GLENFIDDICH RELEASES ‘DISTILLERY EDITION’

Whisky explorers offered exceptional 51% ABV expression of world’s favourite

The world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky, Glenfiddich, has, for the first time, released its 15 Year Old ‘Distillery Edition’ single malt in a handful of selected domestic markets around the world.

The non chill-filtered, Glenfiddich ‘Distillery Edition’ 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky is bottled at 51% ABV and will appeal to whisky explorers and enthusiasts looking for a characteristically elegant Glenfiddich with a slightly higher strength.  

Commented Glenfiddich’s Malt Master, David Stewart:  “Glenfiddich Distillery Edition is a classic expression of Glenfiddich with a higher strength which adds complexity.  Characteristically, we have married the matured single malts for Distillery Edition in Glenfiddich’s unique oak marrying tuns to ensure a consistently, well-balanced and elegant signature malt.  We have married Glenfiddich single malts in this way for almost 40 years and remain the only single malt distillery to do so.” 

Matured in American and European oak casks, including Oloroso sherry casks, which add to its truly exceptional and distinct character, Glenfiddich ‘Distillery Edition’ boasts a deep, golden barley colour. Its delicate floral aroma is punctuated with hints of freshly ground black pepper and vanilla. Creamily smooth on the palate, these floral and spicy black pepper notes gently mingle with luscious fruit and a hint of sherry wood, lazily lingering to a sweet and warm, velvety finish.  

Glenfiddich Distillery Edition is part of the award-winning range of Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whiskies which also includes Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 18 Year Old, 21 Year Old, 30 Year Old, 40 Year Old, selected Vintage Reserves and the world’s rarest and oldest single malt Scotch, Glenfiddich 1937 Vintage, which was bottled as a 64 year old in 2001.  Only 61 bottles were available and very few remain.

 ends

Notes to editors

·         Reigning ISC Distiller of the Year William Grant & Sons Ltd has been awarded seven gold medals at both the 2008 International Spirits Challenge (ISC) and the 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) and for its highly regarded portfolio of premium spirits brands. 

·         William Grant & Sons is an independent family-owned distiller founded by William Grant in 1886 and today still controlled by the fifth generation of his family.  The Company distils some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s favourite single malt Glenfiddich^®, the handcrafted range of The Balvenie^® single malts and one of the world’s leading blended Scotches, Grant’s^®, as well as selected other spirits, including Hendrick’s^® Gin and Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

·         Click on http://www.williamgrant.com/for more information on the Company and its brands.

The John Black Selection No 4

Tullibardine Vintage 1988 Cask no:540 Sherry Hogshead

As part of the Homecoming Celebrations Tullibardine Distillery have bottled the 4th John Black Selection which is a single cask from a sherry hogshead Vintage 1988. John was arranging for a selection of casks from the 1988 Vintage to go to bottling for the normal Tullibardine range. One cask stood out as a truly exceptional one that deserved to be treated as a single cask bottling in its own right.

This single malt has a lovely autumnal and russet brown colour. There are varying levels of aromas from Demerara sugar, a hint of maple syrup with a touch of orange blossom. To taste the alcohol is there but is integrated with balanced acidity and a viscosity that fills the mouth. Orange and chocolate flavours abound with a lovely crème brulée character that runs through to the finish with hints of barley at the end. Remarkably subtle yet very complex, this is a cask that has provided a Single Malt of real character, charm and finesse. Bottled at cask strength – 56% there are 306 bottles available.

For more information on Tullibardine please visit http://www.tullibardine.com/front.aspx

MAGNUS HAS THE BIGGEST COLLECTION OF BENRIACH!
  
A Swede has the biggest collection of BenRiach malt whisky in the world. Magnus Fagerstrom (44) from Helsingborg in the south of the country started collecting BenRiach two years ago and now has 201 different bottles plus miniatures and toy trucks with the BenRiach logo on the side! Here, Magnus explains how his interest in BenRiach has grown over the years, how he has painstakingly put his collection together, the generosity of other fans, the detective work required to make the collection complete and, in Magnus’s opinion, the best BenRiach ever.
 
“Back in May 2004, I started to keep a record of which whiskies I tasted and over the next five years I evaluated almost 2800 different types. I then started to think about collecting full bottles but first I had to establish three important criteria.
 
“Number one is, of course, that it has to be a very good whisky. A friend of mine, Anders Melin, had given me some BenRiach, so that was the first criterion met. BenRiach it would be!
 
“Secondly, it had to be possible to get a complete collection. Before Billy Walker and his colleagues took over BenRiach, there was only one distillery bottling made, so that criterion was also met.
 
“In addition, I had to track down all the expressions and as I started collecting three years after the first new releases came, I had to investigate which ones had been issued and how to get hold of them. Two people gave me excellent help – Belgian collector Bert Bruyneel and Alistair Walker at BenRiach. The two most important criteria were therefore met.
 
“Thirdly, it had to be affordable and I thought it was.
 
“The final thing that convinced me I should collect BenRiach is that it was re-started in 1965 after 65 years of silence. I was born in 1965 so I thought that coincidence was an extra fun thing! Unfortunately, there were no casks from 1965 still in stock when Billy took over and I doubt whether there ever were any 1965 bottled as I haven’t heard of any.
 
“In collecting BenRiach, I’ve had excellent help from many friends around the world. I’ve been in contact with wonderful people in Taiwan, Japan, South Africa and all over Europe to get hold of different bottles for my collection. After a lot of research, there were just four bottles missing from the collection.
 
“I tried to buy them from Bert but initially he declined my offer. But then all of a sudden he said I could buy his whole collection of 80 bottles. His price was reasonable so I got a loan from my bank to fund the purchase. So now I have all the official bottlings ever made in my collection…as far as I know anyway!
 
“You might ask: why does a Swede get so excited about BenRiach? The answer is I like the fact that BenRiach has both peated and unpeated whisky. I also like the packaging and all the stuff that BenRiach does. And after I visited the distillery a few weeks ago I am even more excited. I had a great time with Stewart Buchanan that day.
 
“I’m often asked what is the oldest BenRiach I have. Age-wise, the oldest one is the BenRiach 40 year old but if we are talking about when it was bottled I have a BenRiach 1969 that was bottled in 1981.
 
“And the most I have ever paid for a bottle of BenRiach is £740 which I paid for the 40-year-old.
 
“Taste-wise, my favourite BenRiach bottling is the 1976, cask 3557, bottled for La Maison du Whisky in France. It is a fantastic dram. Very close behind is the 1976, cask 8079, bottled exclusively for the famous Craigellachie Hotel in Speyside. 1968 and 1976 seem to have been fantastic years for BenRiach.
 
“Another favourite is the 1980, cask 2535, Virgin Oak at 55%. It’s a very special whisky that has spent 26 years in a virgin cask. Actually, that is something that shouldn’t work but with BenRiach these virgin casks are excellent. There are some 1994 virgin casks released that are very good too.
 
“Collection-wise, my favourite bottlings are some of the special ones, like the “Cape Of Storms” bottles bottled for South Africa. A very special bottle is the 1994, cask 3244. It was bottled for Whisk-e in Japan and I have two different ones. One is made for Isetan (168 bottles) with the text “Exclusively for Isetan” on the label and the other doesn’t have that wording. Bottling dates are one month apart and there are only 60 bottles made without the Isetan text on the label.
 
“The fact is I have not tasted all of the BenRiachs in my collection, as some are just too valuable to open. I have not been able to afford to buy doubles of all of them, but I try to buy an extra bottle so I can taste them. I still have quite a few doubles that I haven’t opened yet, but there are a few bottles for which I don’t have doubles. I hope the distillery will provide me with samples of new bottlings so I can try them without having to buy double bottles. For independent bottlings, I only buy one of each as it is the distillery bottlings that are number one in my collection.
 
“I currently have 201different bottles of BenRiach: 45 are non-vintage distillery bottlings, 84 are single cask distillery bottlings and 72 are independent bottlings. I have ordered another 1 distillery bottling and 1 independent bottle but they haven’t arrived yet. I also have 9 miniatures and 12 toy trucks with BenRiach advertisements on the sides!
 
“I have some great stories about my collection. For example, I knew there was a 12-year-old called “Cape of Storms” exclusively bottled for South Africa. I had no idea how to get hold of one but a friend put me in touch with someone who had one. Unfortunately, after a lot of negotiations the guy backed out. I started to search the Internet and found a 16-year-old on WhiskyLive’s website in Cape Town. They forwarded my email to the importer in South Africa and he wrote back to say he had a special gift pack with both the 12 and 16-year-old! I emailed back, sent him a link to my webpage with my BenRiach collection, and the next day I got a very nice email. He had shown my collection to the two South African partners in BenRiach, Geoff Bell and Wayne Keiswetter, and they also liked what they saw. As it was close to my birthday, they sent me the two bottles as a gift! When the bottles arrived I had to pay Swedish tax, but I did that happily. And when I opened the box, inside was a “Happy Birthday” card signed by both Wayne and Geoff! I treasure that card almost as much as the “Cape of Storms” bottles!
 
“Another wonderful story relates to the time I picked up the bottles I bought from Bert Bruyneel. He kindly arranged a tasting which we finished with a 1976 bottled for the Craigellachie Hotel and then another 1976 for La Maison du Whisky. He told me to buy as many 1976 LMdWs as possible but at 195 euros I had only bought one; after tasting it I cursed myself for not having bought more. There was of course one in the collection I bought so I do have one extra for drinking. I tried to convince Bert to sell me another one as he had some unopened, but he refused. He said I was more than welcome to come and visit him and help him drink it but, as he put it: “This is the best BenRiach ever and I want it to last for the rest of my life”, so I totally understand that he holds on tightly to the ones he has!
 
“Everyone is different when it comes to how they drink BenRiach but personally I first taste everything neat. When evaluating, I always add a few drops of water to see what it does for the whisky. When I drink for pure pleasure I prefer it neat or sometimes with some water. Some whiskies are best neat even when they are very high in alcohol and others need some water to open them up a bit. But ice is an absolute no-no when it comes to my BenRiach!
 
“I’m often asked to sum up the unique appeal of BenRiach. I would say: “classic fruity Speyside with a peaty twist.
“I’m not a great fan of food with whisky as I prefer to have my whisky by itself. At tastings I use dark chocolate and crackers to cleanse the palate and sometimes coffee when it’s a big tasting, but I haven’t yet found any food with which I would like to drink whisky. A cigar once in a while with a nice whisky is good too.
 
“I have tasted BenRiach in many places but the best place was in Warehouse 13 at the distillery in the splendid company of BenRiach’s Distillery Manager Stewart Buchanan. Tasting BenRiach directly from the cask is unbeatable and I can’t wait for that 1970 sherry cask to be bottled!
 
“Probably the most memorable place I’ve tasted it was when I held my big BenRiach tasting with 32 guests, including Alan McConnochie from BenRiach / GlenDronach, and 21 different BenRiach single casks here in Helsingborg. Along one of the walls we set up shelves and on them was my whole BenRiach collection plus miniatures and toy trucks with the BenRiach logos. No-one else can set up a surrounding like that!
 
Here’s a full list of all the whiskies we tasted and the tasting order.
Benriach Cask 4043, hogshead, 261 btls 33 1972 2005 49% OB
Benriach Cask 4005, hogshead, 254 btls 34 1970 2004 51,2% OB
Benriach Cask 2382, hogshead, 158 btls 38 1966 2004 50% OB
Benriach Cask 1589, hogshead, 209 btls 26 1978 2004 54,3% OB
Benriach Cask 7007, Gomez Sherry Butt, 542 btls 30 1975 2006 55% OB
Benriach Cask 10985, hogshead, 228 btls 25 1979 2005 57,5% OB
Benriach Cask 4469, Peated, Port Pipe, 649 bts 30 1976 2007 55,5% OB
Benriach Cask 316, Barrel, 240 btls 18 1986 2004 46% OB for Van Wees, Netherlands
Benriach Cask 627, hogshead, 253 btls 20 1984 2004 55% OB
Benriach Cask 2535, new wood, 238 btls 26 1980 2006 55% OB
Benriach Cask 594, hogshead, 240 btls 20 1984 2005 60% OB for Potstill, Austria
Benriach Cask 9632, Peated, butt, 663 btls 19 1986 2006 55% OB
Benriach Cask 285, Peated, barrel, 201 bottles 19 1986 2005 58,6% OB
Benriach Cask 4049, Peated, Port hhd, 294 btls 22 1984 2007 54,2% OB
Benriach Cask 76257, bourbon barrel, 251 btls 15 1993 2008 53,0% OB for Potstill, Austria
Benriach Cask 6888, Dark Rum barrel, 268 btls 15 1991 2006 54,3% OB for Sun Favourite, Taiwan
Benriach Cask 4023, virgin oak, 311 btls 14 1994 2008 53,5% OB for Germany
Benriach Cask 828, hogshead, 357 btls 11 1994 2005 46% OB for Van Wees, Netherlands
Benriach Cask 303, heavily peated 13 1994 2007 58,3% OB for Whisk-e, Japan
Benriach Cask 807, oloroso sherry butt, 700 btls 12 1994 2006 56,0% OB for MacY, Denmark
Benriach Cask 4017, Peated, Port hhd, 240 btls 13 1994 2007 56,1% OB for ALKO, Finland

 
We started with the oldest ones when our palates were still fresh. We had 6 from the 70s and 1 from the 60s. I chose to have the only 1966 released as it is the oldest vintage available. The tasting was divided into sections of 2 hours tasting, 1 hour food break, 2 hour tasting, 1 hour food break and another 2 hour tasting. After the first food break we had the 1980s and we finished the day off with the 1990s.
 
My personal favourites at the tasting were the 1970, cask 4005; the 1978, cask 1589; the 1975, cask 7007 and the 1980, cask 2535. We didn’t vote for the best one of the evening but they were all excellent.
 
If you’d like to know more about my love of BenRiach, go to http://www.magnuswhisky.com/ or email me at info@magnuswhisky.com
 
Best wishes,
 
Magnus

Picture of Magnus with some of his collection attached.

ends                                                   26 June 2009

Issued on behalf of Magnus and BenRiach by Alan Clark Communications, 01324 875454

Cask Ends Sale: Back for an Encore
Mon 22 June to Thu 2 July
Members loved our last Cask Ends Sale, so much so we’re offering another bite of the cherry.

Back is our ever-popular Mystery Malt parcel with a selection of spectacular Society single casks. We’re also mixing things up with three Regional parcels and parcels from both the Speyside and Highland regions. We’ve given the identity of one bottle in these parcels but the rest are a mystery.

You can be certain that all the bottles taking centre-stage are one-of-a-kind, Society single cask, single Scotch malts.

Parcel prices start from only £80!
Availability is very limited and the sale ends Thu 2 July. So in other words, be quick to bag your parcel.

Full detaisl on membership and how to purchase excellent Society malts visit http://www.smws.co.uk/shop/whisky/

Academy Curtain Call June 23rd http://www.bruichladdich.com/
The academy, our hands-on, practical distilling experience will end this autumn.
It was Jim’s long held dream to host whisky enthusiasts and trade members at the distillery, to let them experience all aspects of the traditional whisky-making process.  It started in the spring of 2003, with groups of no more than six at any one time and quickly attracted people from all over the world. Some, notably a brain surgeon from California, enjoyed it so much they came three times. The essence has been on practical participation and dialogue rather than some slick away day, sales-orientated, corporate indoctrination.
But, since the academy was started, our business has grown rapidly.  At 800,000 OLAs we are now distilling four times as much Bruichladdich and we are bottling four times as much whisky. The burden of running the academy along these lines, with the continuing rapid growth of the company and the ever increasing health and safety implications, has simply become too demanding.
Rather than offer a scaled-down version or make it less personal, which would fundamentally undermine the very essence of the concept, Jim has decided to call it a day on the academy.
The last academy session will therefore be week commencing 5th October.

Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,

Some news just can’t wait to be shared. It is still over a day away, but I can’t resist informing you that there is a new Ardbeg in town! Late last week while perusing the new offerings of wine, beer and spirits in the Province something caught my eye. Could it be, a new bottling of Ardbeg for Albertan’s to drool over? It was, and as I write this, it is winding its way from the Connect Logistics warehouse in St. Albert, to the Kensington Wine Market here in Calgary. I’ve been petitioning Ardbeg and their representatives in Canada, Charton Hobbs, for years to treat us to some of the more rare and limited expressions of this fine dram. I can’t take full credit for the arrival of the Arigh Nam Beist, though I’ve sent countless e-mails about it and other expressions of Ardbeg over the past four years. What I will suggest though, is that persistence pays off. Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th President of the United States once wrote: “Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” When it comes to Ardbeg, persistence is not just a virtue, it’s an obligation… so I will press on… now if only we can get some Supernova around here! More to read about Ardbeg below.

It is also just over a week until the first of two Whisky Democracy tastings. The Whisky Democracy tastings were born out of a desire to share our passion for single malts with all of you, and maybe do a little good along the way. The purpose of these tastings is to select the next two casks of whisky to be bottled for the Kensington Wine Market, and the samples are already enroute from BenRiach and Springbank distilleries for the occasions. Two of the things that makes these tastings so unique, are: firstly, the opportunity to sample whiskies right out of the barrel (Most whiskies are filtered and watered down before bottling, and such experiences can normally only be had at a handful of Scottish distilleries.); and secondly, the opportunity to try verticals of whiskies from the same distillery. Further, we will be donating the proceeds from the evenings to two different cancer charities. For more information on these tastings, and to make your voice heard see below.

I hope you enjoy this little Malt Messenger Bulletin!

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson

Whisky Democracy I – BenRiach – Thursday July 2^nd – $40pp

The best thing about Democracy is having the opportunity to make your voice heard; it’s about time that we applied that logic to malt whisky. If you’d like to have the opportunity to help select our next cask of whisky, then this tasting is for you!

BenRiach is not as well known as some of its neighbors in the Speyside, but it is one of the most dynamic of the regions distilleries, and one of but 4 which are independently owned and operated. Though first opened in 1898 the distillery spent most of the last century in an inactive state after closing in 1903. Its malting however remained open to supply its sister distillery Longmorn. The distillery was reopened in 1963 by Glenlivet Distillers and in 1983 then owners Seagrams began producing a heavily peated single malt. The distillery was again closed in 2002 but was quickly reopened by Billy Walker, formerly of Burn Stewart Distillers, in partnership with South African Intra Trading. In 2007 BenRiach was named Distillery of the Year by Malt Advocate Magazine.

At this tasting you will sample 6 cask samples of BenRiach single malt—3 of them produced from peated barley, and 3 of them unpeated barley—as well as 2 benchmark BenRiach bottlings for comparison: the 15Yr Madeira Finish and 12Yr Herodotus Fumosus. There will be a comprehensive voting on the cask samples, and your feedback will be used to help us select a cask of BenRiach for bottling this fall.

In addition, part of the proceeds from this evening will be going to a worthy cause. Kensington Wine Market alumnus Tom Firth is participating in the Ride to Conquer Cancer later this month, in honour of his late mother.  KWM will be donating up to $300 from this event towards Tom’s fundraising goal. For more information on Tom Firth and his efforts you can visit: http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Alberta2009?px=1867886&pg=personal&fr_id=1282

To register for this event drop by the store, call us at 403-283-8000 or visit our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com..

As it is the day before the Stampede, western wear is optional… but encouraged!

Whisky Democracy II – Springbank  – Thursday July 17^th – 45pp

The best thing about Democracy is having the opportunity to make your voice heard; it’s about time that we applied that logic to malt whisky. If you’d like to have the opportunity to help select our next cask of whisky, then this tasting is for you!

Springbank, established 1828 is Scotland’s oldest family owned distillery, and also the only distillery in Scotland to do the entire process of making malt whisky—from malting to bottling—on site. The distillery is also alone among Scottish distillers in that it malts 100% of its own barley, and also in that it produces 3 distinct styles of whisky: Hazelburn, triple distilled and unpeated; Springbank, 2 ½ distilled and lightly peated; and Longrow, double distilled and heavily peated. Springbank, in the town of Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula is without a doubt the most traditional, most hands-on distillery in Scotland. It is also the distillery which all other independents aspire to be.

Our last cask of Springbank, sampled at the distillery by myself, and 6 customers, was a huge success, and is nearly ¾ sold. We are in need of a follow up bottling, and we are looking at 6 sherry cask samples of Springbank all filled into the cask on the same day in 1996 as our Manzanilla sherry cask. We’ll sample these six Springbank samples, along with the 1996 KWM Manzanilla Sherry Cask and the 11Yr Madeira Wood as benchmarks. As with the BenRiach, there will be a comprehensive voting on the cask samples, and your feedback will be used to help us select a cask of Springbank for bottling this fall.

For this tasting we will be donating part of the proceeds to support our coworker, Lynn Rogers, who is taking part in a fundraising ride from Calgary to San Jose California. 5 teams of 6 riders (pedal bikes), will be taking turns riding the 3,700km trek over the space of 9 days as part of the 2009 Cancervive Peleton Project. Funds raised by CPP support Wellspring Calgary, a local organization that supports those who live with and those who care for those living with cancer. Lynn’s profile can be seen at: http://www.cancervive.ca/riderdetails.asp?rider=6..

To register for this event drop by the store, call us at 403-283-8000 or visit our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com..

As this event is post-Stampede, western wear is optional, but strongly discouraged… kidding of course!

 New Ardbeg in Town – Arigh Nam Beist – $93.59

After leaving Loch Uigeadial, Ardbeg’s water flows through two smaller lochs on its way to the distillery. The later of these lochs is Loch Airigh Nam Beist, ancient Scots gaelic for the “shelter of the beast”. It’s an apt name for a whisky which is bold yet restrained, and wild though tame. Nicknamed “the beastie” the whisky is a vintage Ardbeg, distilled in 1990, and bottled without chilfiltering at a cask strength of 46%. Distillers tasting note: “Nose: Smoky, ice cream, fennel, pine nuts and zesty limes. Taste: Peppery, oily mouth-feel. Maple syrup, smoky bacon, antiseptic lozenges, some vanilla, smoked meats and barbecue spices. Finish: Zesty, smoky and intriguing.” Jim Murray gave it 95pts and said: “There is only one distillery on earth that could make something so gigantic, yet so delicate. And mind blowingly complex. Smoky sophistication. 46%”

If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store. Feel free to forward me any whisky news you feel should be included in a future issue of The Malt Messenger; it might just get included.

All of the products mentioned in THE MALT MESSENGER can be purchased in store, over the phone or from our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com.. All prices quoted in the Malt Messenger are subject to change!

Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger!

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson
KWM Scotchguy

403-283-8000
888-283-9004
1257 Kensington Rd. NW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2N 3P8

scotchguy@kensingtonwinemarket.com

CONTACT:     Angela H. Traver

                        Public Relation Manager

                                    PH: 502-696-5957

                                    atraver@buffalotrace.com

For Immediate Release

 A Legend in Kentucky Bourbon Comes Home

Buffalo Trace Distillery acquires E.H. Taylor Bourbon

FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY— E.H. Taylor is coming back to the distillery where it all began. Buffalo Trace Distillery, located in Frankfort, KY, has purchased the Old Taylor Bourbon label and barrel inventory from Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., maker of Jim Beam Bourbon.

“We are ecstatic about this transaction,” said Mark Brown, president and CEO of Buffalo Trace Distillery. “Part of our family is returning and we are thrilled to welcome home a true bourbon whiskey pioneer.”

Taylor, the great-nephew of President Zachary Taylor, briefly lived with his great-uncle after the death of his parents. He later moved to Kentucky where he was adopted by his uncle, Col. E.H. Taylor, Sr. Following in his uncle’s footsteps, Taylor went on to be a leader in the Frankfort community. He served as mayor from 1871-1887 as well as a local state representative to the Kentucky General Assembly and a member of the State Senate.

Taylor’s link to Buffalo Trace dates back to 1870 when he first purchased the distillery and took on the daunting task of modernization. He later named the distillery O.F.C. (Old Fire Copper) and continued to invest large sums of money, making it a leader in the industry.

 Taylor over-extended himself financially in an effort to use the most modern equipment to make the finest bourbon whiskey available. The end result of Taylor’s financial difficulties was the sale of O.F.C. to George T. Stagg. However, even with Taylor out of the picture, the new owner moved forward using his name, as it was synonymous with fine bourbon whiskey. The award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery is proud to carry on the legacy of this great pioneer.

 “It’s an exciting, new opportunity for us,” said Harlen Wheatley, master distiller. “We are very proud of the bourbon we produce at Buffalo Trace and to be able to carry on what E.H. Taylor started more than a century ago is a real honor.”

 For more information about Buffalo Trace Distillery please visit www.buffalotrace.com. To learn more about the other award-winning bourbons of Buffalo Trace please go to http://www.greatbourbon.com/.

About Buffalo Trace

Buffalo Trace Distillery is a family-owned company based in Franklin County, Kentucky. The distillery’s rich distilling tradition dates back to 1787 and has included such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.  Buffalo Trace is a fully operational distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Buffalo Trace has won seven distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Malt Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Buffalo Trace has also garnered more than 170 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. The distillery is part of the Sazerac family of companies, which has operations in New Orleans, Louisiana; Franklin County, Bardstown and Owensboro, Kentucky; Fredericksburg, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland.

Please visit http://www.buffalotrace.com/

Come join the K & L crew for a very special event at Hollywood’s central stage for spirits tastings, The Blue Palms Brew House. For more than 110 years, Gordon & MacPhail has been carefully selecting, filling, maturing and bottling malt whiskies for your enjoyment and has remained independent and family owned throughout its long history. Now the proud owners of Benromach Distillery in Forres, the company is also distilling the precious Benromach Spirit again and is bringing this exceptional single Speyside malt – a secret for far too long – to whisky drinkers the world over. This wonderful establishment still based at its original location in Elgin, has become ubiquitous with the world’s finest single malts. G & M nearly single handedly developed the single malt category by trusting the quality of the distillers when everyone else was blending their malts. Their unique method of buying new whisky, aging and bottling the malt themselves has given us some of the finest examples of Scotch the world has ever known. This wonderful event will feature 9 of the worlds finest Malts and significant discounts will be available for those who attend. Seating is very limited.

Visit http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1047077 to book your seat for this event.

Summer is finally here, though the weather may be saying differently depending on where you live!
As always, Preiss Imports is keeping the whisky portfolio interesting, with some new Springbank limited releases as well as new offerings from Duncan Taylor. We don’t yet have ratings on these new whiskies yet, but we should have them by next month.
Details are being finalized, but I wanted to mention we are organizing a new event called The Whisky Road Show to be held in a large tasting style in some key metropolitan markets. This Road Show will feature our Scotch Whisky Companies with a representative from each of them, and a night-long seminar with tastings presented by these experts. It will certainly be educational and quite fun. I will keep you updated as to the details as they emerge. I know there are tentative plans around the WhiskyFest events – so Las Vegas (though WF is in SF) Road Show in October and Cincinnati in November.
Cheers,
Ken Young
Preiss Imports
ken@preissimports.com

Springbank Sherry Cask Expressions Now Available  
Amontilado – Fino – Cream Sherry
 
Earlier in the year, we ordered 3 sherry finished whiskies from Springbank Distillers. As always, these highly-demanded limited expressions won’t last long. For the U.S., there are 150 six-packs available, of which about half have been presold.
 
These fine expressions will be available at the country’s leading retailers

Got Single Grain?
 
Duncan Taylor continues their mission of providing quality whiskies with award winning single grains. We are proud to announce 5 new single grain whiskies. 
 
DT 1978 Cameronbridge Grain 30 year old Cask #12
DT 1979 Cameronbridge Grain 30 year old cask #3584
DT 1979 Carsebridge Grain 30 year old  cask #33041
DT 1978 North British Grain 30 year old cask # 38473
DT 1980 Strathclyde Grain 29 yr old Cask #1497
 
These whiskies offer an great value, retailing between $130 to $170. These are all single cask, cask strength bottlings.
 
If you haven’t had a chance to explore single grain whiskies, now is the time!
 
More Single Malt Arrivals from Duncan Taylor

DT 1990 Royal Lochnagar 18 yr old Cask #355
DT 1980 Strathclyde 29 yr old Cask #1497
DT 1990 Dalmore 18 yr old  cask #D311
DT NC2 1996 Ben Nevis 12 yr old

SPOTLIGHT
BenRiach Single Cask Limited Release 1991 16 year old Claret Finish Cask# 6903
 
This limited release was handpicked by the staff at Preiss Imports. We sampled a total of 12 single casks and ordered the two best, one of which was the Claret finish.
 
F Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal Rated this 4 Stars, Highly Recommended; here is the full review –
 
“Gorgeous medium amber/saffron/autumnal gold color; flawless clarity. Notes of bacon fat, pork rind, peanut oil, and fried banana abound in the exceedingly pleasant opening aroma; following an additional nine-minute aeration period, the bacon fat/cooking oil aspect surges ahead, giving the impression of early rancio and extreme nuttiness. Entry features gently sweet flavor profile notes of nutmeg, light toffee, light fudge, and almond paste; midpalate focuses on both the candied and wood aspects as the flavors run semisweet, sap-like, bark-like, and mildly peppery, even custard-and-creme-brulee-like into the first stage of the spirity finish. This one is a sinewy, savory mouthful that keeps unfolding and wandering into increasingly decadent and oily/buttery territory.”

We’ve sold through most of this one, but there are still 58 bottles left in our warehouse, and certainly some still in retail. You may still find some on the shelves at the fine retailers in Massachusetts or The Wine Specialist in DC.

A Reminder Of Online Newsletter Archive
You can now access all of our single malt newsletters in an online archive. Please make note of the link –
 
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs052/1102498794592/archive/1102544704796.html

The late Michael Jackson was a huge fan of Highland Park. In his seminal Malt Whisky Companion, he referred to it as “this great Orcadian distillery” and went on to write;

“Highland Park is the greatest all-rounder in the world of malt whisky. It is definitely in an island style, but combining all the elements of a classic single malt: smokiness (with its own heather-honey accent), maltiness, smoothness, roundness, fullness of flavour, and length of finish.”

Little wonder, then, that he scored Highland Park 25 year old a whopping 95 out of 100.

Michael, for many the most influential whisky writer in the world, died from a heart attack in August 2007 having suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for over ten years. He is sorely missed in the whisky industry for his knowledge and generosity of spirit.

We are, therefore, only too happy to let you know about the launch of Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser, a project celebrating Michael’s enduring legacy. International writers on beer and whisky have each donated an original essay with all proceeds from the publication going to the Parkinson’s Society of the UK.

Contributors include whisky luminaries such as Dave Broom of Whisky Magazine Japan, John Hansell of Malt Advocate, Scotland’s foremost whisky writer Charles MacLean and F Paul Pacult of Spirit Journal.

Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser is a 176-page volume; hard cover bound in laminated covers with an illustration of Michael Jackson by artist Gill Allan and with place ribbon. Published by Classic Expressions Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser is available at £12.99.

For more information about Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser visit http://www.classicexpressions.co.uk/

For more information about the Best Spirit in the World visit http://www.highlandpark.co.uk/splash.asp

Gerry
Head of Brand Education, Highland Park

Highland Park is owned by The Edrington Group, a private limited company registered in Scotland (Registered Number SC 36374) with its Registered Office at The Edrington Group, 2500 Great Western Road, Glasgow, G15 6RW.