Welcome to WhiskyIntelligence.com where we'll be gathering information on the whisky industry and scotch whisky news in the form of press releases, newsletters, events, tasting notes and comments.
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Don’t forget your £20 entry ticket can be used as £20 credit against any Whisky purchase on the night, which effectively makes this tasting evening FREE**
Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016. 28th April – 2nd May
COACH TOUR The best Speyside whisky tour package;
INCLUDED: 3 days coach transport, 5 nights accommodation with en suite bathrooms, 5 fully cooked Scottish breakfasts, 4 distillery visits; Speyside, Kingussie. Glen Grant, Rothes, Glen Moray , Elgin. Benromach, Forres. Half day whisky school, 2 whisky dinners, Ian Buxton evening ticket, extra drams daily whilst on our coach, outdoor whisky tasting at Rannoch Barracks. 2 days free time to enable you to do other events, whisky first aid kit, fully printed tour notes, guided and managed throughout with Liz and Paul on tour. A programme of visits and events – we have only 24 tickets on offer, at £995 per person sharing. Single supplements do apply.
You can also upgrade to the 4 star Mansion House Hotel (limited rooms – email for details).
Tickets & Event sponsored by http://www.mcleanscotland/ & http://www.whiskytours.scot/
Imperial 20 Year Old 1995 vintage Speyside single malt Scotch whiskey. Single cask hogshead #50154 bottled January 2016 by Signatory Vintage for the Cask Strength range. 257 numbered bottles. Imperial Distillery was designed by Charles C. Doig and established in 1897 by Thomas Mackenzie at Carron in the heart of Scotland’s Speyside whisky region. Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and a huge golden crown was placed upon the pagoda roof of one of Imperial Distillery’s two malt kilns to commemorate the occasion. Imperial Distillery was equipped with four huge stills but closed in 1998 and is now a closed Scottish malt whisky distillery.
PROMETHEUS 27 YEAR OLD SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT WHISKY GLOBAL LAUNCH
Across 3 Continents in 3 weeks – Europe Asia America
Launching in Munich, Hong Kong & Las Vegas The Glasgow Distillery Company have today announced the second release of it’s award winning Prometheus Series with an ambitious launch across 3 Continents in 3 weeks during February and March 2016.
Prometheus 27 Year Old will make its debut with distribution partner ‘A Wee Taste of Scotland’ at the Munich Whisky Festival on the 19th of February then move to Hong Kong for the Malt Masters Festival on the 27th & 28th February debuting with Platinum Wines in a VIP tasting before travelling to Las Vegas to attend Mahesh Patel’s Universal Whisky Experience one of the world’s premier whisky events.
Glasgow Distillery Company’s Commercial Director David Brown said “Following on from the success of Prometheus 26 Year Old we have had strong demand to release the 27 Year Old. With it’s bold new packaging this wonderfully aged Speyside single malt whisky is something we are very proud of. To launch on 3 continents in 3 weeks is ambitious for a relatively small distillery, but we felt it was the perfect way to reflect the confidence we have in our brands”.
Prometheus 27 Year Old is a very rare single malt from Speyside, although the exact distillery of origin remains a secret.
This 27 Year Old whisky shares similar roots to it’s younger sibling, but has it’s own distinct character. Rich, round, soft and fruity with a hint of lightly charred oak on the nose, delivering a powerful, savoury, spicy taste with a long, slightly smoky finish.
Industry experts who have been amongst the few to have tasted the spirit commented on the wonderful aromas and especially the warm smokiness, which is often more subdued in aged whiskies.
The bottle is beautifully packaged in a bespoke presentation box, reflecting the precious whisky inside.
“At The Glasgow Distillery Company, we pride ourselves on bringing to our consumers only the finest quality spirits and in our opinion, Prometheus 27YO delivers this in full”, concluded Mr Hughes, Glasgow Distillery Co-Founder.
Prometheus 27YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky will be available from specialist retailers and online from mid 2016, retailing at approximately £549 for a 70cl bottle at 47% ABV.
NOTES:
-The Glasgow Distillery Company
Launched in 2014 with the creation of Glasgow’s first gin – the premium award winning Makar Glasgow Gin.
Glasgow Distillery is the first single malt distillery in Glasgow since 1902 and laid down it’s first cask in early 2015.
The distillery takes its name from the original distillery, founded at Dundashill in 1770, which became known as The Glasgow Distillery Company and remained active until the beginning of the 20th Century.
The original distillery was, at one point, one of the largest licensed operations in Scotland, with 12 stills producing both peated and unpeated single malts.
Now re-born and located in the heart of the city, The Glasgow Distillery Company is bringing back to life the tradition of metropolitan small-batch craft distillation.
The company uses state-of-the-art equipment to distil craft products using traditional artisanal methods.
-Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (meaning “forethought”) was a Titan who sided with Zeus and the ascending Olympian gods in the vast cosmological struggle against Cronus and the other Titans. Prometheus was therefore on the conquering side of the cataclysmic war of the Greek gods, the Titanomachy, where Zeus and the Olympian gods ultimately defeated Cronus and the other Titans.
Prometheus is undoubtedly best remembered today for his great gift to man: fire. When an angered Zeus took fire away from man, Prometheus rebelled against the ruler of the gods. He captured a flame from the hearth of Mount Olympus and carried it back to man, hidden in a giant fennel stalk.
Today, the spirit of Prometheus lives on as champion of man and bringer of fire. In 1988 one of the Olympians of Speyside created a new form of malt: a whisky that combined the peaty fire of the Islands with the rich, bright, complexity of the Highlands.
Like all great malts, time was needed for this new Titan to build character and maturity. But as the young whisky lay sleeping, hidden from expectant eyes, the heavens shifted. The whisky’s creator departed and a malt that was both sophisticated and powerful was seen by some to be a threat.
Protectors of the orphan Titan kept him solitary and hidden until, in the summer of 2014, they met in secret to arrange his release. Prometheus could walk free on two conditions: he could never reveal from whence he came and he would be mortal, destined to live a short, but glorious life.
So we give you Prometheus. A legendary Speyside with the Titanic strength of barley malted by burning peat. A whisky of sublime sophistication and balance, bottled at the peak of its powers. A Single Malt Scotch Whisky of secret origins, available in the most limited quantity for just one moment in time.
Georgian Bay author distills a captivating,
award-winning tale of Scotch whisky
and Canada’s Sixth Great Lake
Canadian author, Daniel Marchildon hopes to make readers fall in love with whisky and its history in his latest novel, The Water of Life (Uisge beatha). Driven by a mysterious voice, Elizabeth Legrand plunges headlong into an insane project: opening a distillery in her small, isolated Canadian community in Georgian Bay. Using ancient reserves of Glen Dubh, a mythical Scotch thought lost to the world, she hopes to create a single-malt whisky better than anything distilled in Scotland. However, the only thing that could prove worse than failing to revive the Glen Dubh is if she succeeds. The water of life, incarnated in the Fearmòr clan’s whisky for over five centuries, is tainted by the dramatic and sometimes fatal struggles of the distillers. It bends the will of those it touches: guiding them or condemning them to their fate.
This turbulent family saga spans two continents and several generations of three lineages, climaxing with the tragic arrival of the whisky in Lake Huron. The present-day descendants of the bloodlines are about to meet, and so will begin yet another tumultuous chapter in the odyssey of “the water of life”, mixing the captivating tale of Scotch whisky with the stories of the challenging Georgian Bay coastal life.
This novel, originally published in French, has been translated into English by Mārta Ziemelis. It was winner of the 2009 Émile-Ollivier literary prize, awarded by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française du Québec, and short-listed for both the Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada and The Ontario Trillium Award.
“This book is a remarkable literary expedition that keeps you breathless up until the very last page … a must read — with a glass in hand.”
— Yves Dubuc, radio-host, CBON FM, for the Radio-Canada web site: 100 Must read Canadian novels (April 2015).
“In all, The Water of Life is a superb novel. Upon reading the last sentence the reader is left feeling not only entertained and fulfilled, but with a vast knowledge of the history of something they may previously have known little or nothing about: Scotch whisky. The Water of Life lingers in the memory, a book to be savoured, like a dram of Glen Dubh.”
— Isobel Blackthorn, reviewer
See other comments at:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25961331-the-water-of-life
The Water of Life (Uisge beatha) by Daniel Marchildon published by Odyssey Books and available in paperback and ebook editions. 322 pp $ 24.95.
For more information visit:
Available at Amazon Canada:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel Marchildon was born and raised in Penetanguishene, (Ontario, Canada). In his thirty years as a freelance writer, he has published thirteen novels in French, as well as short stories, historical works, and the screenplay of the feature film, La Sacrée, (Holy Brew in the English subtitled version) produced in Canada in 2011. Marchildon is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including The Trillium Award for children’s literature.
Van Winkle Lottery and Private Barrel Tasting at Gordon’s Boston Store.
On Saturday 20th February 2016 from 3-5pm, at our new Downtown Crossing Store, 39 Temple Place, Gordon’s is having a lottery to determine who can buy our bottles of Van Winkle. There will be the following for sale:
How is the lottery going to work?
You get a ticket for signing up and showing up to the tasting. You can sign up here. Additionally, we are sampling every private barrel of bourbon, rye and Irish whiskey we have available. For every bottle you buy you get 3 more tickets.
At 5pm we will do the drawing.
YOU MUST BE AT THE STORE AT 5PM TO GET YOUR BOTTLE.
Join us!
Mini Whisky School
Thursday 28th April Mini Whisky School
Mansion House Hotel, Elgin.
Time
14:00 The Biochemistry of Malting
14:45 Flavour Development Through Distillation
15:30 Coffee Break
15:45 Oak Chemistry and Influence on Maturation
16:30 Any Questions (and some tasting of drams!)
Vic Cameron (BSc DipDist) Vic has over 23 years experience in the distilling industry, working in a number of roles for the largest Distiller in the UK over his long career. He has worked in production management at both malting and distilling sites. He can go into as much (or as little) scientific detail as you wish; having passed the major industrial exam in this field, the IBD Diploma in Distilling, Vic is proud to have been the 4th International Malt Whisky Nosing Champion. He is now on the organising committee for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival whisky school and also the Whisky Lecturer for the University of the Highlands and Islands. The university runs this course in conjunction with Gordon and MacPhail, providing training in whisky history, production, marketing and tasting. Starting midway through 2015, Vic started a long (we hope) working relationship with MCLEANSCOTLAND. History; Mr Vic Cameron (Diageo) . Distillery Manager, Maltings Manager, Laboratory and Cereals Manager Diageo plc UK Malt, the Maltsters’ Association of Great Britain | Malting Barley Committee http://www.ukmalt.com/, 29 April 2012
Limited to 24 tickets @ £45 each, available from http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/events or info@whiskytours.scot or info@mcleanscotland.com
Auction Ends Soon!
Time is nearly over for the bottles on this month Just Whisky Auction. Don’t leave it too late to place your bids! In amongst the selection of bottles are some real gems – here are some below:
Killyloch 1967 – 2003 Limited Edition
Having started out life as a paper mill, Killyloch was purchased and transformed in 1965 into Moffat Distillery, also home to the Garnheath and Glen Flagler Stills. Killyloch fell silent in 1986, however, several casks were set aside and warehoused until they were judged to be at their best for release by the Master Blender. This bottling is the result of the vatting of the casks – the last 6 of the proprietary stock available. The whisky has been bottled at natural cask strength and unchill-filtered to allow the genuine characteristics of this stunning malt to be enjoyed. As the QE2 was being launched in Clydebank in 1967 the American Oak Barrels at Moffat Distillery were being filled with Killyloch Single Malt Scotch Whisky, to be warehoused until their best for bottling. Killyloch was originally intended to be named Lillyloch which was the source of the water. The cask stencil received, however, contained a misspelling that was never corrected. Distilled in 1967 then bottled in 2003. Limited to only 371 bottles.
This is an incredibly hard to find bottle of Whisky from Kinclaith. The distillery operated for as little as 18 years and was situated within the Strathclyde Grain Distillery. This particular bottle is one of only 64 which was distilled on the 05/12/1963 then matured in cask 10052. The rare whisky was bottled around 33 years later in February 1996.
A very rare 1968 Vintage release from Glendronach Distillery, This stunning whisky was specially bottled from a vatting of 2 Sherry casks (2640 & 2641) to commemorate the re-opening of the Glendronach Distillery on the 14th of May 2002.
Littlemill 26 Year Old 1988 vintage Lowland single malt Scotch whisky. Single cask refill sherry hogshead distilled November 1988 and bottled March 2015 by Hunter Laing & Co. for the Old & Rare Platinum Selection. Selected and bottled Exclusively for The Whisky Barrel. Just 150 numbered bottles from this lost distillery.
Nose: A light gold whisky with a nose of vanilla custard powder giving way to apples, pears and slightly leafy notes of butterscotch coming through late.
Taste: On the palate it has a creamy mouthfeel with butter shortbread at the start, followed by apple skins and a cinnamon note.
Finish: The finish is long, dry and slightly fruity, with a hint of oak.
Littlemill Distillery was established in 1772 to the west of Bowling by the north shore of the River Clyde and on the main road into Glasgow. Subsequent modifications during the 1930s resulted in a number of novel features including double ventilation towers which sat over a single drying kiln and pot stills with rectifiers rather than the traditional swan necks. The combination of pot and column stills in Littlemill Distillery was designed to produce malt whisky which was expected to mature quickly. At the time of closure in 1994 Littlemill Distillery was the oldest working malt whisky distillery in Scotland. Demolished in 2006 and now Littlemill is a lost Scottish distillery although the shell of the manager’s house remains.
Rare Whisky Outperforms Gold, Wine and Equities in Stellar Year
The market for rare whisky in 2015 significantly outperformed many other well established asset classes, including wine and gold, according to figures published today by whisky analyst, broker and investment experts Rare Whisky 101.
In a record year for the rare whisky market, the leading index for Scotch whisky, the Rare Whisky Apex 1000 Index closed 2015 up 14%, outperforming Wine (Liv-Ex -0.42%), Gold (-10.44%), and many of the world’s leading equity indices (FTSE 100 -4.93%, NASDAQ 100 +9.75%, S&P 500 +0.7%, Shanghai Composite +9.4%).
Volume and value growth
The total value of rare whisky bottles sold at auction in the UK in 2015 hit record levels of £9.56M, exceeding 2014 (£7.64m) by 25%. Over twelve months, 43,458 bottles of single malt Scotch whisky were sold in the UK on the open market, an increase of 9460 bottles and a 28% increase on 2014. As an indication of the speed with which this new asset class has emerged, 2009 saw just 4,072 bottles sold throughout the entire year.
Land of the setting sun?
Early 2015 saw a staggering rise in the values for Japanese whisky, with the Rare Whisky Karuzaiwa Index increasing nearly 75% in just nine months – a rise never witnessed previously by any whisky. Bottles which originally sold for £350 twelve months ago were achieving more than £3,000 on the secondary market. However, the last three months of the year a dip of 6% reflecting a pricing correction which is set to continue into 2016.
Macallan still Number 1
Macallan maintained its dominance as the number one traded distillery on a volume and value basis, accounting for nearly 10% of the market for all bottles sold and 23% of the total value. The next closest distillery from a volume and value perspective is Ardbeg with an 8% share of both volume and value.
Age matters
The importance of both age and vintage to value has increased over the course of the year. As new releases of aged whisky become increasingly rare, the secondary market highlights the continued significance of an aged statement. The older the age and the earlier the vintage, the better. Even poor quality old aged Scotch is becoming increasingly valuable. Along with old age statements and long lost vintages, silent stills remain very much in the eye of the drinker, collector and investor. The top ten most desirable “investable” distilleries now include seven closed distilleries and just three currently producing distilleries.
Whisky investment analyst and co-founder of Rare Whisky 101, Andy Simpson commented: “The recent growth in the rare whisky market has exceeded all our forecasts. The coming year promises to bring even more supply to the market as new auction houses appear. While the sustainability of these volume increases could be called into question, we know for certain that the true rarities will only become rarer. Should demand remain constant or increase, as is fully expected, Scotch’s credentials as a viable collectable and alternative asset class continue to look particularly robust.”
For more information or to download the full report visit HERE
Notes:
Images: Rare Whisky 101 founder David Robertson About Rare Whisky 101 Andy Simpson and David Robertson launched Rare Whisky 101 in 2014 with the aim of offering a whisky valuation service, brokerage and consultancy for whisky collectors and investors. Having tracked every bottle sold at auction over the past 12 years, the business now offers the world’s first and largest online valuation database for single malt Scotch whisky with over 138,000 recorded prices. In the last 12 months, the business has brokered around 15,000 rare whisky bottles around the globe in addition to trading in aged casks from iconic distilleries such as The Macallan, Ardbeg, Bowmore, Springbank and Highland Park.
