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This week Joe Ellis reviews and explores the now silent Caperdonich 1998 Vintage bottled by Gordon & Macphail.
THE HOUSE OF SUNTORY WHISKY PROUDLY INTRODUCES A NEW EXPRESSION FROM THE CELEBRATED HIBIKI RANGE:
HIBIKI® JAPANESE HARMONY™
Deerfield, IL (August, 2015) – Hibiki® Japanese Harmony™ encapsulates the harmony that exists between Japanese nature and people. Inspired by the riches and subtleties of Japan’s 24 seasons of the traditional Japanese lunar calendar and mastered by Suntory’s Art of Blending, Hibiki Japanese Harmony is a meticulous blend of the finest select whiskies from the House of Suntory Whisky. It is a symphony of at least 10 malt and grain whiskies, aged in five different types of casks, from Suntory’s Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita distilleries. This delicate blend creates a oneness unfolding a full orchestra of flavors and aromas.
The Suntory Whisky blending team is led by third-generation Master Blender and great-grandson of the founder, Shingo Torii, and fourth Chief Blender Shinji Fukuyo.
“In philosophy and making, Hibiki Japanese Harmony is the new dawn of Hibiki, optimizing the same key malt and grain whiskies from the original Hibiki blend. I envisioned a luminous harmony of flavors and aromas.
A pure and simultaneously complex harmony that was at the core of every Hibiki blend.”
Chief Blender Shinji Fukuyo
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is heralded as the foundation of the Hibiki range, leveraging the same key malt and grain whiskies from the original Hibiki blend, Hibiki 17 Years and Hibiki 21 Years. American White Oak malt whiskies create a solid base. The rare Mizunara (Japanese oak) and sherry cask malt whiskies are the dressing. The smoky malt whiskies enact as subtle accents to create depth and further complexity. Grain whiskies from Suntory’s Chita distillery act as the “dashi,” or broth, to complete the personality of the malt whiskies and enhance their overall harmony.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is extremely versatile. Whether enjoyed neat, on the rocks, blended with water or mixed as a cocktail, the harmony of this blend remains complete. It is a delicately balanced, smooth and subtly sweet blended whisky that enhances any dining experience. We recommend it be enjoyed with a hand-carved ice ball for the ultimate Japanese whisky experience.
Hibiki is embraced as the paragon of the Art of Japanese Whisky. It is not only Japan’s most highly awarded blended whisky, but also among the most prestigious and honored whiskies in the world.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is the perfect introduction to the award winning Hibiki portfolio from the House of Suntory Whisky.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is packaged in a glass decanter bottle cut in 24 facets, which represents the 24 hours in a day and the 24 seasons of the traditional Japanese lunar calendar, portraying Hibiki’s maturation over a long period of time throughout our four seasons.
TASTING NOTES: HIBIKI JAPANESE HARMONY – 43% ABV
Luminous. Delicate. A transparency that unveils complexity.
Color: Amber
Nose: Rose, lychee, hint of rosemary, mature woodiness, sandalwood
Palate: Honey-like sweetness, candied orange peel, white chocolate
Finish: Subtle, tender long finish, with hint of Mizunara (Japanese oak)
About Beam Suntory Inc.
As the world’s third largest premium spirits company, Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits Brands that Stir the World. Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including the iconic Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbon brands and Suntory whisky Kakubin, as well as world renowned premium brands including Knob Creek bourbon, Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki Japanese whiskies, Teacher’s, Laphroaig, and Bowmore Scotch whiskies, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Sauza tequila, Pinnacle vodka, and Midori liqueur.
Beam Suntory was created in 2014 by combining the world leader in bourbon and the pioneer in Japanese whisky to form a new company with a deep heritage, passion for quality, innovative spirit and commitment to Growing for Good. Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam Suntory is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan. For more information on Beam Suntory, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamsuntory.com and www.drinksmart.com
Old Man of Hoy, one of the stories in Frank Demain’s collection of four short stories, Off the Beaten Track.
Our unsuspecting hero, Peter Sinclair, crosses from Scotland to the Orkney Isles in search of his family roots and discovers an illicit distillery – to his cost – and I mean substantially more than just a sore head from drinking substandard whisky!
The intrepid traveller also encounters some unexpected adventures whilst seeking a leisurely break with family and friends. He is drawn into a dispute between rival criminal gangs as he cruises around the Canary Islands and is drawn into an attempt to smuggle stolen diamonds into Spain; he is accidently caught up in a planned uprising led a criminal resurrection of the National Liberation Committee of Istria in Croatia; and he encounters a band of ruthless smugglers in a cave on the North Yorkshire coast of England.
Off the Beaten Track is now available from Amazon on your Kindle, iPad or other e-reader for less than the price of a latté!
Quietly flying under the radar, continuing to produce more impressive malts with each release, is the island distillery of Arran; one of Scotland’s more modern distilleries, built in 1993 before the boom. There are precious few producers left who will let K&L purchase directly from their live inventory, and even fewer who will quote us a more moderate price for such treasures. To get a fifteen year old, cask strength, sherry hogshead in this market is like asking for the moon. To get it distillery-direct for $129.99 is a no-brainer. This whisky, to me, represents the perfect marriage of malted barley and sweet sherry. Both elements are in complete balance, yin and yang, constituting an equal 50/50 of the flavor profile. There’s a huge note of sweet malted vanilla, but it gives way at the back to fruitier notes of Oloroso goodness. At 56.8% ABV, the heat is dialed up, adding an extra blast to all that intensity. As long as Arran keeps letting us in the door, we’ll keep knocking. This is textbook Scotch.
2000 Arran 15 Year Old K&L Exclusive Single Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($129.99)
We’ve grown awfully fond of the little-distillery-that-could on Scotland’s Isle of Arran. Every time we make a visit and search for a new cask, we seem to find just the right barrel to bring back home. We’re batting 1.000 with their sherry-matured inventory, and this new hogshead cask is quite possibly the grand slam of finds. It’s not a sherry bomb by any means, as it beautifully meanders from stonefruit and creamy malt into elements of cakebread and spice, but then back to the soft vanilla of the malt again. At 56.8%, it’s a powerful dram, but one that can handle water like an Olympic swimmer. In the whisky boom era, finding distilleries that can directly sell us casks of the highest quality (that aren’t obvious leftovers from the recent batch), from their very best stocks is not easy. Most distilleries that still offer cask programs have increased their pricing by 25-40% over the last year. But Arran keeps on chugging away, fully showing us that they’re a distillery and a relationship worth investing in. This latest 15 year old sherry cask is all the proof you need.
David Driscoll | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: August 11, 2015
Arran just continues to quietly pump out some of the best single malt in Scotland, under the radar and without much pomp or circumstance. This 15 year old sherry hogshead beautifully balances the malty core of great single malt whisky with the lovely accents of sweet Oloroso sherry. A real winner in a market with fewer and fewer values.
Ryan Woodhouse | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: August 10, 2015
We are super lucky here at K&L…we get to taste / drink a ton of great booze. We sip Port Ellen 30, single casks of Glenfarclas from the ’60s and Johnnie’s George V…but if I’m completely honest with you, several of the most impressive bottles I have tasted in my time at K&L have come from Arran. I don’t know what it is about these whiskies but they just resonates with me. They seem to have such great concentration of flavor, richness, texture and length. The malts have freshness, spicy, honeyed yellow fruits, toasted grains, lovely sherry derived cake spices and rancio tones. It’s rich, supple and satisfying but also refined and graceful. Pretty magic stuff at any price point, and at this price…crazy good. If you’ve skipped over Arran before for its more famous Islay neighbors, you should really give this a try.
Jeffrey Jones | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: August 08, 2015
It is always a treat to taste a single malt from Arran. This Arran 15 has expressive aromas that offer malty floral notes with a hint of salt.It opens up with some water offering a nice round malt with a balanced sherry influence. It is pretty, easy to drink and very good.
K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
LUSH CASKS NEW ONLINE
With the recent run of rain and sun, every green space has exploded into a leafy, flowery, tendrilled bounty, bursting with wildlife. And who are we to impose order? Instead, we’ve decided to join in and let the whisky run colourful riot. Peeping out from a shady hedgerow, we’ve spotted a couple of sweet little fledglings: G5.9 Coffee in a patisserie and G5.10 Sugar and spice and all things nice have fluttered briefly into our venues but never flown as far as the website before. August’s two most popular drams ran out in days but despite the harsh pruning a few more bottles are pushing out green shoots of Fruitilicious fun. Enjoy them in a bower, field or terrace but don’t lounge too long or they’ll hop off into the sunset, never to be seen again…
TOP AUGUST GROWERS
No. 1: Oily & Coastal
66.67 An apothecary on a motorcycle Just back after a fast sell-out! £46.10
No. 2: Lightly peated
93.64 Holidays at the beach £59.60
No. 3: Spicy & sweet
36.88 Fruitilicious! Just back after a fast sell-out! £49.20
No. 4: Oily & Coastal
4.209 The Cinderella cottage £76.00
No. 5: Peated
3.244 Film noir £72.90
NEW ONLINE FLEDGLINGS
Sweet, fruity & mellow
G5.9 Coffee in a patisserie £67.50
Spicy & sweet
G5.10 Sugar and spice and all things nice £67.50
Browse New Outturn >
Browse All Bottlings >
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
www.ralfy.com visits the Mill on the River Bush in Northern Ireland with Whisky Review 549 – Bushmills 10yo Irish Whiskey
News release from The Shetland Distillery Company
First ever whisky from Shetland Islands goes on sale
A unique and exclusive series of whiskies from the country’s most northerly distillery has been launched.
Until now, Shetland has been the only part of Scotland never to have produced a legal single malt Scotch whisky.
But (Bottled in Shetland) Shetland Reel Single Malt Scotch Whisky marks a new chapter in the history and geography of the multi-billion pound Scotch whisky industry.
Four different cask strength whiskies, distilled in Portsoy but bottled in Unst by the Shetland Distillery Company, have gone on sale.
Stuart Nickerson, director of The Shetland Distillery Company, said: “This a hugely exciting development for us and for Scotch whisky.
“It literally puts Shetland on the map as far as whisky production is concerned – and for the first time.”
“These four casks represent a start to whisky production in Shetland and we have plans to introduce more ‘Bottled in Shetland’ Scotch whiskies, with the long term plan being to install our own distillery and start distilling Scotch whisky on Unst.”
The casks of whisky were distilled and matured on the mainland of Scotland and then shipped from Aberdeen to Lerwick on the overnight ferry. They were then transported via another two ferries and across the island of Yell before reaching their final destination in the far north of Unst.
Only after a suitable period of resting were they bottled as the first ever “Bottled in Shetland” single malt Scotch whisky.
All of the casks emptied were octaves (50L capacity). Two of them were refill Scotch whisky casks and two were German virgin oak casks.
Twenty-one bottles have been produced of a peated whisky from one of the German oak casks. This has a price of £130 per bottle.
The remaining 151 bottles from the other three casks are on sale at £100 per bottle.
The whiskies are non-chill filtered, bottled at cask strength, and no colouring has been added.
The whiskies will go on sale on 1st September 2015 but further information can be sought by emailing whisky@shetlandreelgin.com and pre-ordering will also be available at the same email address.
Mr Nickerson has a 35-year pedigree in the Scotch malt whisky industry, having managed several distilleries and revived Glenglassaugh Distillery before selling it to the BenRiach Group.
He and his wife Wilma own The Shetland Distillery Company along with Frank and Debbie Strang, owners of the Saxa Vord Resort in the beautiful island of Unst.
Kilchoman’s winning streak continues
Not too long after Machir Bay was chosen as Islay’s best Whisky under 12 years old by The Spirits Business Magazine in its annual Scotch Whisky Masters competition, we are now delighted to announce that all three of Kilchoman’s core range have won medals at the 2015 IWSC (International Wine and Spirits Competition).
Machir Bay won a Gold Medal, Loch Gorm won Silver Outstanding and 100% Islay 5th Edition won a Silver Medal.
It’s always nice to win awards! Spread the news!
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men of Knock
Any single malt Scotch whisky can only be as good as the people who shape it. The Men of Knock, as our team came to be known, are a vital part of anCnoc’s success story. Their dedication to remarkable craftsmanship is second to none.
In our latest blog we’d like to introduce you to Ian Dingwall who started working at Knockdhu in December 1991. Find out more about how he mastered the distilling craft, the most difficult lessons he’s learned as a whisky-maker and what he really thinks is the best part of working in a Scotch whisky distillery.
Read our interview with Ian Dingwell, one of our renowned ‘Men of Knock’
Mortlach 18 year old
Was £180
Now £148
Formerly one of the less well-known gems of Speyside, coveted by those in the know, Mortlach’s light is now being firmly pushed from under its bushel with a luxurious new range of single malts. Now only £148
Royal Salute 21 year old
Was £150
Now £94
Originally created by the Chivas master blender as a salute to Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation in 1953, a blend of whiskies no younger than 21 years old. Now only £94
Speyside 47 year old
Was £555
Now £295
This Old and Rare Platinum expression is one of only 204 bottles drawn from a Sherry Cask – Distilled June 1966 and bottled in November 2013. Bottled at a cask strength of 48.5% volume. Now only £295
