Whisky Magazine names Federal Wine & Spirits National ‘Retailer of the Year’

Whisky Magazine is based in the UK, but is the international journal of record for scotch whisky. We’re proud (and I’m humble) that they have given us this honor, the first time to our knowledge for a Massachusetts store. It was against some pretty impressive competition, too: Park Ave in New York, Town in Rhode Island, Party Source in Kentucky etc., but Whisky Magazine was probably impressed that we could fit so many malts in so small a space. If you haven’t already, this might give you a reason to come in to see us.

…and so we enter the 21st century

In an effort to remain on the cutting edge in these fickle times we are pleased to announce that we have a Twitter. Also a facebook. We would really appreciate it you would “like”, “friend”, and “follow” us on these exciting new platforms such that we are better able to communicate with you, our friends whom we like and follow. We will be using these fancy mediums to increasingly keep you up to date on events, new arrivals, and to answer any questions you may have. The addresses for these thingies are as follows:

Twitteh
and
facebook

We look forward to traveling with you on the information super-highway, I guess we get to use the carpool lane!

Joe Howell
Federal Wine & Spirits
Email: joe@federalwine.com
Phone: (617) 367-8605
Web: http://www.federalwine.com/

BEST IN FIELD

Black Bull 12yo awarded Best Blended Scotch at World Whisky Awards

BEST BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY 12 YEARS AND UNDER

Rob Allanson, Editor

Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky are proud to announce that Black Bull 12 year old, our award winning deluxe blended scotch whisky has been crowned ‘Best Blended Scotch Whisky aged 12 years and under’ at the World Whisky Awards 2011.

Tenaciously fending off the comcompetition, Black Bull 12yo impressed the judges with its robust, powerful yet sublimely balanced character to be recognised as the very best in its field, globally.

Stoically Independent and without compromise, Black Bull 12yo is blended at an unusually high ratio of 50% malt to grain whisky. Released at a muscular 50% abv the blend offers a unique sensory experience and delivers indulgent, uncompromised depth. Like all Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky, Black Bull 12yo celebrates nature; unfettered by chill filtration and artificial colouring, it allows the character of each carefully selected malt and grain whisky to shine through.

The Black Bull brand has been synonymous with quality and innovation since 1938 when it became the first ever 100 proof blend to be sold in the US. Following a rebranding in 2008, Black Bull’s stature and range has grown, winning critical acclaim and a plethora of awards including the International Wine and Spirits competition, Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible and the New York International Wine and Spirits contest.

WWW.BLACKBULLWHISKY.COM

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

What  a month of celebrations. 1 royal wedding, 4 bank holidays, Easter, Spring, sunshine.  How are you celebrating?

We hope there will be some English Whisky in the house so we wanted to remind you that here at the English Whisky Co. we have kept our prices the same as before the VAT increase and the recent increase in excise duty, this won’t last forever.  Stock up on Chapter 6 and Chapter 9  while offer lasts.

Just to remind you that all our whisky is colour and additive free and non-chillfiltered single malt whisky.  A great addition to any bank holiday celebrations

Visit our shop today http://www.englishwhisky.co.uk/acatalog/home.html Or visit our website for Easter opening times and tour information.

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

Glenfiddich Rolls Out the “Cask of Dreams”

Iconic Single Malt Scotch Whisky Launches Nationwide Campaign to Foster the New American Pioneering Spirit

NEW YORK, – Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded Single Malt Scotch Whisky, today announced the launch of Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams – an exciting new campaign designed to inspire people across the nation to pursue their pioneering dreams, and help them to achieve them.  An extension of the groundbreaking Glenfiddich “One Day You Will” advertising campaign, Cask of Dreams will combine a series of activities, including a global survey, high profile stunts, celebration events and a partnership with a likeminded charity, to bring the spirit of a pioneer to life in the U.S.  Starting in April, this nationwide initiative will see Glenfiddich travelling across the country, visiting major cities, where Glenfiddich Ambassadors Heather Greene, Freddy May and Mitch Bechard will roll actual casks around the streets, encouraging people to write their dreams and aspirations on them, and offering people the chance to win one of a series of trips to help them achieve their pioneering goals.

This nationwide campaign is inspired by the results of an international survey detailing global attitudes to innovation and what it means to be a pioneer in the 21st Century. Performed by leading London-based research company The Future Laboratory, the survey highlights numerous surprising findings, most significantly the fact that a small but dedicated segment of society (17%) considers itself pioneering, and that perceptions of what it means to be a pioneer have shifted to include a variety of new disciplines and attitudes, including a focus on philanthropy (87%) and innovation (85%).  In addition, the survey, which also contains a dedicated description of “The American Dreamer”, found that, despite their overwhelming desires to be pioneer, people in the U.S felt that there were numerous obstacles – most notably economic constraints (62%) and fear of failure (23%) – in the way of them achieving their pioneering goals.  The Cask of Dreams campaign exists to encourage, inspire and assist people in realizing those goals with a combination of prizes, incentives and philanthropic pursuits.

At the end of the campaign, the written on casks will be sent to the storied Glenfiddich distillery in Scotland, where they will be used to finish a special limited edition expression of Glenfiddich, which will then be sold in the U.S in early 2012.  This exclusive bottling will be performed in conjunction with Glenfiddich charity partner, the National Geographic Explorer’s Program, which, like the campaign, supports uniquely gifted adventurers, scientists, photographers, and writers by helping them accomplish their pioneering goals. As part of this partnership, Glenfiddich will also be using the campaign to fund several National Geographic expeditions, by donating $1 every time somebody shares their dream via a dedicated web site, www.caskofdreams.com.

“We are extremely happy to see that the spirit of a pioneer is still very much alive and well in the U.S.,” said David Bitran, Senior Marketing Manager for Glenfiddich. “Since our founder William Grant first set out on his own, and built our distillery with his bare hands, nurturing self belief , innovation and our unique “One Day You Will” spirit has been extremely important to us.  Whether it is our establishment of the Single Malt category or our constant drive to innovate and pioneer within the category, we have proudly carried our founder’s philosophy through the years.  With the Cask of Dreams campaign, we are offering people across the United States the opportunity not only to achieve their dreams, but to help realize the dreams of others and delight in life’s adventures.”

In addition to the Cask of Dreams campaign, Glenfiddich will also be giving out a series of dream trips to people interested in exploring their adventurous and culinary pursuits.  To find out more about the Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams campaign and become involved, please visit www.caskofdreams.com. 

For additional information about Cask of Dreams, including survey results, and for the opportunity to interview a Future laboratory representative about the survey, please contact:

Ashley Wallace
Maloney & Fox
646-356-8332
awallace@maloneyfox.com

www.caskofdreams.com

About William Grant & Sons

William Grant & Sons, Ltd. is an independent family-owned distiller headquartered in the United Kingdom and founded by William Grant in 1887. Today, the luxury spirits company is run by the fifth generation of his family and distills some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s most awarded single malt Glenfiddich®, The Balvenie® range of handcrafted single malts and the world’s fourth largest blended Scotch Grant’s® as well as other iconic spirits brands such as Hendrick’s® Gin, Sailor Jerry® Rum, Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey and the award-winning Milagro® Tequila.

Among the most recent accolades for the well-awarded company, William Grant & Sons was honored as the “Distiller of the Year” for the fourth time in five years by the prestigious International Spirits Challenge.

Founded in 1964, William Grant & Sons USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of William Grant & Sons, Ltd. and features one of the fastest growing spirits portfolios in the USA with brands including Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Hendrick’s Gin, Sailor Jerry Rum, Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Milagro Tequila, Stolichnaya Vodka, Grant’s, Hudson Whiskey, Clan MacGregor, Reyka Vodka, Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur, Lillet, Licor 43, Art In The Age, The Knot and BOLS cordials. The company has offices in New York City (sales and marketing) and Edison, NJ (bottling and warehouse facilities). For more information on the company and its brands, please visit www.grantusa.com.

The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd is delighted to announce the appointment of Graham Eunson as Distillery Manager. This appointment will take affect as of the 1st of August 2011.

Eunson joins Tomatin from Glenglassaugh Distillery where he has spent the last 3 years in the role of Distillery Manager. Prior to that he was Distillery Manager at Glenmorangie for 12 years.

Stephen Bremner, Sales Director at Tomatin said “we are absolutely delighted that Graham has agreed to join us as Distillery Manager. He brings with him a wealth of experience having worked in some of Scotland’s top distilleries. We are very much committed to developing our range of single malts and feel that Graham can play a very important role in fulfilling that strategy.

Visit Tomatin Distillery at www.tomatin.com

Chris Bunting, who is probably best known among whisky drinkers for his www.Nonjatta.com blog about Japanese whisky, has just published a new guide to Japanese alcohol culture with Tuttle Publishing Ltd.

Drinking Japan is a 288-page guide based on a year and a half spent travelling around Japan exploring its unique alcohol culture.

Bunting says: “Many people may know me for various bits of writing I have done about Japanese whisky, but I have tried to go beyond that in Drinking Japan. It explores the history and development of Japanese whisky and there are detailed descriptions of the best of Japan’s world-famous whisky bars, but the book is also probably the first attempt in English to comprehensively explore the whole of Japanese alcohol culture.”

“Researching Japanese whisky gradually convinced me that trying to it in isolation from its environment, as an odd offshoot of the Scottish whisky, was a fundamental misunderstanding. I came to realise that I had to try to look at it in the context of the whole of Japanese alcohol culture and history, and that is the journey Drinking Japan took me on,” Bunting says.

“I think it really is the first attempt to comprehensively look at this culture in English.”

Drinking Japan offers extensive descriptions of Japanese alcohol’s development from prehistory to the extraordinary diversity it shows today. As well as whisky, there is a long chapter on the history of sake and the contemporary sake world, and the first extensive descriptions in an English-language book of Japan’s indigenous spirits, shochu and awamori. Whole chapters are devoted to the country’s beer and wine industries, offering insights that have until now not been available to readers in English, and there is also discussion of the development of Japan’s unique bar tending culture and its critical role in the postwar flowering of the Japanese bar scene.

The book is also practical guide, offering richly illustrated reviews of 122 of Bunting’s favourite bars in Japan. The entries are written with the newly arrived visitor to Japan in mind, with detailed price guides, language help, advice on food and drink choices, and maps and directions to get visitors to the bars if they go to Japan. There is an appendix offering help to the complete beginner on reading Japanese alcohol labels and tackling other language problems.

Half of the author’s earnings will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society’s earthquake relief effort.

Book site: http://drinkingjapan.com/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Drinking-Japan-Japans-Drinks-Establishments/dp/4805310545/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303117216&sr=1-1
Publisher: http://tuttlepublishing.com/