Merry Christmas from Whisky Wednesday!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 289: Auchentoshan Sauvignon Blanc Finish

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky vlogger, the latest Auchentoshan. In November 2019 Auchentoshan launched an Amazon Exclusive with their Sauvignon Blanc Finish, a fresh and new triple distilled Lowlander which, according to the tagline on the box, is ‘crafted to be enjoyed chilled’. ‘Wait! What? Seriously?’ Mark is not very fond of cooling his whisky (nor does he have good experience with it), so he was pretty skeptical. But when the bottles arrived early December, he got to work. And behold: it is good, but when chilled it is very surprising indeed!

https://youtu.be/e2MDcHDYenk

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY AT THE GLENALLACHIE DISTILLERY AS WHISKY ICON WALKER EARNS ANOTHER PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

Billy Walker’s Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year Award comes hot on the heels of Scottish Whisky Distillery of the Year success

The GlenAllachie Distillery has capped a particularly productive and successful year with another award win, with co-founder Billy Walker being awarded Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Awards. The distillery’s visitor centre was also Highly Commended in the Visitor Attraction of the Year category.

The win at the annual Icons of Whisky Awards, which are presented by industry bible Whisky Magazine, comes just months after The GlenAllachie won the Scottish Whisky Distillery of the Year 2019 at the inaugural Scottish Whisky Awards.

Walker said: “I’m over the moon to win this prestigious award, it’s a wonderful way to round off the year. When we first acquired the distillery, I knew it had massive potential. It’s been hugely exciting to be part of its reawakening and share our outstanding single malts with the world.

“I’m particularly pleased that the visitor centre was Highly Commended. We’ve only been opened to visitors for just over seven months, and we have a growing team who deserve recognition for the work they’ve done to put The GlenAllachie back on the map.”

It’s been a remarkable rise to prominence for the distillery since Walker and co-founders Graham Stevenson and Trisha Savage took over in 2017. Prior to their arrival, the distillery, which was built in 1967, was relatively unknown and focused on producing malts for blends.

Since then, Walker and his team have built The GlenAllachie into a global independent whisky brand through a series of single malt releases and by opening the distillery to the public for the first time in its history.

The run of releases began in March 2018 with a special bottling of limited edition single cask whiskies to mark the 50^th anniversary of the distillery’s maiden production run in 1968. The GlenAllachie’s first core range was unveiled in July, followed by a batch of single casks in November and the launch of MacNair’s Lum Reek, a blended malt Scotch whisky.

In May 2019, the distillery unveiled its visitor centre and shop, opening the distillery up for tours for the first time in over 50 years. In July, the distillery revealed its first Wood Finish range, which comprises three expressions. The following month, the distillery also added a 15-year-old single malt to its multi award-winning core range.

In October, two years to the day since The GlenAllachie Distillery was bought by Billy Walker and his team, The GlenAllachie launched Batch 3 of its Cask Strength series, and a new collection of five UK exclusive single casks.

The distillery’s team has also grown – in the last two years, the headcount has risen from 7 to 22.

Along the way, the GlenAllachie’s single malts and blends have been recognised with multiple awards including several gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition; five medals at the world-renowned International Wines and Spirits Competition (IWSC); and Golds at the International Spirits Challenge and World Whiskies Awards.

Further information on the distillery and company can be found at www.theglenallachie.com

Facebook – @TheGlenAllachie

Twitter – @TheGlenAllachie

Instagram – @theglenallachie_

MacNair’s Facebook – @macnairs

Merry Christmas from The Good Dram Show!

And Chris…of course!

– Season’s Greetings! – 

It’s that magical time of year again…

Season’s Greetings on behalf of all of the team here at Glengoyne!

We hope you get the chance to share a dram (or two!) with family and friends during Christmas and New Year – as you can see from our new Christmas film featuring our distillery team, Glengoyne is a welcome addition to most winter festivities.

Once again, we’d like to sincerely thank you for being part of the Glengoyne Family, and wish you all the best in 2020.

Season’s Greetings

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Gordon & MacPhail.

THE WHISKY SALE: A PRIVATE COLLECTION

AN EXCEPTIONAL COLLECTION OF WHISKY 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING COMES TO AUCTION  

A Private Collection of Whisky, 50 years in the making, comes to auction on 20^th March 2020 at Tennants Auctioneers in North Yorkshire. With a focus on Macallan, the collection includes such highlights as a bottle of The Macallan 52 Year Old Select Reserve 1946 (estimate: £20,000-30,000 plus buyer’s premium).

Comprising over 300 bottles, the collection was amassed by a businessman who was first introduced to whisky when his father-in-law gave him a bottle of The Macallan 10 Year Old. It proved revelatory, sparking a life-long interest in whisky and a deep love of Macallan. Indeed, The Macallan 10 Year Old has been his drink of choice ever since.

Tennants’ Wine and Whisky Specialist William McNab says of the collection: “It is a pleasure to handles such a fine collection of whisky put together with much dedication by a true connoisseur. Not only are there examples of some of the most desirable single bottles around, but there are year runs and top bottles from Scotland’s finest distilleries. The collection even includes an example of my favourite whisky, a rare and now discontinued Balvenie 10 Year Old Founder’s Reserve, Cognac Bottling”.

At the heart of the collection is Macallan, which is led by a bottle of The Macallan 52 Year Old Select Reserve 1946 (Estimate: £20,000-30,000 plus buyer’s premium). Distilled just after the War when production of whisky – a luxury good – had stopped, it was made with peated malt due to the scarcity of coal. A rarity on Speyside, it is now recognised as one of the greatest Macallans ever released. The collector has also put together a near-complete year run of The Macallan 18 Year Old from 1963 to 1997, missing only seven years, offering other enthusiasts the opportunity to add missing years to their collection.

Further star lots of Macallan include The Macallan 1951 Fine and Rare, which is bottle number 1 of 632; a very rare bottle from just after the War, it is estimated at £15,000-20,000 (plus buyer’s premium). Two rare bottles of The Macallan Red Ribbon, which was bottled for merchants around the world, are also on offer from 1938 (estimate: £10,000-15,000 plus buyer’s premium) and 1950 (estimate: £5,000-7,000 plus buyer’s premium).

The majority of the collection was bought in the UK, however, approximately 20% was sourced from Spain, Italy, France and Holland. The collector even travelled as far as Barbados to collect a particularly prized bottle. Amongst interesting lots sourced overseas are four bottles of The Macallan Cadenheads, Scotland’s oldest independent bottler (estimate: £800-1,200 plus buyer’s premium each), which he purchased from Cadenheads Amsterdam shop; here he also found a rare bottle of The Macallan 12 Year Old French Revolution 1789-1989 (estimate: £500-700 plus buyer’s premium).

The collection also offers good, collectable bottles of Glenfarclas and Glenmorangie as well as bottles from the top distilleries across Scotland; there is a particular focus on good bottles from the 1970s. In addition, the collection offers affordable bottles of single malt for drinking.

For further details of the auction and related events, or to register your interest, contact William McNab on william.mcnab@tennants-ltd.co.uk.

The sale catalogue will be available online from Friday 6^th March at www.tennants.co.uk and it will be on view to the public from Sunday 15^th March.

SALE:               The Whisky Sale: A Private Collection

Auction:           Friday 20^th March

Viewing:          Sunday 15^th March 11am-4pm

Monday 16^th March 10am-4pm

Tuesday 17^th March 10am-4pm

Wednesday 18^th March 10am-4pm

Thursday 19^th March 10am-5pm

Morning of sale from 8am

Venue:             Tennants Auctioneers, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5SG

Details:            www.tennants.co.uk

Whisky Specialist:      William McNab

William.mcnab@tennants-ltd.co.uk

+44 (0)1969 623780

Pictures 

• Part of the Year Run of The Macallan 18 Year Old
• The Macallan 52 Year Old Select Reserve 1946 – Estimate: £20,000-30,000
• The Macallan Red Ribbon 1938 and 1950 

1. All prices quoted are the Hammer Price, excluding buyers’ premium. 

NOTES 

Full sale results are available on our website: www.tennants.co.uk  

• Tennants Auctioneers is a fourth-generation family business and is one of the UK’s largest international Antiques and Fine Art auctioneers. Situated in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, Tennants holds over 80 sales a year.

• Tennants connects more than 200,000 buyers and sellers a year.
• As a family business, Tennants stays true to its Yorkshire heritage and offers its clients unrivalled service, expertise and value.
• In 2014 Tennants expanded the Auction Centre to 80,000sq ft with the development of The Garden Rooms – a dedicated venue for events, weddings, conferences and exhibitions. The venue is one of the region’s largest event spaces with a capacity of over 600 people.