After more than a year of planning, months of writing and weeks of proofreading, we are very proud to announce the launch of a very special project: our first-ever book – Everything You Need To Know About Whisky (but are too afraid to ask), by Nicholas Morgan.

At The Whisky Exchange, we’ve been talking about writing a book about whisky for years, but could never find the right person to take up the mantle of actually writing it. However, when Dr Nicholas Morgan announced his retirement from Diageo – where he had been working in whisky communication for decades – the perfect author became available.

We didn’t want the same sort of whisky book that others have written in the past, instead wanting to head away from that well-trodden path with something that both looked and sounded different, with new viewpoints that aren’t often explored in whisky writing. With three decades of working in the industry for the largest producer of Scotch whisky, Nick certainly has a unique take on the whisky world compared to most whisky writers.

Working with Nick, publisher Ebury Press (a non-fiction division of Penguin) and illustrator Jonny Wan, we have created something quite different from other whisky books. It’s beautifully presented and packed with information you won’t find anywhere else. It’s not a book of whisky recommendations and it won’t give you a still-by-still breakdown of different distilleries, but is full of whisky and the people who love it.

I managed to grab Nick Morgan for a quick chat last week, and we talked about him, how he came to be involved with the project, and all about the book itself.

Everything You Need To Know About Whisky (but are too afraid to ask) is available now exclusively from The Whisky Exchange, and will appear in book stores in September.

GLENURY ROYAL DISTILLERY

35 Year Old 1984 125th Anniversary Edition

Glenury Royal 35 Year Old 1984 Highland Lowland single malt Scotch whisky. Single first fill sherry butt bottled May 2020 for the Gordon & MacPhail 125th Anniversary series. 397 bottles.

Stewed fruit aromas with notes of polish lead to cinnamon. Sweet and drying with flavours of cherry, orange peel and subtle coffee. A medium and fruity finish with lingering aniseed and sherry.

Shop Glenury Royal 1984 »

£2,750.00

Glenury Royal Distillery was established to the north of Stonehaven in 1825. Only three distilleries in Scotland have been permitted to use ‘Royal’ in their title and it was granted to Glenury in 1835 by King William 1V. Glenury Royal was a malt whisky distillery which operated from 1825 with just two stills until they were increased to four in 1965. The distillery closed in 1985 and was demolished in 1993 but the square support base of the round brick chimney remains with a plaque attached. The site is now a private housing estate on the edge of Stonehaven. Glenury Royal Distillery is a lost Scottish Highland malt whisky distillery.

James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail began their business in Elgin in 1895 with John Urquhart joining the workforce at that time, to become a partner in 1915 when MacPhail retired. When Gordon died in 1817 the Urquhart family took over the business. This independent family business prospered and built up a stock of good quality casks from a wide range of distilleries over the years. In 1993 they purchased Benromach Distillery. Brands include Connoisseurs Choice, Cask Strength, Rare Old and Speymalt.

THE WHISKY KITCHEN IS OPEN

Whisky and food have long been a popular pairing, offering lots of opportunity to get creative with meat, fish and even cheese. But with the ever-increasing popularity of vegan diets, we’re dabbling in food matching with a difference this month, creating a plant-based dinner menu to work aside a trio of Society whiskies.

We asked Shiruna, Adrian and Gauri Boelle, the family team behind My Elephant Kitchen, to combine their expertise in vegan cuisine with Adrian’s Society whisky knowledge to conjure up a three-course meal paired with suitable SMWS flavour profiles. Pull up your chair, raise your glass and prepare for a feast sumptuous enough to make an elephant do a joyful jig.

GET COOKING NOW

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 here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Welcome to this weeks episode of the show in which I’ll be taking a look at the relatively newly Distillery Select No2 release alongside the re-named No1 and comparing them to an original Distillery Select bottling.

https://youtu.be/eN0gyrEsdYU

BENRIACH KEEPS TRADITION ALIVE WITH FIRST EDITION OF MALTING SEASON

Celebrating traditional methods dating back to the earliest days of Benriach Distillery, Benriach Malting Season will be the first expression in a century to be produced entirely using barley malted from the Speyside distillery’s historic floor maltings.

The floor malting method is a highly skilled process requiring the delicate and skilled hand of Benriach’s team of dedicated craftspeople. After being steeped in water, the barley is spread across the malting room floor and turned by hand over several days to allow for optimum germination of the barley. Using their keen eye, the malting team decides when the barley is ready to move to the kiln and the iconic pagoda shaped chimney comes alive.

The first edition of Benriach Malting Season is two-cask matured in bourbon and virgin oak barrels to bring out the wholesome, creamy flavour we find in the distillery’s floor malted spirit, giving a beautiful barley gold colour to the liquid. The expression boasts a rich aroma of barley sugar, almond fudge and poached orchard apple with smooth, rounded flavours of vanilla and honeyed pear, with a lasting nuttiness of slowly kilned malt.

For each new edition of Malting Season, Master Blender Rachel Barrie, will carefully select the type of barley and bottling strength, making each annual edition a truly unique expression in its own right. This inaugural release is made from concerto barley and has a bottling strength of 48.7% ABV.

Stewart Buchanan, Global Brand Ambassador at Benriach, commented:

“Passed from distiller to distiller throughout the generations, the floor malting process keeps a traditional part of the whisky making process alive with Benriach being one of only seven distilleries in Scotland to continue the practice of floor malting. Distilling spirit from barley malted here on site is a true labour of love and something we are passionate about keeping alive here at Benriach as an ode to our creative whisky making heritage.”

Rachel Barrie, Master Blender at Benriach Distillery, said:

“At Benriach, we never stop exploring how fruit, oak and barley flavours intertwine and mature in our broad range of eclectic casks. The unique process behind Malting Season allows the cereal flavour from the concerto barley to pull through and when married with the creamy, wholesome flavour from being two-cask matured in bourbon and virgin oak barrels, creates a truly unique expression.”

The first edition of the small batch release is comprised of 23 barrels, all distilled on 2nd November 2012, yielding 6672 bottles in total. Timing of product availability will vary by country.

Click on image to view video

NOTES

UK RRP: £99 (Global Markets may vary)

Benriach Malting Season will be available in the US from October 2021.

Timing of product availability will vary by country.

For more details on our full portfolio please visit www.benriach.com 

About Benriach Distillery

A Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky as intriguing and extraordinary as Benriach could not have come to be without a unique whisky making heritage, dating from 1898, when founder John Duff built his distillery. Ruggedly beautiful, Benriach stands on the site of the old Riach farm in north Speyside, drawing water from a mineral-rich aquifer, deep beneath the distillery.

Thanks to a long-standing tradition of distilling three styles of whisky; classic unpeated, Highland peated and triple distilled, together with an eclectic selection of casks from around the world, our whisky makers are able to explore the full flavour possibilities of Single Malt, creating some of the richest, most multi-layered whiskies in Speyside.

This tradition continues today, under the guidance of Master Blender, Rachel Barrie. Benriach is the story of a hidden Speyside gem, quietly revealing its treasures to be discovered and savoured.

Facebook @Benriach

Instagram @Benriach

Twitter @TheBenriach 

SAVOUR WITH TIME, DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

The Grand Whisky Auction is closing soon…

www.thegrandwhiskyauction.com/live-auction

2900+ lots will close Monday 16th Aug at 9pm!

Interested in selling whisky in our next auction?

T. +44 (0)1463 210 427

E. sales@thegrandwhiskyauction.com

Gordon & MacPhail 1994 Connoisseurs Choice Tormore 26 Year Old

A first fill sherry butt #8355 bottled May 2021. Cask strength 58.0% with notes of toffee, fruitcake, oprgange peel, spiced plum, dark chocolate, oak and roasted hazelnuts. Tormore 26 Year Old 1994 vintage Speyside single malt Scotch whisky. Single first fill sherry butt #8355 bottled May 2021 by Gordon & MacPhail for the Connoisseurs Choice series. 596 bottles.

NOSE: DARK TOFFEE AND BROWN SUGAR AROMAS INTERTWINE WITH UNDERLYING VANILLA. SULTANA FRUITCAKE DEVELOPS ALONGSIDE CINNAMON , CLOVE SPICE AND HINTS OF ORANGE ZEST.
TASTE: SMOOTH WITH SPICED PLUM FLAVOURS, SWEET RED APPLE AND SUBTLE COCOA. CHARRED OAK AND UNDERLYING COFFEE BEAN FLAVOURS DEVELOP.
FINISH: A MEDIUM FINISH WITH HAZEL NUT AND ANISEED.

Tormore Distillery was established in 1958 in the Speyside whisky region to supply malt whisky to blending houses. It was designed by Sir Albert Richardson, President of the Royal Academy and is set in stunning landscaped gardens. Resplendent with green-coppered roofs, decorative pagoda roofs, a clock tower and clock which still chimes Scottish tunes, a rectangular curling pond, topiary and houses for the staff. Tormore Distillery is now operating with eight stills in its tall still house and Tormore malt whisky is still mostly flowing into scotch blends. Whilst official bottling are sparse it features amongst the ranges of a number of independent bottlers including Signatory Vintage and Connoisseurs Choice.

Shop Tormore »

James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail began their business in Elgin in 1895 with John Urquhart joining the workforce at that time, to become a partner in 1915 when MacPhail retired. When Gordon died in 1817 the Urquhart family took over the business. This independent family business prospered and built up a stock of good quality casks from a wide range of distilleries over the years. In 1993 they purchased Benromach Distillery. Brands include Connoisseurs Choice, Cask Strength, Rare Old and Speymalt.

Heaven’s Door 6 Year Old K&L Exclusive Barrel #75 Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)

 $59.99

It’s finally happening! All of that MGP, which brands put down more than a half decade ago, is starting to come of age. Of course, if this said Smoke Wagon on it, we’d probably sell the stuff out in a matter of minutes. But a new brand, without a record of selling cask strength barrels might be a bit of a sleeper. With the mature MGP stocks having been bottled years ago, this release marks the beginning of a new era. Our allocations from the legacy producers just down river are being cut left and right, so we’ve jumped head first into any good MGP cask we could find. And while 4 year old MGP can be delicious, there seems to be a BIG quality difference in just two years of additional aging. That’s why the prices nearly double on the brokers market between 4-year-old and 6-year-old stocks. Just 2 more years in the warehouse does make a huge difference. This lot of two barrels is bottled by Heaven’s Door, the brand founded by Folk Legend Bob Dylan. It was barreled on May 30th of 2015 and bottled on June 14th of 2021, a few weeks after its 6th birthday. Using the MGP 21% Rye Bourbon mashbill and an ISC #3 Medium toast, this barrel is a great reminder of why MGP should always be considered one of the country’s great distillers. These Heaven’s Door barrels are rich and complex, yet nicely balanced between the sweet toasted oak and bold barrel spice. This is one of the best new barrel programs on the market.

Our newest innovation is here.

Introducing the Virginia Vatting House!

Having an entire space dedicated to the vatting, blending and reduction of our aged whisky speaks to the ambitious scale of all that we hope to achieve here at Virginia Distillery Company.

The innovation of the building’s layout and its proximity to our bottling house represents a thoughtful design that will make life easier for our bottling team. We’re all excited to begin moving the tanks in, and even more thrilled to start filling those tanks up with our whisky.

We can ship our whisky right to your front door.

You probably already knew this, but it’s worth the reminder. Why wait until your next trip to your local bottle shop to stock up? Your very own bottle of Courage & Conviction is just a few clicks away. Use Code DRAM100 for free shipping over $100.

Order Your Whisky

We’re turning heads.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a year since Courage & Conviction was released. Since launching, it’s been an honor to receive some wonderful awards for our hard work and craftsmanship.

We’ve been keeping track of our awards and recognition for you over on our website. It’s worth a quick glance for our loyal supporters.

You’ve helped make this possible.
Thank you!

Learn More

Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction Line Brings Home More Awards

The distillery was recently recognized by Ultimate Spirits Challenge, L.A. Spirits Awards and Tasting Panel Magazine 

Lovingston, Va. (July XX, 2021) – Virginia Distillery Company’s four whiskies in the Courage & Conviction product line recently took home top awards and ratings at Ultimate Spirits Challenge, L.A. Spirits Awards and Tasting Panel Magazine.

The Ultimate Spirits challenge is a New York based competition that provides expert evaluation of spirits. Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction and Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask were recognized as finalists for the Chairman’s Trophy, and Courage & Conviction was chosen as one of the top 100 products of the year.

• Courage & Conviction – 94 points, finalist and top 100
• Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask – 92 points and finalist
• Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask – 91 points
• Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask – 91 points

The L.A. Spirits Awards was created by individuals in the competition business, judging spirits from around the world in Los Angeles. Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction and Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask both received medals based on the judges’ tasting scores.

• Courage & Conviction – Gold
• Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask – Platinum

Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask, Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask and Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask were given top ratings by Tasting Panel Magazine’s team of experts.

• Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask – 94 points
• Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask – 92 points
• Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask – 93 points

“The response to our Courage & Conviction product lineup by notable industry awards has been incredible,” Virginia Distillery Company CEO Gareth H. Moore said. “I’m very proud of our team, the work they put into these awards and for the guidance of our mentors who have helped to shape our whisky. The positive reception of our new whiskies is the biggest compliment we could receive.”

Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask, Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask and Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask were released in March 2021 to highlight the core trio of casks – bourbon, sherry and cuvée – that make up the flagship offering of Courage & Conviction, which was released in 2020.

Each expression is an American Single Malt whisky, aged a minimum of three years and available in 750ml bottles at 46% ABV. The whiskies are available to purchase through direct-to-consumer shipping and at retail locations across the country.

For more information about Virginia Distillery Company or American Single Malt whisky, visit the distillery’s website and complete guide to American Single Malt whisky.

About Virginia Distillery Company 

Staffed by a local Virginia team mentored by Scottish consultants with decades of experience, Virginia Distillery Company is the largest dedicated American Single Malt whisky distillery in the U.S. The distillery has a current annual production volume of 80,000 4.5L cases and growing. At full capacity, the distillery can produce over 8,000 casks yielding 350,000 4.5L cases annually. The distillery produces Courage & Conviction American Single Malt on-site using malted barley from North America and water from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. In addition, the distillery offers the award-winning VHW series, made with 100% malted barley. Showcasing both Old and New World whisky-making, the award-winning line marries whisky made on-site in Virginia with whisky from Scotland.