HIGHLAND PARK Odin £180.00

Appropriately named after Odin, ‘The Furious One’, as it will sell furiously. Inevitably some will miss out, leaving a general feeling of furiousness.

The Jolly Toper Himself

P/O/U/R/S Thursday 19.2.15 £25/28* 7.30pm

At The Kilderkin, 65 Canongate, Royal Mile Edinburgh

Benromach 38yo 1976 52.9% Cadenheads

– is it too early to announce my whisky of the year? Lovely stuff and very rare to see any bottling from this distillery before Gordon & MacPhail resurrected the site with almost 100% new equipment – you could say this is a closed distillery.

Russell’s Reserve singl cask 55% Bourbon

– a single cask expression only sold in the US.

Springbank 17yo 04/97 – 01/15 first and re-fill sherry casks 52.3%

– just released, a one off edition of 9120 bottles

Royal Island 30yo blend 40%

– an early bottling from Isle of Arran distillers, a personal favourite.

Bowmore 10yo 300 bottles 60.3% Malt Whisky Buyers Helpline (AKA Dream Drams) – a recent release from a distillery that often surprises Islay fans when it’s bottled by an independent

* £3 discount to members.

Contact the Jolly Toper himself HERE to reserve your spot

The BenRiach 10th Anniversary

In April 2004, Billy Walker and his two South African partners acquired the BenRiach Distillery. In September of that year, the first distillation under new owners was filled to cask. Master Distiller Billy Walker specially selected four exceptional casks from the first week of production to create this very special bottling. This whisky commemorates our 10th anniversary and as such is a unique and one-off bottling.

COLOUR

Gleaming, rich harvest gold.

NOSE Ripe white pear, fruit salad syrup and rich clotted cream hold a crisp twist of candied peel and soft vanilla.

PALATE

Crisp barley with peppery toasted oak and stem ginger flood over rich crème brulee, coconut butter and vanilla poached pear.

Visit our website for more information and keep in touch with us via Facebook and Twitter to find out all of the latest news on the BenRiach Distillery.

Sláinte!

Stewart Buchanan
Brand Ambassador

This week Joe Ellis reviews Pike Creek 10 Year Old Port Aged Canadian Whisky.

http://youtu.be/GRUFLxkUW7Q

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

https://www.facebook.com/whiskytube

Heaven Hill Fills Seven Millionth Barrel of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Ceremony Coincides with the Company’s 80^th Anniversary

BARDSTOWN, Ky. – Heaven Hill Brands, the nation’s largest independent family-owned and operated distilled spirits producer and the world’s second-largest holder of aging Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, today celebrated filling its seven millionth Bourbon barrel. Heaven Hill is the only local, family-owned company to reach this historic benchmark.

“This is a momentous achievement to celebrate, especially as it falls during the company’s 80^th anniversary. To think, my father and four uncles rolled out Heaven Hill’s first barrel 80 years ago. Here we are, eight decades later, filling our seven millionth barrel at the height of the greatest Bourbon boom since Prohibition. And, the Shapira family is still at the helm of Heaven Hill. Our founders would certainly be proud to see this day,” said Heaven Hill President Max L. Shapira.

The company remains true today to its original mission as a family-owned and operated, independent Kentucky company—the last remaining in the Bourbon business today. Heaven Hill now has more than one million aging barrels of Kentucky Bourbon in its inventory and its flagship Evan Williams brand is the second largest selling Bourbon in the world.

The seven millionth barrel was “bunged off” by Master Distiller Emeritus Parker Beam, Co-Master Distiller Denny Potter and Artisanal Distiller Charlie Downs in a brief ceremony at Heaven Hill’s cistern room attended by company executives and local dignitaries. Participants toasted with a glass of vintage Heaven Hill Bourbon made within a year of the company’s founding in 1935.

The milestone barrels was signed by Heaven Hill employees and put up to age in Rickhouse Y, where it will be displayed along Heaven Hill’s other milestone barrels. About Heaven Hill Brands: Founded in 1935, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Brands (http://www.heavenhill.com/) is the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Heaven Hill’s diversified portfolio of brands includes Evan Williams Bourbon; Larceny, Elijah Craig and Henry McKenna Bourbons, Burnett’s Vodkas and Gin; Admiral Nelson’s and Blackheart Rums; HPNOTIQ Liqueur; The Christian Brothers Brandies; PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur; Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur; Lunazul Tequila; Cinerator Hot Cinnamon Flavored Whiskey and Rittenhouse Rye Whisky.

Heaven Hill reminds you to “Think Wisely. Drink Wisely.”

Heaven Hill Brands 7 Millionth Barrel Facts

BARDSTOWN, KY—Heaven Hill Brands, the nation’s largest independent family-owned and operated distilled spirits producer and marketer, filled its 7 Millionth barrel of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey on Feb. 10, 2015. What does that volume of Bourbon represent?

• 592,308 acres of corn

• 69.8 million bushels of harvested corn

• 19.1 million bushels of other grains, such as rye, wheat and malted barley

• 370 million gallons of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

• 195 million cases of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

• 2.34 billion bottles of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

• More than 3,809 miles of American White Oak barrels laid end to end

More than $6.2 billion in federal excise taxes when sold to consumers at today’s federal tax rate

Is that the date already?

Apologies first of all that you received nothing from us last month. Please don’t blame us – blame Burns! Well we have been busy, working on a whole new raft of events for you to get your teeth into. That and hosting our biggest ‘Burns-a-thon’ ever, plus a visit to a couple of the UK’s newest distilleries… However, we are now ready to unleash our latest events on you so hold tight!

IT’S BACK!

The series that in many ways defined us as a company before we were even a company! This is a tasting that we always love putting on – almost as much as you seem to love coming to it. Put simply, a blind tasting of three Japanese whiskies vs three Scotch whiskies. We do it blind so you pick what you truly think is best, denied the fripperies of packaging. This time we are excited to be partnering with the Nikka Whisky Company – founded by the ‘Daddy’ of Japanese whisky himself – Masataka Taketsuru. Their whiskies are extremely well-respected and are normally to be found with sparks flying off the medals they are dragging around…

JAPAN Vs SCOTLAND DATES & VENUES

WEDS.  11th March      SHEFFIELD, The Tap, Sheffield Station, 7pm

WEDS.  18th March      LONDON, Salt Bar, Seymour St., W2, 7pm

WEDS.  18th March      LIVERPOOL, Jenny’s Bar, Fenwick St., L2, 7pm

FRIDAY 20th March      NEWCASTLE, Blackfriars, Friar St., NE1, 7pm

FRIDAY 20th March      MANCHESTER, Britons Protection, Gt. Bridgwater St, 7pm

SAT.       21st March      YORK, Brigantes, Micklegate, YO1, 7pm

THURS. 26th March      LEEDS, The Cross Keys, Water Lane, LS2, 7pm

THURS. 26th March      BRIGHTON, Hilton Metropole, Kings St., 7pm

All of the above tastings are ready to book and are only £20 per person. Of course, if you are not able to attend for whatever reason, but would still like to take part, you can pre-order the relevant ‘Tasting from Home’ pack at £25 that can be found HERE.

FESTIVALS!

After our relatively ‘quiet’ year of only 6 Whisky Festivals in 2014, we have ramped things up again for 2015. We are returning to all of the cities of 2014, plus 2 that we did in 2013 – Aberdeen and Bristol. Hopefully this means that even more of you can make it to these cracking events this year.

NEWCASTLE, 7th MARCH

Newcastle is always our first festival of the year and as such, we are always keen to kick things of with a bang! Now in its 7th Year, the festival has become an absolute must attend for local whisky-lovers and the whisky-curious alike. We have secured a fantastical variety of exhibitors from Scotland, England, Wales, the USA and Japan, so there is more than ever to go at. Tickets for both sessions are nearly sold out so if you do want to come, be quick and click HERE or on the banner.

LONDON, 11th & 12th APRIL

Our ‘Whisky Weekender’ in London returns for a second year. A slight departure from our Whisky Festival ‘template’ with more in the way of food, music and other enticements.  However, at the core of it is still our mission to bring you the best the industry has to offer. Along with the usual range of fantastic whiskies, this year we are focusing on ‘craft distilling’ so we will have an area dedicated to this, featuring the best small distillers from the UK and the US. Further details and tickets can be found HERE

ABERDEEN, 25th APRIL

After a 2 year absence (well, more like 18 months to be fair), we are returning to the ‘Granite City’. We loved our first outing in 2013 but decided to ‘rest’ the show (and ourselves) last year. As always we are aiming at bigger and better, and with this in mind we are housing ourselves this year at the AECC. Added to this, more exhibitors and more whiskies, this should be a great day of dramming near the heart of whisky-making Scotland. Details and tickets can be found HERE.

BRISTOL, 13th JUNE

The second returning event of the year, Bristol was another festival we loved doing in 2013 but couldn’t stretch to in 2014. Once again we are the beautiful Coniston Hall and will be bringing a whole host of the great and the good of the distilling world. More whiskies than you can shake a stick at! We have an early-bird special (2 tickets for £40) for the first 100 people to book, so if you want to get involved in that, head over to the booking page by clicking HERE.

ISLAY FESTIVAL 2015

We have sold all but one ticket for our Finlaggan House legs of this fabulous time of a lifetime. However, we do still have places available on the beautiful tall ship Irene. Not only do you get to soak up the world famous Islay festival you get to sleep and sail around this beautiful island on a genuine tall ship. If you have some time in May and would like to join us on Islay, click HERE to find out more. Remember you can always ask us any questions about this or any other event by emailing us here

FINAL CALL

At the end of this month we host the inimitable Colin Dunn of Diageo for 3 special ‘Ultimalt’ tastings at three venues in the UK. London and Manchester are sold out but there are still places in Newcastle on Saturday 28th February. Click HERE to find out more and for tickets.

Eddie’s ‘Mini-Tour’ of new distilleries

Completely spontaneously – because thats the kind of guy he is – Eddie decided to set off on a mini-tour of three of the UK’s newest distilleries. Starting two Mondays ago and finishing on the Wednesday, Eddie travelled to The Lakes Distillery, near Cockermouth, Penderyn in South Wales and finally to The Cotswolds Distillery. Needless to say, he had an amazing time and the trip seems to have ‘fed his soul’, particularly in regards to new distilleries. You can read about his trip over at the website where he has written up each visit individually. Click HERE then go and visit these worthwhile and brilliant ventures. The Lakes will be at least one of our UK Festivals this year, with Penderyn appearing at no less than 6 in 2015. We are hopeful that the Cotswolds will join us too.

JOE’S BOOK!

Our very own Joe Clark has written his first whisky book! Under the title ‘The Ultimate Book of Whisky’, in his own words, ‘this project ate up my life in ways I can’t even begin to describe.’ We are obviously incredibly proud of Joe and we are only to happy to offer his book for sale on our website. It is a fantastic reference book for the novice and budding whisky enthusiast with loads of facts and information on distilleries old and new. It is a beautifully presented item. It comes in a slipcase and has an ‘archive’ notebook included for people to make their own notes. A lovely gift! The cost to you is £30 which includes next day UK delivery. Click HERE for more details and to buy!

Glenglassaugh 51 years old

The range of expressions from the Glenglassaugh Distillery gradually expanded over the year with the release of the first batch of single casks and Torfa; the first peated expression. We were excited to release our oldest ever bottling aged 51 years. Filled to cask on February 15th 1963, this classic vintage captures Glenglassaughs unique coastal charm and is bursting with fruity characters.

NOSE Fascinating depths and layers develop from figs and prune syrup to delicate apricot and hints of blackberry. All carry invitingly subtle soft Belgian chocolate and intriguing hints of roast coffee.

PALATE The exclusive mellow yet full-bodied character gives a rich, complex symphony of red fruit preserve, touches of treacle and the slightest mountain herb influence. Gentle clove oil, distant sour cherries and the softest peppery oak add a memorable sophistication to this rare vintage.

Visit our website for more information and keep in touch with us via Facebook and Twitter to find out all of the latest news on Glenglassaugh Distillery.

Sláinte!

Stewart Buchanan
Brand Ambassador

FEBRUARY EVENTS

Whisky and Sausage Tasting > The Vaults, Leith – Tue 17 Feb

Pancake Day > 19 Greville St, London – Tue 17 Feb

New Members Tasting > 19 Greville St, London – Wed 18 Feb

Greenock Preview Tasting >  The Tontine Hotel, Greenock – Fri 20 Feb

Cheese and Whisky Tasting >  28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Tue 24 Feb

Manchester Preview Tasting >  Malmaison, Manchester – Fri 27 Feb

Newcastle Preview Tasting >  The Caledonian Hotel, Newcastle – Fri 27 Feb

Stirling Preview Tasting >  The Golden Lion Hotel, Stirling – Fri 27 Feb

Birmingham Preview Tasting >  Hotel du Vin, Birmingham – Fri 27 Feb

Scotland v Italy Tasting Lunch > 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Sat 28 Feb

NEW TO THE SOCIETY?

New Members Welcome Night > The Vaults, Leith – Thu 26 Feb

Come on down and meet us (and each other): we’re very friendly, we don’t assume any whisky knowledge and we love sharing our passion for single cask whisky…

Browse All Tastings >

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

Very limited stocks of the Highland Park Odin are now available to pre-order on a strictly first come, first serve basis on www.lfw.co.uk

Highland Park Odin – £180

Odin is the much awaited fourth and final edition in the limited Valhalla Series, following the Thor, Loki and Freya releases. Odin is created from a combination of Spanish oak sherry casks and re-fill hogsheads.  Odin has the signature sweet and gently smoky aromas expected of a Highland Park malt with a surprisingly long, oaky finish and a waxy mouthfeel. Bottled at 16 years old at 55.8% abv and one of only 17,000 bottles ever produced.

Pre-order now – £180

Highland Park Dark Origins – £65

Inspired by the distillery’s founder, Dark Origins uses double the amount of first fill sherry oak casks allowing for a far richer taste than almost all other Highland Park expressions.

Appearance: Rich mahogany
Nose: Sherried spice and ripe bananas combine with toasted hazelnuts and baked apple
Palate: Well-balanced, dry peat at first mellowing out to maraschino cherries, warm dark chocolate entices the palate
Finish: Enduring sweet smoke

 Click here to buy – £65

Loch Fyne Whiskies
Main St Inveraray
PA32 8UD
Tel 01499 302219

Wemyss Malts new Single Cask releases

Family-owned Wemyss Malts is delighted to announce the release of a new selection of single cask Scotch whiskies. This mouth-watering collection of new whiskies is named after the unique natural taste and aroma of each one. The new offering includes cask strength “Kirsch Gateau” from Islay and a further single grain single cask.

The full cask list of this release comprises:

“Kirsch Gateau” 1988 single cask from Bunnahabhain Distilery, Islay, Cask Strength “Cacao Geyser” 1998 single cask from Bowmore Distillery, Islay “Snuffed Candle” 1999 singe cask from Aberfeldy Distillery, Highlands “Dark Treacle Fondant” 2002 single cask from Craigellachie Distillery, Speyside “Honeysuckle Bower” 1995 single cask from Linkwood Distillery, Speyside “Caribbean Crème” 1988 single cask from Invergordon Distillery, grain

Each cask has been selected and named by the Wemyss tasting panel, under the watchful eye of industry aficionado Charlie Maclean. There are only a few hundred bottles from each cask and the suggested retail prices range from £65 to £130. These bottlings will be available in selected retailers in the UK, EU and key Asian markets.

William Wemyss, Founder and Managing Director at Wemyss Malts, commented: “We are delighted to introduce another excellent selection of single casks, named as always by our hard-working and creative tasting panel. We’ve selected a Bunnahabhain sherry butt to be bottled at cask strength in this release named Kirsch Gateau after its rich mahogany colour and palate of tempting dark chocolate and liqueur soaked cherries.”

Notes

 Edinburgh based Wemyss Malts is owned by the Wemyss family and their family seat is Wemyss Castle in Fife where they’ve lived since the 1300s.

 Wemyss Malts has an ongoing blended malt whisky range comprising: The Spice King, The Peat Chimney and The Hive; single malt single cask bottlings and blended Scotch range, Lord Elcho.

 The Wemyss family premium wines and spirits brands also include boutique gin Darnley’s View, together with the premium wine estate of Rimauresq Cru Classé in Cotes de Provence.

 The family has opened a single malt distillery at Kingsbarns, near St. Andrews in Fife www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com