BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY WHISKEYS WIN SIX GOLD MEDALS AT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 

18 Total Spirits Produced at the Distillery Receive Medals 

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (July 15, 2021) Eighteen spirits produced at Buffalo Trace Distillery were awarded medals at the 2021 International Wine and Spirits Competition. Out of those spirits two whiskeys were awarded Gold Outstanding medals, meaning each whiskey was recognized as an outstanding spirit with a naturally exceptional balance, complexity and power, and an example that immediately sets itself apart from others in the category. Two whiskeys received Gold medal ratings indicating an excellent spirit with an exceptional balance and rare and complex flavors. A Gold medal spirit is an example that stood out against its peers. Each entry was subject to rounds of blind tastings and individual evaluation on taste by a mixed judging panel of world-renowned experts from a diverse range of sectors drawn from over 30 countries.

“We are honored to be recognized out of such a robust lineup of spirits,” Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley said. “These awards would not be possible without the hard work of our dedicated team at the Distillery.”

Gold Outstanding Medals went to:

• William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• Blanton’s Gold Edition Bourbon Whiskey 

Gold Medals went to:

• Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
• Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
• Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon 

Silver Medals went to:

• Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Stagg Jr. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Blanton’s Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Bronze Medals went to:

• Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• W.L. Weller Antique 107 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Buffalo Trace Distillery Bourbon Cream Liqueur

For more information on the International Wine and Spirits Competition, visit iwsc.net.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1775 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.  Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won 35 distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Its Col. E. H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain Bourbon was named World Whiskey of the Year for 2018 and its William Larue Weller and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac were named 2^nd and 3^rd finest whiskeys in the world for 2020.  Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 1,000 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com.

Join us live on Twitter for a Glen Scotia warehouse tasting!

Got plans for next Wednesday 4th August at 7pm GMT? Well, now you do! Tune in to a Dunnage Tasting and Q&A over on our Twitter page, featuring special guest Iain McAlister, Master Distiller for Glen Scotia. Buy your kit below and join in!

Buy tasting kit here

Glen Scotia Dunnage Tasting Pack Description

Scotch Whisky Auctions are on the road again!

Please see below for our August 2021 schedule.
To register your interest in a collection please complete the form which can be found here.

Please note home collections are available to those customers sending 10+ bottles or bottles to the value of £1000 and above.

Please get in touch if your area is not listed below but you would like a home collection. We will do our best to accommodate all requests.

Collections are limited and by appointment only. If you would like to attend please complete the form which can be found here. Please note dead lines apply for collection requests. In a bid to adhere to social distancing guidelines it would be appreciated if bottles could be packed for uplift with the submission form and label completed. A winner in our auction? We are now offering a delivery (to collection point) service to customers who are dropping bottles off for a future auction. This service is charged at £12 (inc VAT), optional loss and breakage cover is available.

Submission Form & Label

Wine Warehouse Selected as California Distributor for Virginia Distillery Company 

LOVINGSTON, Va. – Virginia Distillery Company, the largest independently owned American Single Malt distillery in the United States, is pleased to announce Wine Warehouse as their California distributor.

“As a family-owned whisky producer, we’re proud to be working with Wine Warehouse, a multi-generational, family-owned and operated company dedicated to supporting boutique brands,” said Virginia Distillery Company’s CEO Gareth H. Moore. “Our Courage & Conviction line sets a new standard for American whisky and now Californians will have access to each expression, as well as our VHW series through our partnership with Wine Warehouse.”

Virginia Distillery Company produces a few thousand cases of their award-winning whiskies annually, including their flagship American single malt Courage & Conviction. Aged a minimum of three years, Courage & Conviction is distilled on-site using 100% North American malted barley and mountain spring-fed water. The flagship whisky is matured in old world sherry casks, traditional bourbon barrels and re-coopered cuvée wine casks which adds intensity and complexity to the spirit. The distillery released solo bottlings of each Courage & Conviction cask this spring.

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.

“The U.S. is making some amazing single malts and the category is on a great trajectory,” said Wine Warehouse’s director of spirits Brandon Bartlett. “We’re honored to have this amazing lineup of whiskies to add to our portfolio of premium spirits at Wine Warehouse. We’ve had our eye on Virginia Distillery Company for a while and this is the perfect time to bring our houses together.”

For more information about the distillate and cask data for each batch of Courage & Conviction, as well as bottling and process information for consumers, visit batch.info.

For more information about Wine Warehouse, visit www.winewarehouse.com.

For more information about Virginia Distillery Company, visit vadistillery.com.

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.

BONHAMS HONG KONG PRESENTS 30-YEAR-OLD MACALLAN CASK

A Nippon Whisky Collection online-only sale returns with fresh-to-market editions from the early years of the ‘big eight’ Japanese distilleries 

A cask of Macallan-1991-#21429-18/029/1
Distilled 12th December 1991 at the Macallan Distillers Limited, Craigellachie.

Estimate: HK$3,200,000-4,000,000

For many whisky aficionados, owning a cask of whisky was once perhaps the pinnacle of their collecting journey. But as the market matures and collectors explore wider possibilities, whisky casks are now accepted by many even at the early stage of forming their collection. Old casks, especially from prestigious distilleries, are extremely rare, but a prime “all-rounder” example – a 30-year-old Macallan 1991 whisky cask – is appearing at Bonhams Fine and Rare Whisky sale in Hong Kong on 20 August.

Distilled by Macallan in December 1991, the cask was re-racked in 2017 with sherry. Sherry is the preferred choice of wood to give whisky a unique impact of clove, resin, dried fruit and tannin – a sweet palate which most drinkers will find approachable. Its high alcohol content at around 51.5% ABV makes it a highly desirable choice for both long-term collecting and for eventually yielding around 202 bottles for enjoyment. The cask carries an estimate of HK$3,200,000-4,000,000, which translates into a competitive per-bottle price at about HK$14,800.

Daniel Lam, Bonhams Director of Wine and Spirits, Asia, commented: “Whisky casks hitting 30 years old or above are exceedingly rare in the current market. This 1991 Macallan cask on offer in our August sale is an all-rounder of its class: it comes from a prestigious distillery, is casked in top-notch wood, a high alcohol content, and an attractive estimate. We expect a lot of interest as the market now matures towards collecting casks.”

Bonhams currently holds the world auction record for a whisky cask. A rare 30-year whisky sherry hogshead cask from Macallan Distillery achieved HK$4,464,000/ US$572,000 at Bonhams Fine and Rare Wine and Whisky sale on 15 November 2019.

A NIPPON WHISKY COLLECTION – ONLINE-ONLY SALE 

After a 100% “white-glove” achievement in March, the online-only sale of A Nippon Whisky Collection returns from 26 July to 2 August on Bonhams.com. Around 50 lots strong, the sale spotlights a range of fresh-to-market whiskies from the very early years of the eight most internationally-sought-after Japanese distilleries, namely Karuizawa, Hanyu, Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yamazakura, Miyagikyo, Yoichi and Saburomaru. Highlights include:

(From left to right)

·         山崎 Yamazaki-Noblesse Oblige-25 year old. Est. HK$60,000-80,000.

·         山崎 Yamazaki-1984-20th Anniversary of WakuWaku. Est. HK$38,000-50,000.

·         余市 Yoichi-1976-15 year old-#126121. Est. HK$20,000-26,000.

·         Ichiro’s Malt Pulse・Moment-律動・刹那. Est. HK$30,000-40,000.

Sale: Fine and Rare Whisky 20 August 202120/F, One Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong

Sale: “A Nippon Whisky Collection” Online-only Sale 26 July – 2 August Bonhams.com

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world’s largest and most renowned auctioneers, offering fine art and antiques, motor cars and jewellery. The main salerooms are in London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, with auctions also held in Knightsbridge, Edinburgh, Paris, San Francisco and Sydney. With a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 22 countries, Bonhams offers advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full list of forthcoming auctions, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, please visit bonhams.com. bonhams.com

AUGUST 2021 AUCTION PREVIEW

Gems from Japan.
A selection of outstanding Japanese whiskies in our August sale.

FIND OUT MORE

RARE AND COLLECTIBLE SCOTCH

Old, rare and discontinued malts feature in our upcoming auction.

FIND OUT MORE

FIND YOUR PERFECT PARTNER

As we head into August, we will be exploring the art of whisky and food pairings, but in typical Society fashion – we’ll be focusing on a more unconventional menu with which to match your Society drams.

While you will have to wait a bit longer before we tantalise you with the culinary creations, we are releasing five preview casks from the August Outturn today to whet your appetite.

TAKE ME TO THE BOTTLES

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

Glenglassaugh 40 Year Old 1975

Single PX sherry hogshead from the second release of the single cask series under the stewardship of Billy Walker back in 2015. 205 numbered bottles. Glenglassaugh 40 Year Old 1975 vintage batch 2 Highland single malt Scotch whisky. Single cask Pedro Ximenez Sherry Hogshead #3171 bottled September 2015. 205 bottles. Nose: Cocoa dusted figs and dates combine with cinnamon and gentle white pepper to give a delicate warmth. Palate: Gentle waves of dark toffee flow over rich fruit cake and orange peel. An intriguing cigar box spice note on the delicately sherried palate.

Glenglassaugh Distillery is a Highland malt whisky distillery situated at Sandend Bay near Portsoy on the Banffshire coast with views north over the Moray Firth and the North Sea and is one of just a very few truly coastal Highland malt whisky distilleries. Glenglassaugh Distillery was established by James Moir and opened in 1875. This distillery was substantially re-built in 1959 and re-opened in 1960 only to close in 1986. However, Glenglassaugh was back in production in December 2008 and is now owned by Brown Forman of America.

Shop – Glenglassaugh 40 Year Old 1975

The temperature here in Scotland may be dropping but things are hotting up in our 122nd Auction. Ending Sunday 1st August –  don’t lose your bottle!

New releases this month are plentiful, from the Macallan Concept No.3, Ardbeg 8 Year Old For Discussion and plenty of Lindores to be had.

Fresh in from Campbeltown is Springbank’s Hand Filled Distillery Exclusives. Call us biased but these are sure to be tasty and of course cask strength!

BIG PEAT FEIS ILE 2021 PEATRICHOR. 

Big Peat is a small batch vatted Islay malt whisky from Douglas Laing: a shovelful of Islay single malt Scotch whiskies including those distilled at Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore, and Port Ellen, with each bringing different qualities to the blend. 

Buy it now in auction 122 with no additional buyers premium.

View Auction

We continue to offer free doorstep collections for over 10 bottles or collectively worth a minimum of £1000. Contact us to find out more and check availability. Collection requests can be made here.