Carnegie Whisky Cellars
The Carnegie Courthouse
Dornoch, Sutherland IV25 3SD
Phone: 01862 811791
E-Mail: whisky@thecarnegiecourthouse.co.uk

The Carnegie Whisky Cellars are delighted to announce their win at the prestigious Drinks Retailing Awards ceremony in The Dorchester Hotel in London on Tuesday 6th February, Winners in the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ category. This is the first time in the awards’ history this trophy has come North of the Lancaster. The Carnegie Whisky Cellars are the first Scottish and whisky company to win this category, but hopefully not the last.

Up against stiff competition from Jaded Palates, Ninkasi Sussex and Oak N4, The Carnegie Whisky Cellars were extremely proud to take the award, and would like to thank all of their valued customers and staff for their tremendous support.

The Drinks Retailing Awards are recognised as a stamp of excellence in the Drinks industry, Michael Hanratty added “The competition for this award was very high and we were honoured to be mentioned and shortlisted alongside our category finalists, however to win this award is beyond our wildest imagination.”

The Newcomer of the Year award will now sit proudly next to Off License of the Year 2017 (Scottish Independent Retailing Awards) and a Young Business Commendation for Developing the Young Workforce (North Highland Business Awards 2017) in their Dornoch store. Since opening on June 28th 2016 the team at the Carnegie Whisky Cellars has quickly developed a reputation for excellence customer service and product knowledge. They will now go forward to the Scottish Rural Business Awards on March 22nd in Edinburgh with a great since of pride in being the first Scottish company to achieve this feat.

Michael Added “To open any business is a risk, but to open one where the towns population is under 2000 is a huge risk, I’m over the moon this risk has paid off. Our long term aim is to help develop a centre of excellence in the North Highlands for Scottish whisky and these awards can only add value to that.”

Glenmorangie “Spios” Private Edition Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)

The 9th release of the award winning “Private Edition” from Glenmorangie is a true labor of love for their Chief Whisky Creation officer, Dr Bill Lumsden. The good doctor explains that his obsession with rye whiskey (in particular the casks that had previously aged that rare American whiskey) began when famed Whisky & Beer writer Michael Jackson visited the distillery with a sample of the historical American whiskey. It was Bill’s first time diving into one of the America’s great spirits and at the time, sometime in the 90s, Rye whiskey was next to impossible to acquire. It took Dr. Bill a full decade to secure casks that had previously only held whiskey from Kentucky distilled with Rye as the big grain. Into he put the majestic and elegant Glenmo spirit an approximately another decade later released this special whisky. Spios, a Gaelic word meaning spiced, is as pointed with the rye casks as you might expect. Cinnamon, clove, hints of nutmeg and sweet creamy vanilla from the American oak work wonders around the fruity open Glenmo malt. For anyone who appreciates the excellent malts being released in this wonderful line of limited edition whiskies as well as single malt drinkers seeking new and exciting flavor profiles, this is a must buy.

$99.99

FEBRUARY AUCTION NOW LIVE
(ends Sunday 25^th February)

…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/bVLzdnMUOIY

Hello everyone! I’m back! There’s only so long a chest infection can keep me down. This is, as far as I’m aware. the first and only single malt scotch to be matured solely in 100% ex-American Rye casks. As a result of doing this, the flavour profile gives you a combination of sweet vanilla, fudge and toffee that is all mixed in with some light earthy rye spices. Cardamon, cinnamon, rye and light slightly muddy flavours that run through the whisky. This whisky wasn’t designed to be either savory or sweet it’s a good combo of both, subtle and sweet with a good mix of everything, it’s just a good, solid and interesting solid single malt. Cheers!

Whisky Reviews every Wednesday ~ Facebook.com/whiskytube ~ Twitter.com/whiskytube ~ Youtube.com/whiskywednesday

SAZERAC’S OLD MONTREAL DISTILLERY NOW DISTILLING WHISKY 

MONTREAL (Feb. 14, 2018) History was made earlier this year when Canadian whisky was distilled in downtown Montreal for the first time in decades at the Sazerac Company’s Old Montreal Distillery. For more than a year Sazerac has been putting the elements in place, installing grain mills and a 4,000 gallon mash cooker, converting existing equipment and hooking up fermenters.  Recently a key piece, a brand new still, was added to the Distillery located in the downtown Montreal area, adjacent to the Port and Old Montreal. The still is 18 inches in diameter and 37 feet tall and was made at Vendome in Louisville, Ky.

The Old Montreal Distillery has long had the capacity to distill spirits, including Genever gin, but had always wanted to bring back whisky distillation to Montreal.  “With the long standing connection this city has had with distilling premium Canadian whisky, through the headquarters of the legendary Seagram Company and its patriarch Sam Bronfman, it was always a goal of ours to bring whisky distilling back to Montreal,” said Mark Brown, Sazerac Company president and chief executive officer.

Not only does the new still mean Canadian whisky will be made here, it will also allow experiments with new whiskies, something Sazerac is itching to do.  “With over 500,000 Canadian whisky barrels in inventory, we’re anxious to get started experimenting here in Montreal similar to what we do at our other distilleries,” said Drew Mayville, Sazerac’s master blender. The Montreal project holds a special place in Mayville’s heart, a native Canadian now living in Kentucky, who worked for Seagram’s for 22 years, serving as the fourth and last Master Blender under the Seagram dynasty.

Plans are still under wraps for now as to which Canadian whisky or whiskies will be made at the Old Montreal Distillery, and a formal christening of the still will be held later this year.  It is likely tours will be added later this year as well.

The Old Montreal Distillery dates back to 1929.  It currently employs more than 100 people. The addition of the new distilling operation adds a few more full time employees. Caribou Crossing, the world’s first single barrel Canadian whisky, is bottled at the Old Montreal Distillery, along with many other long time favorites.

About the Sazerac Company

Sazerac is one of America’s oldest family owned, privately held distillers with operations in the United States in Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Maryland, California, and global operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, India, Australia and Canada. For more information on Sazerac, please visit www.sazerac.com.

Diploma in Single Malt comes to London

The Edinburgh Whisky Academy is expanding and hosting the first Diploma in Single Malt Whisky course in London on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th March. The venue is the Caledonian Club near Hyde Park Corner and there are only a few places left.

The Diploma course will teach candidates on

The History of Whisky
The Business of Whisky
Raw Materials
Batch Distillation
Maturation
Sensory
World Whiskies

As the course is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, there is an exam on the second afternoon to ensure candidates have understood the material.

Comments from previous candidates:

“Fantastic opportunity to develop complete knowledge about single malts” 
“Detailed information given by an authoritative and experienced lecturer”
“A ‘must attend’ for any aspiring brand ambassadors”

SIGN UP HERE

FIND YOUR FLAVOUR MATCH

Prepare your senses as we take a journey through our ever-changing variety of single cask whiskies. All 12 of our flavour profiles are available online now with something for all tastes, moods and occasions – visit our online shop to find your favourite flavour match.

EXPLORE FLAVOURS                 VISIT SHOP

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

St. Patrick’s Whiskey Shenanigans!

Our next tasting series will be a bit of a departure from the usual sit-down, serious whisky tasting stuff. We wanted to bring a bit of fun into your March, and what better excuse than around St. Patrick’s Day? We will have whiskey for you of course, but we will also be feeding you some delicious Irish Stew, playing some traditional music and turning the Craic up to 11! Whiskey-wise, we will have some really interesting drams from some of the new distilleries that have been popping up in recent years, alongside a few established ones…

All of this for just £35! You really can’t say fairer than that!

16th March
York – Brigantes

17th March
London – Marlborough Arms
(plus Rugby – its gonna get lively!)

20th March
Leeds – The Northern Monk

22nd March
Birmingham – The Edgbaston

23rd March
Manchester – The Britons Protection

26th March
Sheffield – The Sheffield Tap

We hope to see you soon!

Slainte!
Eddie
Amanda, Guy, Rupert, Vicky, Connas, Chris
The Whisky Lounge Team

We turn 10 years old in 2018
Come and help us celebrate in style at one of our nationwide festivals or tasting events.

Cambus, along with Bowmore, is a distillery we will always stock from when available. One of Diageo’s top grain distilleries until it was closed forever in 1993, not only are the Cambus whiskies smooth and round in character from front to back, but because the distillery has been gone for 25 years now it means that every bottle consumed from this point out moves the whisky a step closer to total extinction! This 29 year comes in at 48.9% with less richness from the oak than our previous 25 year cask, but with more vanilla and nuance. In essence, if you’re a fan of the Nikka Coffey Grain expression, consider this an older, full proof version for a hot price. The nose is a standard grain profile of buttery oak, but on the palate those flavors open up into toasted coconut and cookie dough. It’s a mellow, easy drinking whisky and an ice cube works wonders. 281 total bottles available, minus the one I’m sipping on right now!

1988 Cambus 29 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Grain Scotch Whisky $99.99

Isle of Arran Distillery announces record visitor numbers to

 award-winning Lochranza site

The award-winning Isle of Arran Distillery visitor centre at Lochranza welcomed a record number of visitors last year. Almost 110,000 people made the journey to find ‘the Arran Waters’ in 2017 – a 6% increase on 2016 – meaning visitor numbers have more than doubled since 2012.

With the Scotch Whisky Association’s most recent report estimating 1.7 million visits to all 130 Scotch whisky distilleries, Arran accounts for 7%. An impressive total considering its isolated location and distance from other producers.

The independent distillery recorded a turnover of over £6.9m in 2016 – an increase of 11% – with the Visitor Centre contributing 17% of this total.

Over the six years from 2010 – a period of extensive investment – turnover has increased two and half times and net profit surged tenfold to over £1.3.

Euan Mitchell, managing director of the Isle of Arran Distillers, said: “2017 was another fantastic year for us – both in terms of tourism and sales of the Arran Malt itself.

“We’re particularly proud that so many people are making the journey to Lochranza – from self-proclaimed whisky tourist to curious holiday-makers on Arran and everyone inbetween.

“It is for this reason that we have placed so much emphasis on the visitor experience. With the completion of a £1m renovation at Lochranza, and with the current construction of second £10m distillery and visitor centre site on the south of the island at Lagg, we intend to improve an already world-class whisky tourism destination.”

As a consequence of this investment, last year the distillery was awarded Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism at the international Drinks Business Awards and Best Distillery/Brewery Tour at the Scottish Outdoor and Leisure Awards.

Faye Waterlow, visitor centre manager at Lochranza, said: “We have long recognised the value of giving consumers the chance to experience the whisky making process and the source of the Arran spirit. We appreciate the enormous contribution that the location of our distillery makes.

“The steady growth of the visitor centre is a testament to increasing consumer demand for authenticity and whisky with a story to tell. We look forward to sharing this story with even more visitors when the second site opens next year.”

Total visitor numbers to both sites are expected to exceed 200,000 by 2020 once the new visitor centre in Lagg has been opened. The contribution to turnover is forecast to exceed £2m a year.

Notes:

For more information visit www.arranwhisky.com
* Accolades for Isle of Arran Distillery include Winner for: Best New Exporter (2004), Queen’s Award for International Trade (2005), Scottish Distiller of the Year (2007) and Scottish Drinks Producer of the Year (2007.)

Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism – Drinks Business Awards 2017

Best Distillery/Brewery Tour – Scottish Outdoor and Leisure Awards 2017

Scottish Field Visitor Experience of the Year 2014 & 2015.

Product awards include: Best Whisky Liqueur (2007), ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 12 Years & Under’ for The Arran Malt Amarone Cask Finish (2008) ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 11-15 Years’ for The Arran Malt Sherry Single Cask 1998 (2010) and ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 11-15 Years’ for the Icons of Arran Peacock (2011.) ‘Double Gold Award’ for Arran’s 14 Year Old Single Malt and ‘Gold Award’ for Arran’s 10 Year Old Single Malt at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2012). Double Gold in FiftyBest.com awards (2012). Double Gold Medal for the 12 year-old Cask Strength in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2013). Double Gold for both the 10 year-old and 12 year-old Cask Strength at the China Wine & Spirits Best Value Awards 2014.