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Scotch Malt Whisky Society “July Outturn Previews” – Scotch Whisky News

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We’re giving members a taste of things to come by releasing five preview bottlings from July Outturn. Each of these preview releases is from a different flavour profile, celebrating the diversity of flavour that the single cask brings. A great opportunity to buy before next month’s First Friday. Be quick to order, only a limited number of bottles are available ahead of the full Outturn release on Friday, 7th July at 9am.

Preview samples from the entire new Outturn are available at our Members’ Rooms in Edinburgh, Leith, London & our new London Devonshire Square venue.

 

PEATED

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Tasting Notes

Returning back to dry land after a windswept day out at sea, the aromas of briny air, tarry ropes and wooden fish boxes starting to become a distant memory as we entered a cottage. The roaring peat fire and the scent of making cinder toffee and roasting chestnuts made us all feel very relaxed. We then ate hot smoked salmon, grilled sardines and Arbroath Smokies. After a drop of water we went back outside and enjoyed a beach barbeque of slightly burned lemon and herb sausages. After seven years in an ex-bourbon barrel, finished in a custom made virgin oak barrel.

CASK No. 66.104
Home sweet home
8 Years
£46.50

LIGHTLY PEATED

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Tasting Notes

The nose delivered a mellifluous flood of honeycomb, toffee and golden syrup sweetness; then deeper notes of charred wood, glazed ribs on a barbeque and salty ship’s timbers. The palate was rich, deep and pretty big – warming and mouth-coating with treacle toffee, tarry ropes, smoky bacon crisps, bonfire embers and liquorice paper roll-ups. The reduced nose had charred heather stems (moor-burn by the sea), burnt toffee, and well-fired white bread crusts, salted caramel and balsamic oysters. With water (and it takes plenty), the palate found the peat smoke, charred staves and cigar ash elbowing the butterscotch sweetness slightly into the background.

CASK No. 4.230
Sweet and salty, smoke and ash
12 Years
£66.90

SPICY & DRY

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Tasting Notes

“Shimmering Sahara sunset” someone described the colour as they poured it into the glass and the complex aroma which greeted us was rich but at the same time soft and gentle. Lemon butter biscuits, toasted coconut marshmallows, a well-used leather tobacco pouch, red cedar oil and dried apricot and pineapple jam. The taste neat had plenty of wood spice and bitterness like a dark chocolate ganache with red tea, rooibos blended with cinnamon, orange peel, ginger, star anise, cloves and black pepper. Water added roasted hazelnut brownies, orange marmalade cookies and on the palate, spicy, tangy and sticky like Moroccan lamb and kumquat tagine.

CASK No. 35.187
Gentle confidence
9 Years
£49.40

SPICY & SWEET

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Tasting Notes

As soon as the bottle was opened it was like springtime had entered the room. Birds began singing and the air filled with the fragrance of rose gardens, fruit blossom and freshly cut grass. The smell of peaches and lychees combined with the aromas of fresh herbs and the revitalising tang of menthol and camphor. A spicy element was present like fruit chutney, hot cross buns and cigar tobacco. A sprinkling of water unveiled new pastures of coconut, chocolate and nutmeg. The palate assumed a fizzy and lively demeanour with the fruity sweetness of apricots, poached pears and yellow plums. The finish however was rich in oak timber and the pleasant presence of wood spice.

CASK No. 2.99
Joyful rambling
10 Years
£59.40

DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS

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Tasting Notes

A floral fragrance of blooming daffodils and hyacinths greeted the Panel at first before deeper and darker aromas took centre stage. Sultanas, currants, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper – like a black bun, a fruit cake wrapped in pastry, as well as figs marinated in PX Sherry. The taste neat was a chewy, slightly burnt Christmas pudding and cherries soaked in sweet red wine syrup. With a drop of water toffee apples, dark chocolate covered Brazil nuts and orange blossom flavoured candles on the nose were followed by liquorice sweetness and caramelised honey crème brulee. At thirteen years old, we transferred this whisky from an ex-Oloroso butt to a virgin oak hogshead with a heavy toast and a medium char.

CASK No. 44.82
A sweet and special character
13 Years
£56.10

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

The Whisky Exchange “An evening with Teeling Whisky” Wednesday July 19th, 2017 – Scotch Whisky News

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PIONEERS OF THE IRISH
WHISKEY RENAISSANCE
MASTERCLASS WITH TEELING

WEDNESDAY 19 JULY
7.30PM-9PM

Tickets on sale now

BOOK »

Teeling are award-winning distillers and builders of the first new distillery in Dublin for more than 125 years. With a family distilling history stretching back more than 200 years and a current generation that helped revive the Irish whisky industry in the 1990s, the Teelings are true pioneers of Irish whiskey.

Join us for an evening of exploration, tasting the Teeling range, including some of the latest new releases. The tasting will culminate in a surprise expression to be announced closer to the date.

Teeling

Our host for the evening is Teeling master distiller and blender Alex Chasko. He will take us on a journey through the Teeling portfolio, highlighting the importance of craft and innovation in its production.

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Alex Chasko is the master distiller and blender behind all of Teeling’s whiskeys. He was the first employee of the company and has been involved in the development from day one. Previously he was the Innovations Manager at Cooley distillery and revived distilling at the historic Kilbeggan distillery in Westmeath.

VENUE

BROWNS COVENT GARDEN
THE JUDGE’S COURT
82-84 ST MARTIN’S LANE
LONDON WC2N 4AG

Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990 at The Whisky Shop – Scotch Whisky News

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Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990

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The first release in Glenmorangie’s Bond House No.1 Collection, distilled in 1990, the spirit defied a problematic barley harvest and proved sublime. The next quarter of a century saw the spirit mature in ex-bourbon casks with a small parcel in ex-sherry casks.  Presented in a stunning coffret, the nose offers heady floral and fruity notes. Silky in the mouth, sweet notes of orange, honeycomb and vanilla run under gooseberry and menthol. The finish brings more fruitiness with brown sugar, malty biscuit and a hint of cloves.

€595 Buy Now

 

Springbank 1995 Port Cask at Loch Fyne Whiskies – Scotch Whisky News

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Springbank 1995 Port Cask

If you try just one whisky this year…  Hamish has unearthed one of the most incredible single casks we have ever tasted. Distilled in December 1995 and filled to a fresh port cask (no. 15/286-11) where it matured for the next twenty years before bottling in October 2016, producing just 216 bottles. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 51% abv.

£295 Buy Now
Only available while stocks last

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Isle of Arran Distillery “Smugglers Series Vol.3 – The Exciseman” – Scotch Whisky News

Smugglers Series vol.3

Smugglers Series Vol.3 – The Exciseman

The final chapter of our Smugglers Series, Vol. 3 – The Exciseman – is coming soon.

This highly anticipated bottling will be released in selected countries across the world via our network of global distributors in July this year.

It will also be released for sale from our own web shop and in our Visitor Centre from 11am on Wednesday 12th July.

It is also available through selected specialist retailers worldwide. You can check out who distributes The Arran Malt in your country by clicking on the Where to Buy section of our web site.

The sale of this edition from our web shop is likely to be very busy and our web site is likely to experience high volumes of traffic.  We will be monitoring our web site closely throughout the sale and should the site crash at any time we will be working hard to bring it back online ASAP.

Please note that there is a strict limit of one bottle per person going to any one address from our web shop.  If you try to purchase more than one bottle, we will have to refund your multiple purchases. Adding more than one bottle to your basket will also slow down your check out process and you will run the risk of missing out.

Date of release in our web shop: Wednesday 12th July from 11am.

Strength: 56.8% abv.

Price: £92.99.

Limit:  There is a strict limit of one bottle per person from our web shop, and one bottle per person for those purchasing in person from our Visitor Centre shop in Lochranza.

In this Smugglers’ Series Vol.3 ‘The Exciseman’ we conclude our popular series which pays tribute to the exuberant character of those striving to outwit the Government’s representatives in the pursuit of the production of the famed Arran Waters. The Madeira casks used in this final volume, are similar to the ones utilised by Arran’s illicit distillers, who often stored and transported locally produced whisky in old Madeira casks brought over from the continent by their smuggling counterparts. The Quarter Casks are a nod to the type of small casks which would have been the easiest to transport. The resulting liquid is complex, full of character and a wonderful way to end a series which has so perfectly paid tribute to the independent characters of Arran over the centuries.

Tasting Note:

NOSE: The rich honeyed character is immediate on the nose, luxuriously decadent. The fresh coastal character is also evident. Apples, vanilla and a touch of spice are also subtly present with a hint of toasted oak.
PALATE: It coats the tongue and the notes of apple and vanilla are in abundance. No hint of dryness on the palate, it grows in sweet intensity and provides a rounded mouthfeel. The addition of water opens up the complexity beautifully and reveals a lighter sweetness of candied lemon.
FINISH: Long, luxurious and yet delightfully fresh. The notes of apple and citrus give a lightness of character whilst the body remains solidly complex and robust. A typical Arran with an added layer of sweetness.

Suntory Hakushu 18 Year Single Malt at K&L California – Scotch Whisky News

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Suntory Hakushu 18 Year Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ($249.99)

90 points Whisky Advocate: “Unlike their colleagues in Scotland, Japanese distillers do not exchange stock for their blending requirements. This means that each distillery is set up to produce a wide range of styles. Hakushu uses four different types of malt (unpeated to heavy) run through four pairs of differently-shaped stills. Each single malt is a different blend of these bases. While still herbal, this example shows more sherried notes along with sour orange zest, tropical fruit, and some smoke. Complex. (DB)” (04/2012)

K&L Notes: From Master of Malt: “A fantastic 18 year old Japanese whisky from the Hakushu distillery, a malty, fruity whisky of real quality. Nose: Orange, pear and a dry smokiness. Fruit salad. Palate: Patisserie sweet, baked goods and baked goodness! Finish: Long and fruity with Manuka honey with subtle smokiness. Overall: A fantastic Japanese whisky that hits all the right notes.”

Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)

Email: wine@klwines.com

K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA

San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

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2nd Vancouver Whisky Festival September 16th, 2017 – Whisky News

VANWF 2017 PROMO (1)

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VANWF 2017 PROMO3

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http://www.vancouverwhiskyfestival.com/program/ 

Tickets go on sale Friday, June 30 2017

 

Springbank 1995 Port Cask at The Whisky Shop – Scotch Whisky News

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Springbank 1995 Port Cask

An unusual single cask expression from Springbank distillery in Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula. This single malt was distilled in December 1995 and matured in a fresh port cask, no. 15/286-11, for the next twenty years. In October 2016, the cask produced just 216 bottles at a natural cask strength of 51% abv.

The nose has banana and tropical fruits with some deliciously rich treacle. The palate brings dark chocolate notes and angel delight, with hints of Campbeltown’s coastal notes. The finish has just a hint of smoke, balanced by more treacle.

£295 Buy Now

Only available while stocks last

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Arran Malt & Music Festival 2017 – Scotch Whisky News

Arran Malt & Music Festival

Arran Malt & Music Festival 2017

The annual Arran Malt & Music Festival takes place from Friday 30th June ’til Sunday 2nd July 2017.

Friday 30th June 2017

A guided walk up to our water source Loch na Davie will take place from 11am – 3pm. Packed lunch and special dram are included. Tickets for this are still available from Arran Events priced at £50 each. A few spaces still available.

The White Stag Dinner will be held in the Grand Marquee in the grounds of the Distillery at  7pm. Tickets for this wonderful event are already sold out and we look forward to enjoying a wonderful evening with many of our Arran White Stags, tasting some very exclusive drams!

Saturday 1st July 2017
The main Festival takes place on Saturday 1st July 2017 from 11am – 5pm. Masterclasses, mini tours and tastings, live music, a specialist rare whisky bar and a cocktail bar will be available. Food will also be available to purchase on the day. Entry is free of charge.

Masterclass tickets are mostly now sold out, however there are still a few places left on the following classes:

Arran Cocktail Masterclass – hosted by the team from The Devil’s Advocate 

Arran Whisky & Chocolate Pairing Masterclass

Arran Whisky & Food Pairing Masterclass

Arran Whisky & Beer Masterclass

The annual ceilidh will take place on the Saturday evening in the Grand Marquee in the Distillery grounds, from 8pm. Tickets for this are already sold out!
Sunday 2nd July 2017
The Survivors Lunch will be held on the Sunday 12.30 – 14.30 with Master Distiller James MacTaggart. Tickets are priced at £25 and a few are still available. Click here to buy a ticket.

We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend, celebrating all things Arran Whisky and music over the course of the 3 days.

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show “Design your own whisky label” – Scotch Whisky News

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30 SEPTEMBER – 1 OCTOBER 2017, 11:30AM – 6:30PM
OLD BILLINGSGATE, LONDON

Design your own Whisky label

We’ve been getting creative with whisky for years and now we want you to do the same.

Show us what The Art of Whisky means to you and you could see your art on a whisky label!

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Our expert panel will select one entry to adorn the label of one of the Whisky Show bottlings.

The winner will receive:

Two tickets to The Whisky Show on Sunday 1 October
Two tickets to the private viewing of The Affordable Art Fair on Wednesday 18 October
A bottle of the special whisky labelled with their artwork.

LEARN MORE

Entries must be submitted by 19 July 2017

Full competition details are available on our website


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