciting news for you, but it’s a big thing for us – you try sharing your work car park with 200 whisky casks, a tractor, two diggers and a flock of sheep and you’d soon see why we are so excited.

The car park will have separate areas for coach and visitor parking, which will make parking at the distillery more accessible. Sheep will now be banned, but you are more than welcome to come try it out.

Visit Glengoyne Distillery at www.glengoyne.com

A VERY GOOD FRIDAY: 15% off orders

Of course every First Friday of the month is a good Friday with the release of the Society’s monthly Outturns but this Friday is A VERY GOOD FRIDAY indeed

As part of our Easter Sale Finale, enjoy a massive online saving of 15% off your order.  The only bottles that aren’t part of the offer are those already discounted.  And the sale doesn’t end until Easter Monday.

LAST CALL FOR EASTER SALE BOTTLES:

Majestic Malt:
35.54 Bubbly, buoyant and up-beat
Speyside Lossie
ONLY £40.00 inc free p&p (SAVE £8.50)

The Royal ‘We’: 76.80 & 9.61
ONLY £82.50 inc free p&p (SAVE £18.70)

Mystery Malt Hoilday Pack
ONLY £105 inc free p&p (SAVE £40+)

ALL offers available online & telephone

Society Tastings & Events (34 Society tastings online)
Easter Chocolate Tasting – The Vaults, Sun 24 Apr
Society Whisky Dinner – Winchester HDV, Thu 28 Apr
Newcastle Preview Tasting – Northern Counties Club, Thu 28 Apr
Glasgow Preview Tasting – Radisson Blu, Fri 29 Apr
Whisky & Cheese Tasting – Queen Street, Fri 29 Apr
Music with Andy Johnstone – The Vaults, Sun 1 May (FREE EVENT)
New Outturn Tasting – The Vaults, Sun 8 May
Champagne Cocktail Masterclass – Queen Street, Thu 12 May
Stewart’s Beer Tasting – The Vaults, Fri 13 May
New Members Tasting – London, Mon 16 May
Champagne Tasting – Queen Street, Sat 21 May

Society Whisky Tastings

Whatever and wherever our tasting or event, the main focus is to give members an informal, enjoyable and relaxed night out..with a taste of the single cask good stuff!

Events range from step by step instruction in how to get the most from tasting single cask, single malt whisky to more adventurous couplings of whisky with food.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ
Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm).

Visit the Society at http://www.smws.co.uk/memberships for your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers. 

The Scotch Whisky Experience

Hi,

I was in Edinburgh last week for a series of meetings and I took this opportunity to visit the newly refurbished Scotch Whisky Experience (SWE), located at the top of the Royal Mile.

In case you have not heard, about a year ago, Diageo, Scotland’s largest distiller, purchased the world’s biggest whisky collection from a Brazilian……(click on the link below to read the rest of the post)…

http://blog.grantswhisky.com/2011/04/the-scotch-whisky-experience/

Kind regards,
Ludo

Binny’s Storewide Easter Sale

Canadian LTD 1.75L…$10.99
Canadian Club 1.75L…$16.99
Crown Royal 1.75L…$37.99
Cutty Sark Scotch 1.75L…$19.99
Dalmore 12 Year Old Scotch…$39.99
Dewar’s White Label 1.75L…. $26.99
Glenlivet 12 Year Old Scotch…$26.99
House Of Stuart Scotch 1.75L…$14.99
Jack Daniels Black 1.75L…$34.99
Jim Beam Black…$18.99
Jim Beam Bourbon 1.75L…$21.99
Johnnie Walker Black Label $24.99
Knob Creek Bourbon…$24.99
Southern Comfort 1.75L…$19.99

*Prices valid W/Binny’s Card April 20 through April 26, 2011. Not responsible for misprints or typographical errors. Sizes 750ml unless otherwise stated. Advertised items limited to quantities on hand.
 
Don’t forget to use your Binny’s Card!
Get discounts on mixed case wine purchases and work towards a 2% rebate on every $500 of eligible purchases. Get your free card at a Binny’s near you.

Visit Binny’s at www.binnys.com