The Epicurean Launches Its 3^rd “Wood Series” Single Cask Bottling

Douglas Laing & Co has today released a Rivesaltes Wine Finished Lowland Malt Scotch Whisky as part of The Epicurean Wood Series.

The Epicurean’s latest specialist Single Cask release is bottled at a high alcohol strength of 48%, and offered without chill-filtration. The 100% natural bright gold colour of the spirit is imparted by the Rivesaltes-seasoned Single Cask used for maturing the award-winning Lowland Malt. With this innovative series, The Epicurean seeks to demonstrate that flavour is created throughout the Whisky-making process but most significantly during the interaction between the spirit when it is in oak casks.

The Epicurean Malt was first matured in premium American Oak wood barrels before being re-racked into hand-selected Rivesaltes Single Casks for a second maturation period of more than twelve months. The result is a full-bodied Malt with layers of complexity and character.

The Rivesaltes Wine casks hail from the town Rivesaltes in the south-west corner of the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region of France.

Chris Leggat, Managing Director, who selected the Rivesaltes casks used said: “The Epicurean brand is growing well – its spirit quality coupled with its versatile style is increasingly recognised but from time to time, we like to experiment and innovate with this Malt as it lends itself so well to cask finishes. The cask and the Whisky add their own unique personalities and with this Rivesaltes finish, the outcome is a balanced marriage of cask and spirit character – we are delighted with the result.”

With only two Single Casks of this specialist Malt released, the spirit is said to have a sweet, honeyed style showing sugared cereal, milk chocolate, hazelnuts and crystallised citrus fruits.

Packed in a premium gift tube, The Epicurean Rivesaltes Finish Limited Edition is expected to retail at £59.99 

ABOUT DOUGLAS LAING:

www.douglaslaing.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/douglaslaingwhisky

Instagram: @remarkable_malts

Douglas Laing & Co. is a leading independent Scotch Whisky blender and bottler specialising in the selection and release of Single Cask Single and Small Batch Malt Scotch Whiskies.

The company was founded by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948 and is still owned and run by the Laing family – Fred Laing Jr and his daughter Cara Laing.

The company philosophy is to bottle the way the distiller intended – at a high strength and without chill filtration to preserve the robust and unique character of the Whisky. Douglas Laing’s industry reputation and many awards is testament to this ethos.

Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts, the Ultimate Distillation of Scotland’s Malt Whisky Regions, encompasses The Epicurean Lowland Malt Scotch Whisky, Timorous Beastie (Highlands), Scallywag (Speyside), The Gauldrons (Campbeltown), Rock Islands (Islands) and Big Peat (Islay). Beyond its Blended Malts expertise, the award-winning Douglas Laing portfolio also includes Provenance, Premier Barrel, Old Particular and Xtra Old Particular, collectively known as the firm’s “Exceptional Single Casks”.

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MACALLAN MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY

To tell the Story of The Macallan Master of Photography we have to go back to the days before the Whisky market went crazy, back in those days there were no Whisky Auction Sites, when Macallan released a new bottle it sat on the shelves with no queues out the door, no ballots and certainly The Craigellachie Estate was never brought to a standstill like back in 2018 when Macallan released their Genesis Bottle.

Back in 2009 when Macallan released the first of the Master of Photography’s the Rankin Bottle things were certainly different. The legendary Photographer Rankin was invited and given free reign of The Macallan Estate with the task of taking 1000 individual Polaroid Picture’s, each would be made into a label and boxed with a 30 Year Old Fine Oak so you would have a 30 Year Old Whisky with a unique label, Polaroid and booklet signed by Rankin!

Except for 189 Polaroid’s which were taken in colour, a colour label was made and all were placed in a Red Leather Presentation Box. These unique limited edition bottles were not for the UK Market these were sent far and wide across the Globe.

In 2010 the second Chapter of The Macallan Master of Photography Albert Watson a 20 Year Old Sherry Oak was produced and again there were 1000 limited edition bottles. But this time Albert Watson was tasked with documenting the journey of the wood from the traditional Cooperage in Jerez Northern Spain a journey of 600 miles lasting 12 days, following a young couple on their journey to the home of The Macallan.

But this is not the whole story, yes they produced 1000 bottles 900 of which were for the UK Market and presented in a Black Box containing a 20 Year Old Sherry Oak Macallan bottled at 43% ABV including a set of 10 portfolio prints. The remaining 100 bottles were produced at a higher strength of 46.5% ABV presented within a Blue/Grey Presentation Box.

These 100 bottles were then sent far and wide around the Globe, 10 Bottles were sent to Hong Kong International Airport, 10 Bottles to New York, and 12 to Mexico all of which sold out within a matter of days, and the rest went to who knows where?

To date none of these Blue Box higher strength Macallan’s have shown up at Auction and can be classed as very rare indeed.

There were however a further 36 Bottles produced individually customised containing Macallan Whisky from 1946 the year that Albert Watson met his Wife Elizabeth, so you could in fact say that they produced 1036 Bottles of Master of Photography Albert Watson, these 36 Bottles must be amongst The Holy Grail of Macallan.

SCOTCH GALORE

We don’t do many press releases, but as an award-winning small independent bottler we wanted to get the message out about our new Winter 2020 outturn as they are all very different and have all been driven by consumer feedback and requests (sometimes demands!).

“Despite all the surreal times, tough times and frankly sad times we have all been through during 2020, the last twelve months have been an exciting year for GreatDrams as a business; we have started exporting our limited edition whiskies abroad, we have rebuilt our website and brand from the ground up, we have refocussed the company to offer more bottlings than ever before, to act as a cask brokerage too and we through challenging times we have built a thriving online virtual whisky (and gin) tasting platform too” – Greg Dillon, co-founder of GreatDrams.

As a company of two people, husband and wife duo Greg & Kirsty Dillon, we are able to be really nimble when it comes to what we do with our range, what we release and when we release new limited edition whiskies.

“Every whisky we release is limited edition, never repeated and never released for the sake of it”, as Kirsty likes to explain, “we deliberately set the company up to only release small releases of each product a it keeps it interesting for us, and for our customers who come back time and again, and really shape what we do as a business”.

And now we have three new releases going into the final few months of the year.

KNOCKDHU SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

This whisky is the first Port Cask-matured single malt we have released, having spent its whole maturation period in a First Fill Ruby Port Barrique. The flavour profile, a thick spirit owing to reduced reflux in the stills and the use of worm tubs in the process, is full of with luscious berry fruity notes and an indulgent dark chocolate note has a thick, creamy mouthfeel that will bring you back time and again.

“For the lucky few who have already got their bottles of this release, virtually all have said its their favourite of our releases to date; the rich flavour profile is stunning and we have been blown away by the positivity received for our Knockdhu already,” notes Greg.

Age: 8 Years Old     |     Distilled: 23rd April 2012     |     ABV: 48.2%     |     Only 183 bottles ever released

CHRISTMAS 2020 SPECIAL RELEASE SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

This much anticipated, and requested, Christmas Series release is a Single Cask Single Malt whisky from the Blair Athol Distillery in the Highlands. For this release we wanted something truly indulgent and Christmassy with a lovely sherried character to it – big winter fruit notes, some zesty orange and lime and subtle, soothing spice and a hint of marzipan notes create a luxurious flavour profile to conjure the flavour of Christmas cake, and with it a dram to reminisce with and to celebrate with those you love, no matter how surreal the year has been.

“Last year our Christmas release sold out in nine days which was hugely unexpected, so we are excited to see what happens with it this year!” – Kirsty

Age: 9 Years Old     |     ABV: 46.2%     |     Only 150 bottles ever released

GIRVAN 30 YEAR OLD SINGLE CASK SINGLE GRAIN SCOTCH WHISKY

An ancient grain whisky from the Girvan Distillery – distilled in 1989, this 30 Year Old has spent thirty years patiently sleeping, maturing, developing… This limited edition Girvan 30 Year Old Single Cask Single Grain Scotch Whisky bottling is a release of just 96 bottles globally. With fruity and buttery notes being the most forward, a lovely vanilla sweetness develops on the palate to give a luxurious texture, and a rather indulgent whisky to sip, savour and celebrate with.

Our oldest release to date, bottled at natural cask strength, this whisky comes from the Girvan distillery in Ayrshire, having been distilled just after Christmas, 1989.

Age: 30 Years Old     |     ABV: 54.5%     |     Only 96 bottles ever released

All our releases are non-chill filtered and of natural colour.

“We have been toying with when to release our ancient Girvan for a while now and it felt right to do so now as it is just over 30 years old, is so rich and luxurious in its flavour composition and, frankly, like all our releases, we fell in love with it… who doesn’t love an ancient grain whisky?!” – Greg

In addition to new releases, GreatDrams is now taking bookings for private virtual whisky and gin tastings September through December, so far since lockdown was announced GreatDrams’ virtual tastings – public and private – have had over 2,000 participants and has added a fun dimension to what we do. Greg notes that he “never expected to do virtual tastings, and set the first one up as a way to get around 20 people to have a drink with him to alleviate the monotony of lockdown and it just spiralled from there”.

To get in touch and talk whisky contact info@greatdrams.com or to buy limited edition whisky www.greatdrams.com/whisky-shop

ABOUT GreatDrams

www.GreatDrams.com
www.twitter.com/GreatDrams
www.Instagram.com/GreatDramsGreg
www.Facebook.com/GreatDrams

GreatDrams is all about raising spirits.

We launched GreatDrams, a family business, to bring great quality, limited edition whiskies to the people. Never repeating a release and never compromising on flavour. Award-winning from our first dram, we aim to make great whisky more approachable and available to whisky drinkers.

In 2019 we were crowned Cheshire Drinks Producer of the Year at the Taste Cheshire awards, picked up one double gold and one gold at the Great Taste awards and were awarded 91.5 points and 80.5 points in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2020 respectively for our two core releases of the year. We will introduce whisky drinkers to their next favourite dram.

We are experts in finding incredible tasting rare casks of whisky. Each bottle is hand numbered, is limited edition, only a finite amount of it will ever be bottled, and it is all available exclusively from us; once they’re gone, they truly are gone.

We also help ordinary people, businesses and anyone who’s interested in owning a cask of whisky make that dream or commercial objective a reality. Get in touch to discuss owning your own part of whisky history.

We love what we do and are constantly searching for whisky that not only has a story behind every drop and means something to us, but tastes sensational.

Our new episode of Japanese Whisky World is just minutes away. Tune in now.Discover the famous whisky from one of Japan’s most renowned distilleries.

Dekanta
2-49-7 Minamiikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo

Harvest-time is fast approaching (weather permitting!), and the local barley we use to make our single malt whiskies is nearly ripe and ready. Read all about why we are committed to using 100% locally-grown barley and the importance of Cotswolds terroir on our latest blog.

READ MORE…

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 332: Support Local Products

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky vlogger, feels that in these times of Corona crisis it is important to support local products. So buy local! To help you out Mark gladly presents to you ten producers of Belgian spirits, whisky and beer. Sit back and relax, for the video lasts 25 minutes. Then put on your face mask and run to your local shop to get some of this wonderful product and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/LejYuJlPoBs

Buffalo Trace Distillery Continues Expansion

 $1.2 Billion Investment Underway to Increase Bourbon Supply For Future Years

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (Aug. 11, 2020) Buffalo Trace Distillery is grateful it has been able to survive Prohibition, the Great Depression, numerous floods, two World Wars, and is now working hard navigating through a pandemic, all the while never ceasing to make whiskey.  Currently in the middle of a $1.2 billion infrastructure investment, this National Historic Landmark has made great strides in the past year. Still, Buffalo Trace predicts it will be a few more years before their whiskey supply catches up with demand, as consumers’ taste for its whiskeys continue to increase.

In the past year, this 247-year-old Distillery has installed four new cookers, four new fermenters, opened a new high speed-bottling hall, and completed construction on three more barrel warehouses. Here are more details on each project:

Just before the end of 2019, Buffalo Trace started cooking corn in its four new 22- foot tall cookers.  The cookers are responsible for pressure-cooking the milled grain before the mash is cooled and fermented.  The new cookers span three floors in height and give Buffalo Trace 80,000 gallons of cooking capacity, which is more than two and a half times the volume of the old cookers. The roof of the 1930s era Mash House was removed to install the massive cookers into the building.  New cookers for the other grains were also installed to cook rye, wheat and malted barley.

Four new fermenters were also added last summer in the 1880s building that formerly housed the larger bottling operation.  Each of these 93,000 gallon vats are slightly bigger than the twelve existing fermenters in use since 1933. A new cooling tower, which cools down the grains after they are cooked into mash, was also added.

A new $50 million high-speed bottling hall was completed in late 2019, located on site near the distribution center.  The bottling hall is 110,000 square feet and offers improved efficiency, flexibility and overall quality for the Distillery’s award-winning brands.  Happily, it came online just in time to also package hand sanitizer, which the company started producing on March 27^th in response to Covid-19.  The hand sanitizer is being made for some of the world’s largest organizations in healthcare, government, military, retail, airline, pharmacy and financial industries.  The Distillery plans to continue to supply hand sanitizer for as long as the need is there.

 Three new barrel warehouses have been completed in the past year, EE, FF, and GG, joining four other newly filled warehouses. Each warehouse holds 58,800 barrels, costing about $7 million each to build and another $21 million each to fill with barrels.  Barrel warehouses HH, JJ and II are in various stages of construction now. Fifteen new barrel warehouses will be built on the 200 acres of land known as the “Whiskey Farm,” purchased adjacent to Buffalo Trace a few years ago. Every warehouse at Buffalo Trace is heated during the winter months, a rarity for bourbon warehouses, but a tradition started by E.H. Taylor Jr. in the 1800s. The reason for heating the warehouses is to keep the bourbon moving in and out of the wood to yield more flavor and color as barrels mature during the cold Kentucky winters, rather than lying dormant when the temperature drops.

Also in the works are eight more fermenters, a new dry house (the area where spent mash is dried and shipped out), a water treatment facility, a second still house, more barrel warehouses, and in the future, another craft bottling hall.  Another craft bottling hall will allow Buffalo Trace to produce more single barrel and small batch bourbons.

 Tours resumed July 1, and guests are now able to see the expanded Visitor Center at Buffalo Trace, which backs up to the recently completed fermenter expansion and includes additional tasting rooms and more retail space. The expanded Visitor Center triples the size of the former space, to accommodate for the ever-increasing interest in bourbon tourism, which accounted for nearly 300,000 visitors to Buffalo Trace in 2019.

Even with all this expansion progress, demand for Buffalo Trace Bourbon and other whiskeys made at the award-winning Distillery continues to outpace supply, as most of its whiskeys age for eight years or more.  “Although we’ve been increasing production on all of our bourbons for the past several years, the consumer demand also continues to increase,” said Kris Comstock, senior marketing director. “We understand fans are frustrated when they can’t find our brands on liquor store shelves.  While we are bottling and shipping record amounts, overall demand outstrips supply, and as a result our brands will continue to remain allocated to ensure every state receives some each month.”

Allocations of favorite brands like Eagle Rare, Weller, Blanton’s and E.H. Taylor are increasing faster with each passing year and at the same time Buffalo Trace has been able to unveil  several new whiskeys, such as Weller Full Proof and Weller Single Barrel, Double Eagle Very Rare, Blanton’s Gold in the United States, Old Charter Oak, and several others.

“We promise we are doing everything we can to make more, as evidenced by our progress we’ve made in the past year with our expansion,” said Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “But great bourbon does take time to age, and we won’t comprise age, taste, or proof just to fill more bottles.  We’re just asking our fans to remain patient as we wait for our stocks to mature.”

To see a video of the progress Buffalo Trace has made on its $1.2 billion expansion in the past year, click here.

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 by “Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible 2018” and its William Larue Weller and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac were named 2^nd and 3^rd finest whiskeys in the world, respectively, in the “Jim Murray Whiskey Bible 2020.”  Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 1,000 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies.

4 year old Inchfad bottled for the NHS with profits going to Healthcare charities

Independent Bottler The Single Cask have bottled a unique single cask whisky and is donating all profits to Healthcare charities.

The COVID crisis has been tough for everyone, and continues to present challenges. The heroes of the hour are our NHS, healthcare, and frontline workers. They have, and continue, to look after us all.

As soon as warehouses in Scotland opened again after lockdown, The Single Cask decided to swing into action and bottle something special. They chose a unique single cask Inchfad, distilled at Loch Lomond in the Highlands. Inchfad is rare today, with the distillery itself no longer bottling this range. This heavily-peated single malt scotch whisky is renowned for its soft fruit and malt notes.

The Single Cask selected a four year old ex-bourbon cask, distilled in 2016. At cask strength of 61.4% the whisky has been bottled in its natural colour and without chill-filtration.

Tasting notes for this whisky are:

● Nose: barbecued, smokey pineapple with sweet malt, seasoned with white pepper and cinnamon.

● Palate: soft tropical fruit in the form of pineapple and mango, with both the malt character of the original spirit and the influence of the oak cask coming through, together with a touch of white pepper and cinnamon.

● Finish: long and satisfying with elements from both nose and palate present – smoked pineapple with malt, oak and wood spice.

All profits from the 197 bottles of this single cask expression will be donated by The Single Cask to healthcare charities in recognition of, and in support of, their ongoing efforts fighting COVID.

This 4 year old Inchfad bottled for the NHS is available to buy for £49 at www.thesinglecask.co.uk/nhs

For further queries please contact Ed Leigh: ed@thesinglecask.co.uk

Notes

About The Single Cask

The Single Cask bottles unique spirits one cask at a time. We search hard to find exceptional single malt whisky, Irish whiskey, and American bourbon. We like whiskies that showcase a distillery’s characteristics or an interesting maturation technique. But in the end, if it’s delicious, we put it in a bottle. We bottle our whiskies at cask strength, natural colour, and without chill-filtration. This keeps the whisky as pure and natural as possible; just as we found it in the cask. Our glass bottles are styled like a decanter, designed to be passed around a group of friends as they enjoy sharing a dram together. The best whisky should be opened, shared and enjoyed; not left to gather dust on a shelf. We’re passionate about what we do. We’re here to get these single cask releases into whisky-lovers’ hands.

The Single Cask be found here

● Website: www.thesinglecask.co.uk
● Instagram: @thesinglecask
● Twitter: @the_single_cask
● Facebook: @thesinglecaskuk

Win Tobermory’s Golden Dram!

We have hidden a bottle of Ledaig 42 Year Old in one of our Tobermory 12 Year Old gift boxes. With a one in 300 chance to win, today could be your lucky day to get your hands on one of the last bottles of this highly-limited golden dram!

Peated, finished in Spanish sherry oak casks and worth a whopping £2,800; there’s no mistaking that Tobermory’s Ledaig 42 Year Old is the epitome of liquid gold.

To enter: simply buy a bottle of award-winning Tobermory 12 Year Old online (currently on sale!) before midnight on Sunday 30th August. When it comes to receiving your order, instead of the 12-year-old, perhaps your whisky gift box will reveal the golden dram…

Entrants must be 18 years and over; read the full T&Cs here.

Tobermory 12 Year Old
Was £50.00
Now £37.99

Buy Now ›

As we prepare to celebrate our spiritual home with The Gathering next month, we’ve taken the opportunity to once again delve into our deepest warehouses and select three exceptional casks to add to our Vaults Collection.

The whiskies of The Vaults Collection will transport you to another time and place, reliving whisky of a bygone era, this time from a group of distilleries which are rarely bottled by the Society. Pour a dram and indulge yourself in whiskies which are held in the highest regard by the Society’s esteemed Tasting Panel and create a moment of history in your own whisky journey.

To purchase bottlings such as these please contact the Society for Membership details…

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