New Society Bottling READY FOR PURCHASE!

I have a nice Easter surprise for you all….the new Society bottling has been bottled and is now ready for purchase!!

The new release is a Longrow 13 year old and for the first 7 years, this whisky was matured in a Fresh Bourbon Barrel with the final 6 years being spent in a Fresh Chardonnay Hogshead. It was distilled in October 2001 and bottled on Monday this week (30th March). It has been bottled at a cask strength of 56.7% and is limited to 366 bottles.

The cost of this bottling is £60.00 and similar to the last few releases, will be limited to one bottle per member. If we have any bottles left after a 2 month period then it will be possible to purchase another.

I can truthfully say that this whisky is divine!! When deciding on the next Society bottling, we tasted 4 different Longrow casks in the office and this was a firm favourite amongst us!  I promise I’m not being biased when I say this could be my favourite Longrow ever! The tasting notes are as follows:

Nose:  Fresh green apples and gooseberries to the fore, with hints of lemon grass and a subtle peat influence. There are also maritime notes combined well with a smoked applewood aroma.

Palate:  A very smooth, creamy dram with notes of pine wood, vanilla and banana. Peat is also present which complements the sweet, saltiness of this whisky.

Finish:  A long and chewy finish with an intense vanilla butter cream ending. A classic Longrow whisky, oily with the peat rolling back after each sip.

If you would like to reserve a bottle then please email me ASAP as it will be based on a first come first served basis. My inbox usually goes a little crazy after a new release so please don’t panic if I don’t get back to you straight away – I will email back as soon as I can. If you get in touch within the first few days of this email being sent, the chances are that you will be able to get a bottle.

We have welcomed over 100 new members to the Springbank Society over the past few months and we are delighted to have you all on board!

For those who are not sure how the Society bottles work then it’s fairly simple. We release 2 bottlings per year and in the past there have been no set months for releases but we’re keen to make this more uniform so from now on we will release one each Spring (March/April) and one each Autumn (September/October).

When we release a new bottling, I will email you with all the details and if you would like to order a bottle (there is no obligation to do so) then you should email me back with your request and also include where you would like the bottle to be delivered to and how you would like to pay.

There are a couple of different options for delivery. You can either have the bottle sent to your home address or have it sent to one of our Cadenhead Shops for collection.

Excluding the USA (due to strict import laws), we are able to ship bottles worldwide so if you would like to know the shipping costs for 1-6 bottles to your country then please email me and I will send you over the details. Our prices include all taxes and costs on our side but does not cover any entry fees or taxes which may incur when the whisky reaches it’s destination country.

As mentioned above, we can also ship your Society bottles to the following Cadenhead Shops for collection:

• Edinburgh (UK)
• London (UK)
• Cologne (Germany)
• Berlin (Germany)
• Salzburg (Austria)
• Odense (Denmark)

If you would like your bottle delivered to any of the Cadenhead shops mentioned then PLEASE state this when ordering your bottle.

If you order your bottle to be delivered to any of our UK Cadenhead stores then payment for the bottle will be organised through me plus a £2.00 packaging fee and we will send it out with their next order (this is usually once weekly).

If you order your bottle to be delivered to any of our European stores then you will pay for the bottle when you collect it from the stated shop. The European shops usually get orders every 2-3 months so if you would like it sent there then please let me know and I can arrange it for the next shipment. Please allow a bit of time for the delivery and as soon as I have a shipping date then I will let you know. Can I kindly ask that you wait until you have heard from me before phoning the shops to ask if they have arrived.

In addition to the two options above and for any of our members living in Canada, one of our stockists in Calgary, Kensington Wine Market, are able to import Society bottles so if you would like to have your bottle sent to them for collection then please let me know this and we can get it arranged.

Campbeltown Malts Festival Update

We are still working away behind the scenes to get all events confirmed for the Campbeltown Malts Festival and we’re getting increasingly excited about the festivities – less than 7 weeks to go now!! I will hopefully have more information to share with you next week regarding Glen Scotia’s Open Day on Wednesday 20th May, Thursday evening events at Springbank Open Day on Thursday 21st May and events taking place on Friday 22nd May. For the tastings which have already been announced, we still have space on the following:

Less than 5 places available on:

• Thursday 21st @ 2.30pm – Distillery Manager’s Warehouse Tasting with Gavin McLachlan (£25 per person)

• Friday 22nd @ 12pm – Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting with Mark Watt (£25 per person)

• Friday 22nd @ 3pm – Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting with Mark Watt (£25 per person)

Few places left on:

• Thursday 21st @ 12pm – Kilkerran Masterclass with Jenny Karlsson (£25 per person)

Jenny will share some never ever tasted Kilkerran whisky with the lucky people attending her Open Day tasting. Cask samples starting from year 2004 will be opened and enjoyed at its natural strength. Just because we can!

• Thursday 21st @ 1.30pm – Springbank Masterclass with Ranald Watson & guests (£25 per person)

An opportunity to try some of the Springbank Distillers team’s favourite cask samples – some might be released, some might not, some might be old, some might be young – but they’re all brilliant drams. Also get the chance to ask anything you’ve ever wanted to know about Springbank and its whiskies.

• Thursday 21st @ 3pm – Cadenhead Masterclass with Mark Watt & Martin Mccallum (£25 per person)

A selection of current and future bottlings from Cadenheads including the now annual sample straight from the cask! What will this years special cask be? Nobody knows……

If you would like to book a spot on any of the above then please let me know and I can get this organised for you.

I think that should be all for now folks so have a great Easter Weekend and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sláinte,

Mairi

Mairi Paterson

For the Springbank Society

To join the Springbank Society please contact them at

society@springbankwhisky.com

KILCHOMAN LOCH GORM 2015 Release 46%

Just released and in stock now.
£62
Click here for more information

• Nikka 17 Year Old Taketsuru Pure Malt Japanese Whisky 750ml ($139.99) Named for Nikka’s founding father Masataka Taketsuru, the 17 year old has long been coveted by the American market, which could only read the bombastic tasting notes from international travelers and whisky fans living abroad. The Nikka 17 is one of the most celebrated of the available portfolio and really brings the goods flavorwise — round and soft with dried fruits and an earthy, meaty flavor on the profile, this is not only of the best Nikka whiskies we’ve ever carried, but one of the best Japanese whiskies period.

• 1961 Bowmore 50 Year Old Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 1 available ($24,999.99) The massively rare Bowmore 50 year old comes from some of the last stocks from Bowmore’s 1960s distillation. One of 200 bottles released over the course or 3 years. Only 50 bottles for the entire US will every be released. This whisky comes from two bourbon hoggies filled in December of 1961 and warehoused entirely in Bowmore’s famous No.1 Vault. Only one bottle will be available through K&L.

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

Amrut Indian Single Malt launches the collectible ‘Greedy Angels’ across the world

Amrut Distilleries, India, known for their popular range of Single Malt whiskies which include Amrut Fusion, Amrut Portonova & Amrut Peated have launched 320 bottles of ‘Greedy Angels – Chairman’s Reserve’10 years old. This whisky is the first 10 YO single malts to be produced from India and are priced at circa 500 Euros.

Bangalore, India.

Amrut Distilleries Ltd., Bangalore is a boutique distillery known for their award winning single malt whiskies. Amrut recently concluded 10 years of presence in the international markets and have launched the Amrut Greedy Angels Single Malt Whisky – 10 years old to commemorate this occasion. The distillery had launched their malts in 2004 in Glasgow, Scotland by N.R. Jagdale, the Managing Director through his son Rakshit & his friend Ashok and now the malts bear unmistakable shelf presence across 40 countries. The brand peaked in the limelight in 2010 when acclaimed whisky writer, Jim Murray rated the Amrut Fusion with 97/100 points voting it the ‘3rd finest whisky in the world’ putting behind over 4000 whiskies from brands across the world. Amrut is also the only Indian whisky to feature in Ian Buxton’s ‘101 whiskies to have before you die’.

Their latest and most expensive whisky so far, the ‘Greedy Angels – Chairman’s Reserve 10 years old’ is the first 10 year old single malt to ever come out of India and is also India’s most expensive whisky so far. Given the high temperatures and humidity in India the loss of whisky during maturation is close to 10-12% in comparison to Scotland’s 1-2%. This makes ageing of these malts a very tricky affair and the quantity left for bottling quite meagre compared to what was started off with. A total of 320 bottles of these exquisite bottles are available with 284 bottles sailing to Europe & 36 to the United States of America. The specially designed package consists of a 700/750 ml crystal decanter bottled at 46% ABV and a 50 ml miniature decanter bottled at full cask strength of 71% ABV.

Industry Observers note that almost all of the bottles have been pre-sold or reserved and most of the units will end up as collectibles in shelves of aficionados. “The profile can be compared to some of the very old & rare Scottish single malts”, notes Ashok Chokalingam, GM – International Markets (Amrut), “you will spot a lot of tropical fruits, orangy citrus & a lingering finish”.

“Consumers will have to wait for quite some time before the next batch is released”, Ashok adds. “We are not sure when the next release of this ten years old malt from the Amrut stable will emanate as keeping the balance profile of the whisky is questionable given the conditions under which it matures”.

About Amrut Single Malt

Amrut Single Malt was launched in 2004 as an experiment by Amrut Distilleries, a Bangalore based conglomerate that started operations in 1948. Amrut was the first ever-Indian single malt and was launched in Glasgow, right in the heart of Scotland. The whiskies were received well across the world owing to their quality and have grown aggressively. Amrutt now bottles around 18 expressions of single malts, which are sold in 40 countries and growing.

Amrut 10yo, “Greedy Angels” 46% OB, 2014 

A rare offering from Amrut Distillers and hand delivered to Whisky Intelligence by Mr. Chokalingham himself. On the nose there’s lots of stewed fruit and a very nice ‘clean’ set of aromas, not dramatically complex but very, very nice. There’s also some characteristic Amrut style malt backing the stewed fruits. The taste is a reverse of the nose with the malt arriving first and then a quick switch to show case the stewed fruits once again. Absolutely lovely. The finish is a mirror image of the nose and the taste translates into some very good balance. The lovely malt arrives after a time and continues for an eternity.

Oh my, what a lovely whisky.

Score 90 points

Amrut 10yo “Greedy Angels” 71%, OB, 2014 

A massive cask strength version of the 46% version; 71.05% promises to be dramatic! It’s slightly darker than the46% also. On the nose there’s the appearance of a lot more age, perhaps from the lashings of oak spice that come streaking out of the glass like a missile with a trailing plume of the some really good sweetness. This is truly and elixir of exotic origin. A hold on the water is called for. The taste is aggressive and very, very dry but there is cocoa powder, lemon and coconut matting (think the tropics on really warm night indoors). The finish is more of the lemon with a really nice cream soda along with a late arrival of the wood spices.

A dribble of water turns out to be not enough, a veritable deluge is needed to bring some order to the cask strength melee. Water does the trick and it softens quite a bit and becomes, unsurprisingly much like the 46%… don’t add too much.

Very nice indeed.

88 Points.

Both samples of the 10 year old 46% and 71.05% provided by Amrut Distillers.

Kensington Wine Market Has a New Owner!

As of April 1, 2015, longtime employee Andrew Ferguson is the new owner of the Kensington Wine Market. Andrew has been with KWM for 13 years (starting as our delivery driver) and has, during this time, worked his way to becoming an internationally recognized scotch expert. As a result of his hard work,  Andrew has put KWM “on the map” as one of the most respected malt whisky stores in the world. Andrew is 100% dedicated to keeping KWM’s reputation as one of the best wine stores in Canada and will work with our team, already in place, to achieve these goals. We all congratulate Andrew, and look forward to working with him.

Nancy Carten, founder of KWM, will be working with Andrew and his team over the next three years to ensure her legacy of 23 years continues.

We all look forward to continue welcoming you to the Kensington Wine Market!

  Kensington Wine Market Store Hours

Mon – Wed 10am to 8pm

Thu – Fri 10am to 9pm

Sat 10am to 8pm

Sun Noon to 6pm

Kensington Wine Market

403-283-8000

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon 375ml ($39.99)

Whisky Advocate: “This is what I wish the standard Maker’s Mark would be: more mature, spicier, more complex, and with a richer finish. This was initially released in Kentucky only, but rumors are that it will get a wider distribution in the future. The best Maker’s Mark since the now extinct Maker’s Mark Black, which was released for export only. If you can track down a bottle, you won’t be disappointed. -John Hansell”

K&L Notes: Kentucky’s most popular wheated bourbon that isn’t called “Pappy,” Maker’s Mark has long been famous for using winter wheat as the flavor grain (along with the majority of corn) instead of the ubiquitous rye. The only thing that ever kept Maker’s Mark from capturing the hearts of serious bourbon aficionados everywhere was the low proof. In 2014, however, they released a tiny amount of cask strength whiskey (in tiny bottles) to Kentucky residents and people went bananas. Seeing that landing a bottle of Pappy today is like winning the lottery, the Maker’s Mark Cask Strength is easily the next best thing (and, depending on who you talk to, it might even be better!). Big richness, bold spice, and that classic, creamy wheated profile combine into one epic ride. We’ve been forced to limit customers to one bottle only, and most people were lucky just to get that. But somehow, someway, we’ve managed to grab a truckload of this stuff and offer it to every K&L customer with no limits or restrictions on quantity.

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

Not got your ticket yet? Don’t miss out on a fantastic day of dramming!

Tickets available here Only £25

This week Joe Ellis reviews Kininvie 23 Year Old Batch 2.

https://youtu.be/RIJdJ8GBBzM

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

https://www.facebook.com/whiskytube

The French Connection – serving up a taste of Speyside, from glass to plate

From cheese to champagne, France is famous the world over for its food and drink – but now a French food writer is ensuring Scotland’s finest food and drink receives the recognition it deserves during the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

French-born journalist Martine Nouet has been writing about food and drink for more than 25 years.

And while the nation of her birth is famed for its fine wine and champagne, Martine has developed a passion for whisky, so much so that she has become known as the Queen of the Still.

On her first visit to Scotland two decades ago, she visited Tamdhu Distillery on Speyside and became so fascinated by the distillation process, the aromas and the culture and heritage behind making malt that she fell in love with the ‘water of life’.

She now lives in Scotland, on the island of Islay, and her love of drams and her talent for cookery has seen her become widely regarded as a specialist in matching food and whisky.

Martine has an international reputation in the world of food and drink and is looking forward to sharing her skills with audiences during the upcoming Festival.

She is leading three demonstrations showing just how well whisky can be used as both an accompaniment and an ingredient to both sweet and savoury recipes.

Her from glass to plate Cooking with Malt Whisky Demonstrations take place at the Oakwood Cookery School, Elgin, on Friday, May 1. Each lasts for an hour and a half, starting at 10am, 1pm and 3pm. Each session costs £20 and tickets are available now on the Festival website.

Martine believes that whisky goes so well with food because of its very special flavours and characteristics.

She says: “Whisky has such a wide and complex array of aromas and tastes, as much, if not more, than wine and when paired with food, the two bring out new flavours.

“I’m giving three cooking demonstrations as I’d like to show people easy to reproduce recipes and show that whisky at the table is a great sensory experience. The people attending will of course taste the dishes: a seafood starter, mushroom risotto for the main and a quince jelly, pear and ricotta dessert.

“The festival helps visitors learn or develop an interest in whisky and the aim of my cookery sessions will be to harmoniously mix entertainment with education.”

Martine is also hosting a vintage dinner on Saturday, May 2 with Ronnie Cox from Glenrothes in Rothes House, as well as being part of the Victorian Picnic in the gardens of Glen Grant distillery on Sunday, May 3.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival runs from Thursday, April 30-Monday, May 4 2015. Check out www.spiritofspeyside.com for up-to-date news and follow the Festival at www.facebook.com/WhiskyFestival or www.twitter.com/spirit_speyside

Photo – Food and drink writer Martine Nouet is leading three malt whisky themed cookery demonstrations at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

Notes 

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is committed to promoting responsible drinking.

Visitors travelling to and from festival events can take advantage of a range of transport options.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has received funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is also financially supported by many other private and public partners.