Ralfy.com describes Caledonia with . ralfy review 736 – Edradour 12yo “Caledonia” @ 46%vol

https://youtu.be/Ie-g4SBM7jI

WHISKY AND WINE, FEELING FINE! 

Tomatin release limited edition Moscatel finish single malt

Highland whisky distillery Tomatin has today (Tuesday 17^th July 2018) announced the release of its new limited edition Moscatel finished whisky.

The expression, which was distilled in 2003, is aged 15 years and has a limited run of just over 6,000 bottles available worldwide.

The whisky has been finished in first fill Portuguese Moscatel wine barriques for a period of five years, with the maturation imparting flavours of toasted almonds and oranges, sun-dried raisins and figs, creating a sweet and creamy finish.

This isn’t the first time Tomatin have experimented with unusual cask maturation. Fans of the distillery will remember, for example, the limited edition 14 year old Cabernet Sauvignon and 9 year old Caribbean Rum expressions, which proved popular in 2016.

This ongoing experimentation is a result of Tomatin’s exceptional wood policy which ensures there is a wide range of casks sourced from prestigious partners within the industry.

Jennifer Masson, Tomatin’s Marketing Manager, said, “We are delighted to be able to release such an interesting and unusual cask maturation to our range of limited edition whiskies.

“Moscatel releases are relatively rare and tend to be limited as the casks aren’t widely available – making this expression a must-have and we expect it will prove very popular with our customers who are looking for something a little different, but still typically Tomatin.”

Known for ranging from chestnut to an intense mahogany in colour, the Moscatel wine and non-chill filtration give this whisky a distinctive character and rich, beautiful golden colour.

Moscatel wine, made from the muscat grape variety, delivers pronounced fruity notes, whilst also featuring an intense aromatic nose. The Portuguese wine characteristically has aromas of jasmine, orange blossom and honey suckle, with addition of citric notes of lime and grapefruit and other hints of sweetness.

Graham Eunson, Tomatin’s Distillery Manager, said, “This full bodied and intense Single Malt may be unusual in as much as it is finished in first fill Moscatel barriques, however this really accentuates what Tomatin whiskies are known for being: smooth, light, sweet and fruity.”

The limited edition Moscatel expression is available from specialist retailers at a cost of RRP £75 and comes in a 70cl bottle (46% abv).

For additional information please visit: http://www.tomatin.com/muscatel-15-year-old

Notes: 

Tomatin is located in the Scottish Highlands (near Inverness) and is famous for its portfolio of thirty soft and mellow whiskies, including a core range, a limited-edition range and a premium archive range (prices range from £35 – £2,500). Tomatin is one of the fastest growing whisky brands in the UK and ranks within the Top 10 Single Malt brands in the USA. Tomatin recently reported its turnover increased by almost 25% during the company’s most recent financial year (Dec 2016 – Dec 2017). Tomatin won Distiller of the Year 2016 and Brand Innovator of the Year 2017 at the Icons of Whisky Scotland Awards.

Whisky Flavours“ Poster – Alba-Collection Verlag – New Publication July 2018

We did not want to reinvent the whisky aroma wheel. There are already numerous versions in text form. Then we met Luise Poley with her project “Whisky Flavours“. Luise had collected over 320 whisky flavours in about 3 years and photographed them individually in a whisky glass.

We were so enthusiastic about their idea that we joined forces and decided to make this idea available to everyone interested in whisky, whether professional or amateur, in a visually appealing form.

The aroma and taste sensory system is different for each person, based on his or her personal experience. Everyone can train and improve their sensors. The 320 whisky aromas shown are the best known aromas. These can be found in numerous tasting notes of various whisky bottlings or aroma descriptions.There are certainly many other flavours which we have not listed or taken into account here. Be honest – who of us can already verify 320 different flavours, if so, then you definitely belong to the circle of “whisky super noses”.

So may some whisky lovers forgive us, that we had to do without some nice sounding associations like wet dog, old horse, cow stable, campfire etc.. But some objects just can‘t be put in a whisky glass to be photographed. Unless you help with an image-editing program. But we weren‘t about to do that. All photos are real, the aromas actually photographed in a conventional whisky glass.

With a little practice you can now easily decipher and present the aroma profile of every whisky bottling for yourself and others. The two posters “Whisky Flavours Wheel“ and the “Whisky Flavours Collection” are the result. The “Whisky Flavours Wheel”, the analysis tool, is constructed like the well-known aroma wheels. It contains 8 primary aromas, 35 secondary aromas and 207 aroma associations (now new as photo). The “Whisky Flavours Collection“, is something for explorers, 239 pictures of aroma associations are shown in a grid, of these 113 additional aroma associations are only included on this poster.

The “Whisky Flavours Booklet” is the link between the two posters. The 28-page booklet contains all 320 whisky flavours of both posters and is arranged and illustrated according to the 8 primary and 35 secondary flavours. In addition, the booklet contains selected stories of the origins of some associations. In it we tell you how individual associations emerged, and also how the path to the perfect picture sometimes turned out to be very laborious or almost impossible.

We hope these little stories will entertain you and inspire you to browse, smile or think.

New publications July 2018:

– Whisky Flavours Wheel poster; sizes: 700 x 1000 mm (28 x 40 inch) & 420 x 600 mm (17 x 24 inch)
– Whisky Flavours Wheel RollUp; sizes: 850 x 2000 mm, 1000 x 2000 mm & 1200 x 2000 mm
– Whisky Flavours Collection Poster; Size: 700 x 1000 mm (28 x 40 inch)
– Whisky Flavours Collection poster; size: 420 x 600 mm (17 x 24 inch); (set of 2 posters (A-L and L-Z))
– Whisky Flavours Booklet; Format A4 (landscape format), 28 pages

All posters are now available in well-stocked whisky shops, bookstores or directly from the publisher.

Press Release Alba-Collection Verlag July 2018

In July 2018 the following updated editions of our distillery maps were published:

· 6th updated edition Scotland‘s Distilleries with approx. 30 current changes; size 420 x 600 mm (17 x 24 inch)
– 2nd updated edition Islay‘s Distillerie with the Ardnahoe Distillery; size 420 x 600 mm (17 x 24 inch)
– 4th updated edition of Islay‘s Distillerie size 240 x 340 mm (10 x 14 inch)
– 3rd updated edition Irish Distillerie size 240 x 340 mm (10 x 14 inch)
– 3rd updated edition Irish Distilleries with approx. 12 current changes; size 420 x 600 mm (17 x 24 inch)

Now all our Scotland and Ireland maps are up to date.

On all publications, the month and year of opening are noted for the distilleries newly opened after 2014. The development of the distillery landscape in Ireland over the last five years has been particularly impressive. To document this we have compared the map of 2013 with the map of 2018 in the booklet „Irish Distilleries“. The current edition of the new booklet is part of the premium version of the „Irish Distilleries“ Map (420 x 600 mm (17 x 24 inch) size).

All cards are now available in well-stocked whisky shops, in bookshops or directly from the publisher.

With kind regards
The team of Alba-Collection Verlag
Contact: Alba Collection Verlag GbR Hamburg
Meldorfer Strasse 11b
D-20251 Hamburg, Germany
+49(0)40-41425316
info@alba-collection.com
www.alba-collection.com
facebook: Alba-collection

Friday, July 27th, 5-7 PM: 

Dalmore Presented by Kimberly Drake 

Join us for a tasting of Dalmore Single Malt Scotch, presented by ambassador and whisky expert Kimberly Drake! Established in 1839, the centuries-old Highland distillery has maintained its place in single malt history by creating award-winning and highly demanded whiskies and bringing new innovations to the world of scotch distilling to this day.

More Details & RSVP

JULY AUCTION ENDS SOON!
(ends Sunday 29^th July)

…place your bids at www.whiskyhammer.co.uk

With an incredible selection of whiskies and other fine spirits there is certainly something for everyone – whether you are looking to collect, invest, enjoy!

https://youtu.be/MzeBolfB64w

This first video we ever released in this new look Whisky Wednesday was the W.L.Weller from a few years a go, that old, squatted bottle style. This version is the new bottle, don’t think the recipe has changed in anyway but one thing that i do want to point out is some of the ludicrous pricing that is around for this bottle. This is a max, £50 bottle of whisky, it’s not £100, it’s certainly not $250 as I saw in New York last month. Buffalo Trace make outstanding whisky and they don’t charge a lot for it, this is the first time I’ve gone on a bit of a price rant, mainly because this is an accessible almost introductory bourbon, it’s not a super high-end, kill people for bottle so please, don’t be ripped off and do enjoy a beautiful whisky that is brimmed with milk chocolate, cocoa powder and big green apple notes. Cheers!

Isle of Raasay Distillery undertakes a second year of barley variety trials on Raasay

Following a successful barley variety trial on the island in 2017, Isle of Raasay Distillery will undertake a second trial to determine which varieties grow and ripen on the island. Raasay Distillery has the ultimate long-term objective of growing enough barley on Raasay to produce at least one batch per year of single malt made with 100% Raasay barley. On Thursday 2nd August 2018, Raasay Distillery will welcome everyone interested in learning more about the barley trial for presentations exploring progress of the barley trial to date and plans for the future.

The first barley trial on Raasay commenced in April 2017 and was carried out in conjunction with Interface, Peter Martin, Director of Agronomy Institute at University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), and local farmer Andrew Gillies. Five varieties of barley were trialled in Gillies Mill Park Field: Concerto (the commercial variety) Tartan, Bere, Iskria and Kannas. The latter three ripened successfully; the barley was harvested on 26th August 2017 and then transported to the James Hutton Institute in Dundee to be dried. It was then malted by Hugh Alexander from Curio Group in June and July 2018 and a small amount of Raasay peat was used during this malting process. The distillery plans to use all three varieties of malted barley to make a special batch of Raasay Whisky and this mash will be taking place during the open day on 2nd August.

The 2017 trial revealed that current commercial barley varieties grow but do not ripen on Raasay. This is due to a much shorter growing season owing to the high rainfall level in March, April and September on the island. For the 2018 trial, Raasay Distillery will work again with Martin and Gillies to cultivate four varieties in Mill Park Field: Iskria, an early two row Icelandic variety; Golden Promise, a two row U.K. malting variety first released in the 1960s; Anneli an early two row Swedish Variety which will replace Kannas as it is no longer available; and Brage, a medium-early six row Norwegian variety. Raasay Distillery hopes to identify one suitable variety to grow on Raasay in the future and to improve the yield in 2018.

At the open day on 2nd August, Martin will introduce the barley varieties and will discuss the challenges that have been encountered while growing commercial varieties on Raasay. Martin’s expertise has been invaluable to the project; he has worked with other distillers, principally Bruichladdich and Highland Park, to produce whisky using non-commercial barley varieties. He has also worked with the Northern Periphery Programme (in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Faroe Isles and Scotland) and this experience has illuminated the varieties should grow successfully on the island. Co-founder of Raasay Distillery, Alasdair Day, will also discuss the background and future of the project and Hugh Alexander from Curio Group will be explain the processes involved in micro-malting the Raasay Barley. The distillery will also offer free distillery tours during the open day and there will also be lunch available to purchase in the Gathering Room.

This distillery build project has relied upon the island resources: the stone used to build the supporting wall at the rear of the distillery is from the site itself; wood from the site has be used for furnishings within the accommodation, and an impressive feature wall in the Gathering Room comprises stones, bottles and treasures, found washed up on the shoreline. Raasay Distillery has relied upon the support of the local community and for this barley trial the advice and support of Andrew Gillies has been invaluable.

With a Celtic well on site providing access to high mineral content water, as well as a good supply of peat in the north of the island, Raasay Distillery is keen to create at least one batch of Raasay Scotch per year that uses all-local ingredients. While acknowledging that this whisky will be a small percentage of total production, the distillery is keen to challenge the limitations of production in such an unusual location.

NOTES

RAASAY DISTILLERY

Raasay Distillery began producing whisky in September 2017. It is owned by independent Scottish whisky company R&B Distillers.

In February 2016, the Highland Council granted permission for the construction of a distillery on Raasay. Subsequent grants were secured from the Food Processing Marketing and Co-Operation Grants Scheme, as well as the Highlands and Islands Enterprise for the development of a visitor centre, which is projected to bring 12,000 visitors to Raasay in its first year.

Raasay Single Malt will be ready to drink from 2020 and will encapsulate the rugged elegance of the island terroir. The high mineral content of the island’s water, which filters across volcanic rock from Dun Caan, will be integral to the flavour of the whisky. A long fermentation time helps to retain the minerality, resulting in a fruity whisky that will become a characteristic of Raasay single malt. Head Distiller Iain Robertson has trained a team of four distillery operators to enable the distillery to run on two shifts per day, resulting in an increase capacity of 188,000 LPA from July 2018.

Isle of Raasay Distillery is will produce Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

• Capacity: 188,000 LPA

• Fermentation Time: 115 hours

• Spirit Still: 3,600 L • Wash Still: 5,000 L

• Washback Size: 5,000 L

• Maturation: All maturation on site Produced using local water supply at every stage of distillation and reduction

Barley Open Day at Raasay Distillery Thursday 2nd August 2018 12pm-1pm: Presentations in the Gathering Room: 1pm-1.30pm: Barley Field Visit 1.30pm-2pm: Lunch & Refreshments available to purchase in the Gathering Room 2pm-3pm: Raasay Barley Mashing

Raasay Distillery, Borodale House, Isle of Raasay, Kyle IV40 8PB

T: 01478 470178 raasaydistillery.com @raasaydistillery 

1792 SMALL BATCH WINS GOLD AT INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS CHALLENGE 

BARDSTOWN, kENTUCKY (July 18, 2018) – 1792 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2018 International Spirits Challenge.

The Tasting Awards were held over 10 days of intense blind tastings by panels of more than 50 respected and experienced industry professionals.  Samples were delivered to the judging area in flights of numbered tasting glasses to ensure the accuracy of the blind tasting.  Each judge assessed the products according to age, region and variety, which is determined by the entrant and verified by the chairman.

This year, the 23^nd annual International Spirits Challenge received more than 1,600 entries from nearly 70 countries around the globe.

Results from the 2018 International Spirits Challenge can be found at http://www.internationalspiritschallenge.com/isc2018/en/page/2018-results. 

About Barton 1792 Distillery

Barton 1792 Distillery is part of Barton Brands.  Barton Brands has facilities in Bardstown, Ky., Carson, Calif., and Baltimore, Md. Barton Brands is owned by the Sazerac Company, an American family-owned company based in New Orleans, La. Barton 1792 Distillery was established in 1879 and continues today as the oldest fully-operating Distillery in the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” The Distillery is located on 196 acres and includes 28 warehouses, 22 other buildings, the Morton Spring and the Tom Moore Spring.  Distilling, aging and bottling fine Bourbon whiskey are hallmarks of the historic Barton 1792 Distillery. 1792 Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey is produced at Barton 1792 Distillery. This whiskey is named for the year Kentucky became a state and is the recent gold medal winner at the 2017 Los Angeles International Spirits Competition. To learn more visit www.1792bourbon.com.

WOMEN’S WHISKY NIGHT AUGUST

TUESDAY 7TH AUGUST 2018

Whiskies of Asia!

Sponsored by Paul John, we will be sampling some of the finest drams from India, Japan, and Taiwan.

Led by women, run by women, for women.

Join us to celebrate & rejoice in all the fantastic achievements of women in the industry.

Our last four events were a massive success, let’s keep it going.

Tickets £20 or £25 on the door.

Book Now

Other Tasting Tickets

Our mailing address is:

Milroy’s of Soho
3 Greek Street
London, EnglandW1D 4NX
United Kingdom

The second release in The Viking Legend series from Highland Park is now available to order at The Whisky Shop. Inspired by the distillery’s Viking heritage and deisgned in collaboration with Danish designer and Viking descendant, Jim Lyngvild, the series proved incredibly popular upon its launch last year with Highland Park Valkyrie.

International shipping available

Highland Park Valknut

Highland Park Valknut takes its name from the Norse symbol of three interlinked triangles which was placed upon fallen Viking warriors to be spirited away to Valhalla to join Odin’s army. Valknut has been matured predominantly in sherry seasoned American oak and used a small amount of Orkney-grown Tartan barley, adding a smoky edge to its character.

The nose has toasted vanilla, cracked black pepper, cloves and aniseed with an aromatic smoke. The palate is sweet with aromatic cloves and tangy aniseed hints. The finish is incredibly balanced, with lingering peat smoke and sweet spice.

Available while stocks last.

£58 Order Now
Orders will be dispatched Monday 30th July