Spirit of Toronto 2020 Warehouse Experience: Last Call for Aberfeldy and Wiser’s!

Given the many challenges that 2020 continues to throw at us, it’s even more fitting to give thanks for life’s small pleasures, and in our case it’s the ability to remain connected to whisky fans and share the liquid bounty that has been specially imported for the Spirit of Toronto 2020 Warehouse Experience.

Our exclusive series of online tastings hosted by whisky makers launches in less than two weeks, and while our Daftmill and Aberlour sessions are now fully booked (with only a few spots left for Highland Park), this week is the last call to reserve your virtual passage to the Aberfeldy Distillery in the Scottish Highlands, and the Hiram Walker Distillery closer to home in Windsor on the shores of the Detroit River.

Hiram Walker Warehouse Tasting with Master Distiller Don Livermore

It seems only fitting that we are launching this series with none other than Canada’s foremost whisky maker, Don Livermore of the Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor. Those who have yet to taste and chat whisky with ‘Dr. Don’ are in for a special treat as he previews his latest limited edition, JP Wiser’s 22 Year Old Finished in Port Wood and bottled at 59.7% abv.

From here we’ll segue to some of the experimental casks that the good Doc has selected for this session, including JP Wiser’s Red Letter at 15 years of age, and two variants of Canada’s favourite rye, Lot 40 ‘Peated Quarter Cask’ and Lot 40 ‘Black Sea Cask’ — yes, so many questions!

All will be revealed come Friday October 23, along with the caveat that these experimental casks may or may not ever see the light of day. (PS: Spoiler alert! We don’t know what we’ll do if the sample of JP Wiser’s Red Letter 15 Year Old that we’ve tasted doesn’t eventually make it to store shelves…)

Aberfeldy Warehouse Tasting with Master Blender Stephanie Macleod

Having now previewed most of what will be poured throughout this very special series, we’re especially excited to have Master Blender Stephanie Macleod lead us through a vertical tasting of the Aberfeldy Distillery which includes two gorgeous single casks at full proof.

As the heart and soul of Dewar’s Blended Scotch Whisky, Aberfeldy is a distillery held in high regard by Scottish blenders, sought after for its elegant, silky demeanour. This virtual warehouse tasting has Stephanie starting off with the classic, honeyed Aberfeldy 12 Year Old followed by a 16 Year Old finished in Madeira casks, a whisky that we guarantee lovers of wine finshed malts will find hard to put down. For fans of sherried malts the Aberfeldy 20 Year Old single cask that Stephanie has sent is a dream come true, finished for 4 years in an ex-sherry cask and rich with all the raisin and Christmas pudding one could ask for. And for her finale Stephanie will be closing off with an elder statesman from the distillery, a single cask of Aberfeldy 33 Year Old that is a testament to the famous quote by the late Tommy Dewar: “We have a great regard for old age when it is bottled.”

All-Access Virtual Pass and our Joker’s Wild

As a reminder, all sessions come with a beautiful wooden gift box which has been specially designed for this series, and includes two Spirit of Toronto 2020 Glencairn whisky glasses alongside four sample bottles, a tasting mat and a pipette. A link to join the virtual sessions will be sent by email ahead of the scheduled day and time. Participants will also be able to view all other sessions in the series at no extra charge.

Unable to participate in the live stream of your choice at the scheduled time? Not a problem as all tastings will be archived for 45 days after airing.

Shipping is to Canadian addresses only, but there is also the option of an All-Access Virtual Pass that allows you to participate in these sessions with a dram from your own sideboard.

We are also keen to maintain the spirit of discovery that Spirit of Toronto is all about, and with this in mind we have the option of our Joker’s Wild — a random class based upon availability for those who love a good surprise, and a healthy discount. Your selected class will be revealed upon delivery of your tasting kit.

Slainte!

Click for the complete Spirit of Toronto Warehouse Experience schedule

Johnnie Walker 200th Anniversary

Johnnie Walker sells 200 million bottles of whisky worldwide every year, and its eminently-drinkable blends are some of the whisky world’s few true household names. The brand turns 200 this year and, in honour of its growth from John Walker’s Ayrshire grocery store to the world’s best-selling whisky, it has treated us all to a couple of limited-edition drams to celebrate.

Of whisky’s truly household names, Johnnie Walker is perhaps the biggest and best-known. What began as a green grocer and spirits shop run by John Walker himself in 1820, now sells more than 200 million litres of whisky worldwide, every year and has a logo and bottle shape recognised across the globe.

Now, at 200 years old, Johnnie Walker not only has the most successful range of blended Scotch whiskies in the world, but has released some special, limited editions to mark the occasion, and bid happy birthday to the man who started it all: John Walker.

EXPLORE NOW

Creating a new distillery in an old building comes with its own particular challenges. But it also allows you to start from scratch in terms of putting the visitor experience first, and in determining what the focus of your distinctive approach should be.

That’s certainly the case with Holyrood distillery, located in the historic Engine Shed building in the heart of Edinburgh, which started running its stills in July 2019.

Everything about the set-up from the visitor’s point of view is about flavour and knowledge, with the first stop on a distillery tour taking you to the Nosing Room. Before you even see a copper still, it’s been designed to put your olfactory senses to the test, and every stage of the tour is geared towards not only educating you about the process, but to helping you identify what kind of flavours you might be drawn towards more than others.

Click over to Unfiltered online to read the full article in this month’s magazine.

READ UNFILTERED

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 looking at some of the latest releases from independent bottler James Eadie.

https://youtu.be/uk1-ovF1rOs

Introducing Lost Lantern Whiskey

New Bottler of American Whiskey Dedicated to Shining a Light on the Independent Spirit

October 6, 2020—The best whiskey reflects its origin, its craftsmanship, its ingredients, and its distillers. Inspired by the long tradition of independent bottlers in Scotland, Lost Lantern is a new independent bottler of American whiskey. The company seeks out the most unique and exciting whiskies being made all across the country and releases them as single casks and blends, always with a deep commitment to transparency.

With the launch of Lost Lantern comes the introduction of the brand’s first bottling, American Vatted Malt Edition No. 1. This blend of single malts from six American distilleries will be available for purchase as of October 15 at LostLanternWhiskey.com and Seelbachs.com shortly thereafter; between the two sites, Lost Lantern Whiskey will be available in 40 states. Later this month, the brand will announce details on its first four limited-edition single cask whiskies, which will also be released this fall.

Lost Lantern was founded in 2018 by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, whiskey lovers who worked on two sides of the industry: Nora as a retail specialist and Sales Manager at Astor Wine & Spirits; Adam as a Senior Whisky Specialist and Editor at Whisky Advocate. The decision to become an independent bottler was born from their desire to highlight the great distilleries crafting exciting whiskey around the country. “There are approximately 2,000 distilleries in the United States, yet there’s no easy way for whiskey lovers to discover the best and most exciting ones,” explained Adam. “I kept dwelling on this idea and realized that somebody was going to do this sooner or later. It was clear that, between my experience and contacts and Nora’s palate and background in startups and operations, we were the ones who should do it.” Lost Lantern was born soon after.

Nora and Adam have committed to only purchasing whiskey from distilleries they have visited in person. “We’re presenting distilleries to our customers under the Lost Lantern name as exemplars in their field, so we need to understand what they’re doing and why,” commented Nora. Since deciding to create Lost Lantern, Nora and Adam have visited close to 100 distilleries. Many of these visits were part of their 2018 “Great Whiskey Road Trip,” which took the duo to 50 distilleries in eight months across dozens of states. Inspired to continue on, they visited another 25 while touring the Midwest in 2019, and that number has only continued to increase.

While their roles at Lost Lantern overlap in various areas, Nora and Adam have defined responsibilities within the company. Nora manages the operations and oversees whiskey production, while Adam heads up sales, marketing, and whiskey sourcing—seeking out distilleries that are making unique and interesting products. As Nora explains, “We think of Lost Lantern as shining a light on whiskies that would otherwise be
lost. That sometimes means bottling something from a distillery that is not distributed nationally, and which doesn’t get the attention we think they deserve. It can also mean bottling barrels from more well known
distilleries that are not consistent with their core lineup. This may be a finished whiskey, or an experiment that they’re not quite sure how to release. We’re looking for whiskies that we can bottle or blend that will expand the understanding of the landscape of American whiskey by whiskey connoisseurs.”

AMERICAN VATTED MALT EDITION NO. 1

In October, Lost Lantern will introduce their first whiskey, American Vatted Malt Edition No. 1. Limited to 3,000 bottles, the blend will be available for purchase at LostLanternWhiskey.com as of October 15th for $120. This 12-barrel blend of American single malts has been aged for two years, is non-chill-filtered with no color added and has been bottled at 52.5% abv.

This first edition is a complex and balanced blend with notes of baking spice, salted pretzel and hints of roasted barley surrounded by a savory smokiness that culminates in a long, warm finish of milk chocolate and sea salt.

American Vatted Malt Edition No. 1 is one of the first blends of American single malts ever made in the United States and represents the whiskey world’s true spirit of collaboration and harmony. Through a collaborative process that took several months to set up, Nora and Adam brought together the founders and distillers behind some of the country’s most distinctive single malts, all of whom hand-selected barrels for this unique blend and met in Denver to create it as a group. Over the course of a single marathon day, they worked, tasted, and blended together.

Jared Himstedt, Head Distiller at Balcones Distilling was supportive of the initiative from the beginning. “I was super excited to get to work on this project, to start with American Single Malts from a bunch of different distilleries from across the country and work collaboratively with the other distillers and blenders on this expression,” explained Himstedt. “It was a unique project that was lots of fun and I think an example of where the future of American Single Malts is headed. Independent bottlers, offering both single barrels and blends, are all going to be becoming more prominent as the category and community keeps developing to bring new and delicious whiskies to the table.”

The result is American Vatted Malt Edition No. 1, a singular and special single malt blend from the following distilleries:

• Balcones (Waco, Texas)
• Copperworks (Seattle, Washington)
• Santa Fe Spirits (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
• Triple Eight (Nantucket, Massachusetts)
• Westward (Portland, Oregon)
• Virginia Distillery Co. (Lovingston, Virginia)

“American Vatted Malt is indicative of why American craft whiskey is so exciting,” said the founders. “We brought together six of the very best single malt producers in the U.S. and we worked together to create something entirely new and unique. It’s a great symbol of what we want Lost Lantern to contribute to the industry and provide for whiskey lovers. It’s unique, collaborative, and above all, deeply delicious.”

Find Lost Lantern Whiskey online at www.LostLanternWhiskey.com, on Instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/lostlanternwhiskey and Twitter at https://twitter.com/LostLanternDram.

A chat with our new Master Whisky Maker

Our stills are singing again in Rothes and, while some parts of the estate remain unchanged since 1879, recently there’s been some changes afoot…as we mentioned earlier this week, a new Master Whisky Maker has joined The Glenrothes!

Laura Rampling will oversee the next chapter in our rich history, bringing with her a nose for detail and expertise earned through a career in the Scotch Whisky industry.

Laura will certainly be busy in her new role. From developing recipes, to ensuring consistency across production, Laura will be a custodian of quality, ensuring the range retains its unique and much-loved character for many years to come.

We caught up with Laura to chat about her appointment!

What excites you about your new role?

“Rolling my sleeves up, and getting to work! Making whisky is a real passion of mine and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues, both in Rothes at the distillery and the wider team.”

What is it that attracted you to whisky making?

“What I love about whisky is that it’s so diverse, with so many different flavour profiles and characteristics. Every day is different…”

Will the whisky profile change?

“No. The Glenrothes is known for its delicate, fruity character. Sherry casks have been integral to our house style for years and will continue to be. Our customers know and love our whisky and I look forward to continuing this legacy while creating some great new whiskies worthy of The Glenrothes name.”

What is your favourite The Glenrothes dram?

“At the moment, I am really enjoying The Whisky Maker’s Cut, often with just a splash of water but occasionally mixed into an Old Fashioned. The sherry cask flavours truly come to the fore”

#SpiritOfRothes

AVAILABLE NOW

You nominated, we listened, and the shortlist of great drams for our next Whisky of the Year has been finalised. Six whiskies – three chosen by you, our whisky-loving customers, and three by our co-founder Sukhinder Singh and head buyer Dawn Davies MW – have now been portioned out into Perfect Measure Judging Packs.

Each pack contains a 3cl sample of each of the six shortlisted whiskies, labelled A-F to ensure they’re tasted blind, as well as a unique, single-use code which will allow you to vote for your favourite whisky online at thewhiskyexchange.com/vote.

Sip through each whisky yourself, or taste along with our free online tasting, hosted on our Facebook page by Dawn Davies MW and The Whisky Exchange ambassador Billy Abbott. We’ll confirm the exact date and time of the tasting on our social media pages in the next few days.

  BUY YOUR JUDGING PACK      SHOP PERFECT MEASURE SAMPLE PACKS

TyndrumWhisky.com

Brings you Batch 4 of Cask Strength

GlenAllachie

This is a step up in liquid for GlenAllachie, one to seriously test the palate, fantastically complex and flavoursome, with a wonderfully sherried nose and amazing finish.

TyndrumWhisky Tasting Notes:
Dramtastic. Buy Me One.

Pre order available here:

Order Now >

The 4th release, and going by recent releases of GlenAllachie, this is going to be stunning. Bottled at 56.1%, the GlenAllachie Cask Strength Batch 4 is a combination of PX and Oloroso sherry puncheons along with a small quantity of Virgin Oak casks. They achieve a perfect balance of fruit, dark chocolate and spice with underlying classic GlenAllachie sweet honey notes.

Official Tasting Notes:

COLOUR: Rich Mahogany.
NOSE: Dark chocolate, vanilla pods and treacle, with rich notes of orange peel and cinnamon.
TASTE: Lashings of raisins, treacle, dark chocolate, layers of heather honey, cinnamon and orange peel.

Ideal to be paired with Speyside Chocolate from Chocisky.
From GlenAllachie Distillery

Saturday October 17th, 5:30 PM:

Starward Whiskey with Founder David Vitale

Join us for a virtual tasting of Starward Australian Whiskey, presented by founder David Vitale!

For this tasting, we have a $25.00 whisky tasting set available exclusively for our customers. Each set comes with a 2oz bottle of Two-Fold, Nova, and Solera expressions. Select ‘Add Tasting Set’ when purchasing to get yours. Shipping is free!

Starward whiskey brings together Australian malted barley and Australian red wine barrels to create a distinctly Australian spirit. Housed in a large industrial space in Melbourne, this urban distillery is as bold and unconventional as the spirit it produces and the city it calls home. Starward’s distinctive whiskies are exclusively matured in Australian wine barrels in the variable Melbourne climate – which experiences “four seasons in one day” – to create a dynamic form of elemental maturation.

Click Here to RSVP

What is a Virtual Tasting?

Virtual tastings are free educational zoom meetings held by whiskey & scotch experts. They typically consist of a presentation followed by question-and-answer, and run about 60-90 minutes. During the virtual tasting, you’ll be able to ask scotch & whiskey related questions to our experts and get a behind-the-scenes look at the scotch & whiskey world! 

Additionally, featured whiskys are always on sale on our website – you can purchase beforehand to drink along with our presenters or shortly afterwards.

https://youtu.be/I4POD_j3Xis

Arran is a whisky distillery that is still growing up; they’ve only just hit their mid-twenties. But, wow. For a distillery that is still in infancy, in the grand scheme of whisky, they’re giving us product after product of well made, balanced, robust, characterful single malt whiskies. This is The Bothy or The Quarter Cask. Nine years of full Bourbon matured raucousness in a bottle. Cask strength, natural colour, non-chill filtered. £50. TAKE ALL OF MY MONEY!