NEW IN: Drams from Distell

This week we welcome not just one, but eight new limited editions across three exceptional distilleries: Bunnahabhain, Deanston and Tobermory. Among these new releases you’ll find a peated Bunnahabhain finished in a Moine PX Cask, and a red wine cask finish from Deanston – a first for the Highland distillery. Choices, choices! With free UK delivery on orders over £50, what are you waiting for? Grab your favourite limited edition before it goes – for good!

Have a scroll down to see what piques your fancy.👇

See all new whiskies from Distell ›

ralfy review 846 – Arran 18yo @ 46%vol:

SWEET & SAVOURY: TOMATIN LAUNCH 2006 FINO UK EXCLUSIVE

Tomatin, the award-winning Highland distillery, has today announced the release of a limited-edition 2006 Fino expression, launching exclusively to the UK market.

The 2006 Fino expression was initially matured for 13 years at Tomatin Distillery on the 10^th November 2006, and moved to the finest Spanish Fino Sherry butts on 12^th November 2015.

Fino’s bright flor and nutty flavours, along with Tomatin’s malty backbone and fresh fruits are in perfect harmony. The whisky has notes of baked apple and almond cake, toffee sauce and lemon, followed by the more savoury flavours of freshly baked sourdough, olive oil and baking spice, which results in a silky yet fresh finish. Non-chill filtered and natural colour, the limited run has produced just 1,691 70cl bottles (46% abv) of this 13-year-old whisky, and will be available online and from specialist retailers across the UK from today.

Graham Eunson, Master Distiller at Tomatin, said: “We strive to produce remarkable expressions that appeal to not only our existing customers, but to a wider audience too. The 2006 Fino is a great example of our dedication to craft and excellence. The combination of both sweet and savoury notes gives a finish like no other, and we hope it will entice both whisky enthusiasts and novices to try this new edition.”

Tomatin’s ability to experiment with creatively finished expressions comes from the distillery’s exceptional wood policy, which ensures there is a wide range of casks sourced from prestigious partners within the industry.

To align with the 2006 Fino launch and to celebrate Graham Eunson’s 30^th year in the industry, Tomatin Single Malt will be hosting a live tasting session on Friday 16^th October at 7:30pm, on the Tomatin YouTube channel. A competition will also be running on the Tomatin social channels for viewers to be in for a chance of winning a tasting kit so that they can join in with the tasting event.

The limited edition 2006 Fino expression is available to purchase from select specialist retailers across the UK from 1^st October, for further information please visit: http://www.tomatin.com/2006-fino-uk-exclusive

Notes:

Tomatin Distillery has been producing and blending malt Scotch whisky since 1897. Over the last 50 years, the distillery has borne witness to vast change. At its peak in the 1970s, Tomatin was the largest distillery in the world operating 23 stills and producing 12 million litres of alcohol every year. Over the last decade, significant time has been invested in rediscovering the distillery, people and values, and in refining the business model to move away from the formerly lucrative bulk commodity market to now focus on Tomatin’s core range of single malts.

Tomatin is located in the Scottish Highlands (near Inverness) and is famous for its portfolio of soft and mellow whiskies, including a core range, a limited-edition range and a premium archive range (prices range from £35 – £10,000). In the last ten years, Tomatin has secured over 60 prestigious awards in a variety of categories, and in 2019 the distillery celebrated its most successful year ever at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition, securing seven Double Gold awards and four Gold awards.

Van Winkle Bourbon 2020 Annual Release Coming Soon 

More Rye this year, Less 20 and 23-Year-Old Bourbon than Usual 

            FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (Oct. 6, 2020) – Fans of the highly anticipated Van Winkle line of bourbons will be excited to learn the annual release is coming soon. Yields from the barrels are typically low due to the evaporation during the long aging cycle, and this year is no exception.   While the amount of 10, 12 and 15-year bourbon will be about the same as previous years, unfortunately the 20 and 23-year-old barrels yielded far fewer bottles this fall.  Good news is there is more 13-year rye than in years’ past.

            Known for their smoother and sweeter flavor due to the wheat recipe versus the traditional rye recipe found in most bourbons, Van Winkle bourbons are able to be aged longer than most, in some cases two decades or more, resulting in a superior sweeter and smoother flavor. The Van Winkle line has accrued an impeccable reputation among connoisseurs and has almost achieved cult-like status.  Although bourbon has become increasingly popular worldwide in recent years, very little Van Winkle is sold overseas, so that these coveted bottles are available in the United States.

The Van Winkle collection consists of several whiskeys. Suggested retail prices are as follows:

• $69.99 – Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10 Year Old 107 proof
• $79.99 – Old Rip Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year Old
• $119.99 – Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 Year Old
• $119.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15 Year Old
• $199.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 20 Year Old
• $299.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 23 Year Old

“Unfortunately even though we suggest what we believe to be a very low and fair MSRP, we cannot control the price retailers charge, and some retailers mark it up even though we and the distributors that those retailers buy from ask them not to,” said Julian Van Winkle, president, Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. “We are committed to releasing quality whiskey at a reasonable cost and we hope retailers will honor what we suggest as a fair retail price.”

Upon release of the Van Winkle bourbon this fall, Buffalo Trace Distillery reminds fans to be wary of online resellers such as private Facebook groups, Craigslist and other online marketplaces. “Trading and selling bourbon online is an unlicensed and illegal sale.  If you are not a licensed retailer selling Van Winkle products, we are prepared to take action to curtail the activity,” says Kris Comstock, senior marketing director at Buffalo Trace Distillery.  “Additionally, if you are a customer trying to buy a bottle at a licensed retailer who has marked it up above MSRP, we encourage you to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or contact your state Attorneys General office.”

The Van Winkle line of whiskeys has won a multitude of awards through the years, including the 20-year-old receiving a double gold medal, best bourbon, best small batch bourbon at the 2018 New York International Spirits Competition and the 15-year-old nabbing a Gold Medal at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

            The Van Winkle Whiskeys will be available starting in November, but please be mindful that supply is quite limited and bottles shall be hard to find in stores, bars and restaurants. They will be packed three bottles per case. 

About Van Winkle Bourbon

The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery has a four-generation history. The Van Winkle family’s involvement in the bourbon industry began in the late 1800s with Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr. He was a traveling salesman for the W.L. Weller and Sons wholesale house in Louisville. Pappy and a friend, Alex Farnsley, eventually bought the wholesale house and also partnered with Mr. A. Ph. Stitzel on the purchase of Mr. Stitzel’s distillery.  The three of them merged the two companies and became the Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

In May of 1935 at the age of 61, Pappy opened the newly completed Stitzel-Weller Distillery in South Louisville. Its prominent brands were W.L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Rebel Yell, and Cabin Still.  Pappy had a heavy influence on the operations there until his death at the age of 91. His son, Julian, Jr. took over operations until he was forced by stockholders to sell the distillery in 1972. The rights to all of their brands were sold to Norton Simon, Inc. Later, United Distillers, who eventually ended up with the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, sold off all of the original labels around 1999.
After selling the distillery, Julian Jr. resurrected a pre-Prohibition label, the only one to which the Van Winkles kept the rights, called Old Rip Van Winkle. He used whiskey stocks from the old distillery to supply his brand. Julian Jr.’s son, Julian, III took over in 1981 when Julian, Jr. passed away. Julian III has continued with the Van Winkle tradition of producing high-quality wheated bourbon. His son, Preston, joined the company in 2001 and the Van Winkles look to continue that tradition for generations to come.
In 2002 the Van Winkles entered into a joint venture with Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin County, Frankfort, Ky. All of the Van Winkle’s whiskey production now takes place at Buffalo Trace Distillery under the same strict guidelines the family has always followed. For more information on the Van Winkle family of bourbon please visit www.oldripvanwinkle.com.

A short reminder that we will be offering our complimentary collection service in London on:

Sunday 11th October 2020
6-8pm by appointment only
St Paul’s Hotel, Hammersmith, W14 0QL

Collections are limited and by appointment only. If you would like to attend please complete the form which can be found here.

Please do not attend without an appointment or if you are feeling unwell in line with COVID 19 guidelines.

Additionally, please complete a Submission Sheet. This must be handed to the collections team.

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.

We are monitoring the COVID situation, this collection may be cancelled if infected numbers increase over the coming days.

New Release:
Glen Scotia 11 Year Old
Sherry Double Cask

Introducing a limited edition, cask strength, sherry cask finished expression from Campbeltown – Glen Scotia 11 Year Old Sherry Double Cask is now available to order at The Whisky Shop.

This 11-year-old single malt is distilled at Glen Scotia in Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre. Matured in first fill bourbon barrels, this expression is then finished in a combination of first fill Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry hogsheads, imparting a rich depth to the traditional Glen Scotia character. Bottled at a natural cask strenGth of 54.1% abv, this limited edition release is presented at natural colour, free from chill filtration.

The nose has spiced rum notes with ripe plums and toffee. The palate is rich and smooth with sweet vanilla, raisins, sultanas, salted butter and warming nutmeg, cinnamon and clove spices. The finish is long and nutty with a drying aspect.

Glen Scotia
11 Year Old Sherry Double Cask
£59.95

TyndrumWhisky.com

Presents:

Big Peat 2020

Big Peat’s annual Christmas release for winter 2020.

Beat the Winter blues with this winter Cask Strength of 53.1%

Featuring whisky including Port Ellen, Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila.

Get your order in early, this isn’t going to last long this year.

Order Now >

Superb savings on delicious drams!

We’ve just added shiny new deals to our Price Drop, featuring £30 off Balvenie 19 Year Old and a massive £100 off Hibiki 17 Year Old. It doesn’t get much better than that! Whether Scotch whisky’s your drink, world whiskey, gin or rum – we’ve got all bases covered for your home bar. With free UK delivery on orders over £50, what are you waiting for? Grab your favourite before it goes – for good!

Shop our sale now ›

Watt Whisky Release First Bottlings

Husband and wife team Kate and Mark Watt, founders of The Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd, are delighted to be releasing their first bottlings under their new Watt Whisky independent bottling brand.

Kate and Mark between them have 40 years experience in the whisky industry and are using all their knowledge and industry contacts to deliver what they describe as ‘good, honest whisky, priced for drinking rather than collecting.’ Their philosophy is very much ‘It’s All About the Taste’, which is reflected in the stylised tastebud logo they have chosen for the brand.

The Watts’ first release comprises a Sherry Cask 19yo Blended Malt, a 10yo Highland Single Malt from an undisclosed distillery, a Mannochmore 12yo from a single brandy butt and a classic 11yo Caol Ila. The 4 whiskies are all bottled as they believe good spirits should be – in their natural state with no chill filtration and no added colour – and all the whiskies are at cask strength.

Speaking about the product launch, Kate said, “We’re delighted to be able to launch with 5 great casks, which wouldn’t have been possible without the phenomenal support of our Crowdfunder supporters and friends in the industry. Starting a new business while expecting a new baby and trying to get it off the ground during Covid times (not to mention impending Brexit) isn’t exactly ideal timing but we are cautiously optimistic about the future and already looking forward to our next release.”

Instead of going down the classic route of regional profiles, Watt Whisky is taking a slightly more unconventional route. Mark has a mild form of synaesthesia which means that he smells in colour so the colour of the label is the colour he smells when he noses the whisky. Whether this results in different coloured labels having different flavour profiles or whether the colours are completely random remains to be seen!

Discussing distribution of the new brand, Mark explained, “With Watt Whisky, rather than trying to take over the world and potentially spreading ourselves and our whiskies too thinly we decided to work with only a few key partners. These are people I’ve worked with for many years and know that the working relationship with them will help to cement our brands in these markets for many years to come.

We’re planning 3 or 4 releases a year, which will allow us to focus on the quality of the whisky and minimise repetition in bottlings – choice and variety is something that we feel our customers will demand and that’s what we we plan to offer”

Watt Whisky will soon be available in the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Japan and Taiwan. Estimated UK retail prices of the first release are between £60 – £90.

Notes 

Watt Whisky and Watt Rum are brand name of the Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd, established in 2019 by the two directors, Kate and Mark Watt.

The Crowdfunder Campaign saw their entire first cask of whisky, to be bottled exclusively for supporters, sold in under 3 days.

Connect with Watt Whisky on Facebook and Instagram at @wattwhisky using hashtags #wattwhisky #wattwhiskyfriends #wattwhiskywhere Mark started working in the whisky industry aged 18 in the famous Quaich Bar of The Craigellachie Hotel then went on to work at Royal Mile Whiskies and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society while a student in Edinburgh. After graduation he worked at Duncan Taylor Ltd then William Cadenhead Ltd where he was responsible for cask selection and product development.

Kate worked at Springbank then Glenfarclas distilleries in a sales and marketing capacity, travelling the world doing tastings, festivals and sales visits.

National distributors are The Whisky Exchange in the UK, The Nectar in Belgium, Lago in Denmark, Whisk-e in Japan and Smartworld in Taiwan.

In Campbeltown, Watt Whisky will be available from Halls of Campbeltown and by the dram from the Ardshiel Hotel. Other local and regional stockists will be listed on the Watt Whisky website.

Kate is originally from Campbeltown. Mark is from Speyside. They met in Japan while attending Whisky Live Tokyo for their respective companies.

THE ULTIMATE

COLLECTION

PART II

To Headline Sotheby’s Inaugural Annual “Halloween” Spirits Sale in London on 31 October 2020 

*Sale to Open with A Unique Offering at Auction of

A New Collection of Six Classic Aged Single Malt Whiskies

from The Macallan Distillery, Launching on 15 October*

Proceeds to be Donated to Global Food Charity, City Harvest 

 LONDON, 2 October 2020 – Almost one year ago, Sotheby’s made history in the world of collectible spirits when the sale of The Ultimate Whisky Collection achieved £7.6 million ($10 million), the highest total for any whisky collection ever offered at auction. Headlined by a bottle of The Macallan Fine & Rare 60-Year-Old 1926, which set an auction record for any bottle of wine or spirit at £1.5 million ($1.9 million), the sale was 100% sold, with all 391 lots snapped up by collectors eager to acquire sought-after and iconic bottlings.

Now, on Saturday, 31 October in London, Sotheby’s will offer The Ultimate Whisky Collection Part II, as part of a wider sale of spirits – The Ultimate Whisky Collection Part II + More – that will bring together whiskies from renowned distilleries in Scotland, Ireland and Japan. The sale marks Sotheby’s first annual auction of Spirits to fall on day that Halloween is celebrated around the world. 

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Spirits Specialist, said: “After launching Sotheby’s Spirits business last year, this segment of the wine and spirits market has seen the fastest growth, not least during these past six months, with three new world auction record prices, and an increase in buying and bidding from both new and young collectors. The appreciation for whisky is incredibly diverse and our younger collectors are showing a keen interest in understanding the nuances of age, rarity and provenance, whether acquiring bottles for current drinking, special occasions, or to treasure for the future. 

This season, we are thrilled to present the first of our annual spirits sales to take place on Halloween, not least with the second part of the Ultimate Whisky Collection and an opportunity for collectors to get their hands on a complete set of The Macallan’s new collection, so soon after its official launch. Our sale of part one a year ago – our first-ever single-owner spirits auction – marked an historic moment for the spirits market, with new benchmark prices and a fresh approach to selling whisky. This year’s offering, though lower in value, is testament to the quality of the collection in its depth and breadth. With The Macallan continuing to take the dominant pole position in our spirits sales, it is a real pleasure for us to open the auction with one of the most exciting launches in the world of collectible whisky in recent years.” 

In a collaboration with The Macallan, to mark the launch of a new classic aged collection of single malt from The Macallan Distillery, the sale will open with a complete set of six whiskies from age 40 Years Old to the oldest whisky ever released by the brand. The proceeds generated from this one-off offering at auction will be donated to global food charity, City Harvest, which redistributes surplus from the food industry to vulnerable people internationally. Full details will be revealed on 15 October, to coincide with The Macallan’s official launch. 

Please visit The Macallan by clicking here

Assembled by a private American Connoisseur over some 20 years, The Ultimate Whisky Collection was most comprehensive catalogue of whisky ever to be offered by a single owner in a single auction. This year’s offering will present 190 lots of Scotch, Japanese and Irish whiskies, estimated to bring in the region of £800,000. The roll-call of all 37 distilleries represented in the sale is equally extensive, including: Ardbeg, Auchentoshan, The Balvenie, The BenRiach Benrinnes, Benromach, Bowmore, Brora, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, The Dalmore, Glen Grant, Glen Mhor, Glenburgie, Glendronach, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Glengoyne, The Glenlivet, Glenlossie, Glenturret, Hibiki, Highland Park, Imperial, Knappogue Castle, Laphroaig, Linkwood, The Macallan, Miltonduff, Mortlach, Mosstowie, North British, Springbank, Strathisla and Tomatin.