Ralfy celebrates another year with another dram worth sippin’  with Ralfy Review 708 – Glencadam 15yo @ 46%vol

24-25 FEBRUARY 2018, 11.30AM 6.30PM
THE GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL, GLASGOW

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

BOOK YOUR TICKET

GORDON & MACPHAIL CONNOISSEURS CHOICE 50TH ANNIVERSARY
MASTERCLASS ON SALE NOW
SUNDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 11AM 12.30

Gordon & MacPhail is one of the best-known names in the world of independent bottling. Founded in 1895, it is one of the oldest bottlers, with more than 100 years of selecting and bottling great whisky. Among them is the Connoisseurs Choice range, a landmark in the whisky world, now 50 years old. In this tasting we will try whiskies from across the years, finding out what has made the series so successful.

Here’s the incredible line-up:

Ardbeg 1974 bottled 2003

Laphroaig 1969 bottled 1986

Ledaig 1972 bottled 1989

Glenburgie 1968 bottled 1989

Benromach 1965 bottled 1979

Mortlach 1936 36yo (Black Label)

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THE WORLD PREPARES FOR CELEBRATIONS TO MARK INTERNATIONAL SCOTCH DAY ON FEBRUARY 8^th 2018 

LONDON, JANUARY 8 2018: Scotch, the world’s favourite whisky, will be celebrated across the globe on Thursday 8^th February with a series of events to mark International Scotch Day.

Now in its second year, the day is a true celebration of Scotland’s greatest gift, cementing Scotch’s status as both the world’s favourite whisky and the perfect drink to be shared with good company, wherever, whenever.

Celebrations will take place in homes, bars, clubs and events across the world, as Scotch aficionados, enthusiasts and fans alike raise a glass to their favourite whisky.

Ronan Beirne, Global Brand Marketing Director at Diageo said: “Last year we launched International Scotch Day and its huge success proved what we at Diageo already knew – the world loves Scotch. This year is going to be even bigger, with celebrations taking place globally, from Scotch Whisky tastings to opening the doors to Diageo’s archive in Scotland, free passes to distillery visitor centres and celebrity events in cities from Manila to Johannesburg”.

International Scotch Day is an opportunity to celebrate the world’s favourite whisky and to shine a spotlight on the entire Scotch Whisky category. The popularity of Scotch has been built through its integrity, quality and authenticity, and no other spirit can offer as diverse a range of tastes, textures and flavours.

Ewan Gunn, Global Scotch Whisky Master from Diageo commented: “Scotch is made all the way across Scotland – from the romantic west coast, through the whisky heartland of Speyside, to the vibrant urban central belt of Scotland, and though it is made here, it belongs to the world and is truly the world’s favourite whisky.  Hosting International Scotch Day for a second year shows how confident we are about the popularity of this truly international drink.”

2018 celebrity ambassadors and global locations will be revealed in February.

Join the celebration and get involved by using #LoveScotch #InternationalScotchDay and #jointhecelebration. For more information visit facebook.com/LoveofScotch

Please drink responsibly.

NOTES

People interested in visiting the Diageo archive on February 8^th should email archive.menstrie@diageo.com to secure a ticket.  There is no charge, but places are limited.

Diageo distillery Visitor Centres will be open free of charge on February 8^th, 10^th and 11^th. The Visitor Centres are at Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar and Talisker. Places are limited. Details will be announced in due course.

About #LoveScotch:

LoveScotch is about getting the world talking, thinking and trying the world’s favourite whisky and celebrates all that gives scotch its unique character, flavour and personality. The LoveScotch annual event, International Scotch Day on February 8^th, is a day for people everywhere to join in and celebrate during the week of the birthday one of the world’s most influential Master Blenders – Alexander Walker the son of John ‘Johnnie’ Walker. 

About Diageo:  Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.  Diageo is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

An extraordinary Quest; four defining single malts

There are few truly extraordinary journeys in life. But when we experience them, they shape our lives deeply; staying with us forever.

The Macallan takes its own extraordinary journey in the quest for the world’s finest oak to craft our exceptional casks in which we mature our spirit. Taking us across continents, cultures and terrains, we source only the very best oak which is fundamental to the quality and flavour of our single malts.

This is the absolute inspiration for a new range of single malts, The Macallan Quest Collection. Created exclusively for Global Travel Retail, this quartet of whiskies tells the story of our pursuit for the most extraordinary sherry-seasoned oak casks.

Created not only to celebrate our own journey, each release also embodies the spirit of adventure, the desire to make new discoveries and to seek out unique experiences.

DISCOVER MORE

The Macallan Quest Collection is available exclusively at Duty Free Singapore Changi now, with availability in further airport outlets worldwide from February 2018.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 192: Lagavulin Jazz 2017

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a special release from Lagavulin.  Apart from the famous Feis Ile, there is another whisky and music festival on Islay: Islay Jazz. Lagavulin is one of the sponsors of Islay Jazz, so every year they also have a special release for this event. This is the Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2017 bottling, only available at the distillery.

https://youtu.be/bqDhMvzzTjQ

Burns Night: A celebration of the best Scotland has to offer…

‘Bring me a pint o’ wine’

– Robert Burns

This year Milroys will be joining forces with Douglas Laing to celebrate Burn’s night. There will be whisky, there will be haggis, there may be bagpipes. Come and join us for some tipsy singing, fantastic, rare whiskies and frivolities.

Buy Tickets Now

 Milroy’s of Soho
3 Greek Street
London, England W1D 4NX
United Kingdom

A Master Distiller’s guide to Burns Night 

With Christmas a distant memory and spring a long way off, the end of January isn’t a traditionally cheerful time unless you follow Scottish tradition and throw a party to rival Hogmanay on the 25^th. Burns Night is a celebration of the great Robert Burns, national hero and Scotland’s most beloved poet, and a great excuse to shake off the winter blues.

James McTaggart, Master Distiller at Isle of Arran Distillers who produce the world’s only official Robert Burns Malt, is well versed in how to throw a brilliant Burns Night celebration. Here he shares his top choice of whiskies to accompany the festivities.

“Burns Night wouldn’t be complete without whisky and no table is set without a good selection of drams.

“Burns Night is traditionally a very structured affair. There are set times for welcome addresses, toasts, food and entertainment. This gives hosts the opportunity to choose a different whisky to complement each part of the evening.

“I don’t doubt that there are distilleries across the world making great whisky, but I firmly believe that Scotch whisky is the best. And while I am incredibly proud of what we do here at Arran, I’m not too proud to recognise a good dram when I taste it! Whisky is very much a community within Scotland and there are a few distilleries that I am very fond of.”

A toast to the Bard

The traditional toast to friends, food and family, the Selkirk Grace is a cornerstone of Burns Night. The man himself was born just across the water from Arran, near Ayr on the West coast of Scotland so a dram from a Glasgow distillery, Scotland’s biggest west coast city would be most fitting. Why not Auchentoshan which lies on the outskirts of the city?

The Auchentoshan 3 Wood (£47.55) is matured initially in bourbon casks before being finished in Oloroso then Pedro Ximénez casks for an extra layer of rich, sweet fruitiness. Notes of raisin, orange and blackberry will certainly whet the appetite.

Pipe in the Haggis

There’s no escaping haggis as the centre piece of a Burns Night Feast. Rich with spices and the warming flavours of onions, stock and meat, it takes a whisky with a bold palate to pair with a haggis.

I spent the first 30 years of my whisky career at Bowmore, so I can confidently suggest their 15 Year Old Single Malt (£58.55). Delicious dark chocolate, sun-dried fruits and a tell-tale wisp of Islay smoke give way to cedar wood and rich treacle toffee. With a robust and complex finish, it’s the perfect accompaniment for a Burns Night supper.

A Toast to the Lassies and Reply to the Toast to the Lassies

One of the most popular parts of the evening is probably the famous Toast to the Lassies and Reply to the Toast to the Lassies. Usually incorporating quotes from Burns, these are comical monologues, light hearted and positive (with the odd sharp observation).

Kilchoman Distillery’s Machir Bay (£45.95) is a vatting of whisky matured in first-fill bourbon casks for around six years, married and then finished in oloroso sherry butts before bottling. This Single Malt is full of character and will match well with the tone of this part of the evening!

And to finish…

No Burns Night is complete without a rousing rendition of Auld Land Syne in a final salute to the Bard. At Arran, we produce the only whisky endorsed by the World Robert Burns Federation – The Robert Burns Single Malt (£31.99) and it’s the perfect choice for raising a birthday toast to Scotland’s most beloved poet. This is a sweet and creamy malt with flavours of honey and toffee-glazed pecans. Easy to drink, full of fresh citrus notes, its mellow character makes it ideal for cocktails, enjoyed by itself over ice or with a drop of water.

Isle of Arran Distillers produce the world’s only official Robert Burns Malt, it is available from specialist whisky retailers and online at www.arranwhisky.com for £31.99 RRP or as part of a promotional gift pack with Arran tasting glass from selected retailers. (RRP also £31.99).

Notes to editors: For more information visit http://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)

Scottish Field Visitor Experience of the Year 2014 & 2015

Drinks Business Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism (2017)

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.

Yamazakura Blended Whisky

 £44.90
 ex VAT £37.42

Japanese Blended Whisky

Sasanokawa Shuzo

Yamazakura is a blended whisky from Japan, created from a combination of four malt & grain whiskies. Yamazakura takes its name from two Japanese symbols, ‘Yama’, meaning mountain and ‘Sakura’ which refers to cherry trees, symbol of ‘ephemeral beauty’.

Distillery:  Yamazakuru

Bottler:  Sasanokawa Shuzo

Bottle Size:  70cl

ABV (Strength):  40

Style:  Japanese Blended Whisky

Friday, January 12th 5-7PM:

Bourbon Tasting: Four Roses

Handcrafted since 1888, Four Roses Bourbon survived Prohibition, The Great Depression, Two World Wars, and 40 years of exile from the US, only to be named American Whisky Distiller of the Year for 2011, 2012 and 2013 – three years in a row – by Whisky Magazine.  This tasting will feature our exclusive

The Whisky Shop bottling of Four Roses, plus more limited edition and award-winning releases presented by whisky experts.

 Click Here to RSVP

Hi Folks that our first auction over and finished with for this month! And I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of the buyers and sellers that took the opportunity to make our 1^st Auction such a roaring success….. Thank you!

Also, would like to apologise for the site going down just before 20:00 hrs this was purely down to the volume of customers that were trying to put their last minute final bids in – please feel confident in putting your maximum bid in at anytime this is will save any disappointment if the site does crash last minute and leave you the problem of trying to put your bids in…… again it was a good (a great first audience for our 1^st auction) and a bad problem which we are confident of resolving in the future.

We are now back hard at work on getting our next auction up and running, so please again to avoid missing out get your bottles in as soon as possible so that you can take part in Whisky Galore Auctioneers next auction…….

We are excited by the early and positive signs and look forward to sharing our successes with you along the way………

Haste ye back…….. as without you our 1^st auction would not have been so successful and our forthcoming auctions possible….

So thank you again from the team at Whisky Galore Auctioneers.

www.whiskygalore.uk.com