Christmas Delivery Cut-off Dates 2014

As you may have noticed, Christmas is rapidly approaching. That means that the world’s postal services start groaning at the seams and deliveries start slowing down. To make sure you get your parcel by December 25, make sure you order before the dates listed below:

United Kingdom

Orders to postcodes IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50, ZE, BT, IM, TR21-25 must be placed by 2pm on Friday 19 December. Orders using 3-5 working day delivery (offered for some small parcels) must be placed by 2pm on Friday 19 December. All other UK orders must be placed by 2pm Monday 22 December.

Rest of the world

These are our estimates based on years of experience of shipping around the world – if you order after the dates below your parcel may arrive in time, but it’s much less likely.

Australia Wed 10 December

Austria Wed 17 December

Barbados Tues 16 December

Belgium Wed 17 December

Bulgaria Mon 15 December

Cayman Islands Tues 16 December

Channel Islands Thur 18 December

Christmas Island Wed 10 December

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Wed 10 December

Croatia Mon 15 December

Cyprus Mon 15 December

Czech Republic Wed 17 December

Denmark Wed 17 December

Falkland Islands Tues 16 December

Faroe Islands Tues 16 December

Finland Wed 17 December

France Wed 17 December

French Polynesia Wed 10 December

Germany Wed 17 December

Gibraltar Wed 17 December

Greece Mon 15 December

GreenlandMon 15 December

Hong Kong S. A. R Wed 10 December

Hungary Mon 15 December

Iceland Mon 15 December

Ireland Wed 17 December

Italy Wed 17 December

Japan Wed 10 December

LatviaMon 15 December

Liechtenstein Mon 15 December

Lithuaniaon 15 December

Luxembourged 17 December

Macau S.A.R. Wed 10 December

Malta Wed 17 December

Martinique Tues 16 December

Monaco Wed 17 December

Netherlands Thur 18 December

New Caledonia Wed 10 December New Zealand Wed 10 December

Norfolk Island Wed 10 December

Norway Mon 15 December

Poland Mon 15 December

Portugal Wed 17 December

Reunion Wed 10 December

San Marino Mon 15 December

Seychelles Wed 10 December

Singapore Wed 10 December

Slovakia Mon 15 December

Slovenia Mon 15 December

South Africa Wed 10 December

Spain Wed 17 December

Sweden Wed 17 December

Switzerland Mon 15 December

Taiwan Wed 10 December

United States Tues 16 December

Vatican City State Mon 15 December

Virgin Islands (British)Tues 16 December

Asia, Africa and Australasia’s cut-off is 11th, so make sure you get your orders in soon!

Sazerac Introduces Whiskey Barrel-Aged Peychaud’s Bitters

NEW ORLEANS, lA.  (Dec., 2014) – The Sazerac Company, makers of Peychaud’s Bitters for over 100 years, is adding a new twist to its bitters line, Peychaud’s Whiskey Barrel-Aged Cocktail Bitters. Aged in Sazerac Rye Whiskey barrels for 140 days, the bitters are a flavorful marriage of the classic Peychaud’s bitters which so many cocktail fans know and love, with the spicy undertones of the award-winning Sazerac Rye Whiskey.

The roots of Peychaud’s Bitters has a long history, starting in the early 1800s, when Antoine Amedie Peychaud, an apothecary, gained fame in New Orleans for the compounding of a liquid tonic called bitters. These bitters gave an added zest to the potions of cognac brandy he served to his friends and acquaintances in his pharmacy.

By the 1870s, as American Rye Whiskey became more popular and more readily available in New Orleans, Peychaud added his bitters to Rye cocktails while working at the world famous Sazerac Coffeehouse in the French Quarter.

“We thought it would be an interesting experiment to age our Peychaud’s Bitters in our Sazerac Rye barrels. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but after a few months, we were surprised by how well the experiment was turning out,” said Harlen Wheatley, master distiller, Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Wheatley closely watched the bitters as they aged in the barrels. Upon tasting the bitters at the 140 day mark, he decided the flavors were a perfect marriage of the barrel char, the rye spice, and the unique herbs and spices that make up Peychaud’s Bitters.

Each drop of Peychaud’s Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters adds a flavorful, spicy twist to any cocktail and is ideal in an Old Fashioned.  The Sazerac Company will begin selling limited quantities of these bitters in select markets and via the online gift shop at www.thesazeracgiftshop.com, starting in November. The suggested retail pricing for a five ounce bottle is $16.99. 

About The Sazerac Company

Sazerac is one of New Orleans’ oldest American family owned, privately held companies and has operations in New Orleans, Louisiana; Frankfort, Bardstown, Louisville and Owensboro, Kentucky; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Carson, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Lewiston, Maine; Londonderry, New Hampshire; and Montreal, Canada.  For more information, please visit http://www.sazerac.com/.

Sherry casks part two: what is a sherry cask?

[If you missed it, here’s part one: What was a sherry cask?]

These days, the vast majority of sherry casks used to mature Scotch whisky are specifically built for the whisky industry. They are still usually constructed in the same way as a traditional sherry cask, whether it was used to mature sherry in a solera or transport it around the world. However, not all casks are the same, and there are a number of choices made during their creation.

The first choice is the type of oak to be used. The usual division of oak types in the whisky world is into two camps: American and European. It’s a good simplification, but European oak is a complex mess of different types of wood.

Grain varies a lot between individual planks

In general, the main difference between European and American oak is the grain. American oak has a very wide grain, which leads to it giving a lot of flavour, but focused on the sweeter vanilla/coconut/fresh fruit spectrum. European oak is much tighter grained, which gives darker and more spicy flavours, with bitter tannins, dried fruit and caramelised citrus notes.

While the USA isn’t a small place, the oak there is fairly consistent – nice straight trees with few knots that are perfect for making planks. European oak is quite different – very variable across the continent and famous for being quite gnarly, with lots of knots and inconsistencies. This not only means that each tree will be very different, but there’s also a lot more waste when making casks from European oak – about 40% of the total at the cooperage I recently visited.

Miguel Martin

The cooperage in question is part of Bodegas José y Miguel Martin, a winemaker in Huelva to the north-west of Jerez, near the Portugese border and outside of the Sherry Triangle. They produce sherry-style wines, but also produce a large number of casks for use by the whisky industry – potentially as much as half of their production is connected to whisky production.

The cask-making process starts with seasoning the wood – allowing it to dry out so that it can be worked with. It arrives at the cooperage as planks, which are then stacked and left to rest for a time that can be months or years depending on the type of wood. Generally, European oak needs to season for less time than American, but the variation in the former is considerable.

From the hot and sunny summers of the southern Spanish coast to the cold and dry winters of Ukraine, the climate of Europe is far from consistent. While the USA has a similar variation, in Europe the influence is amplified in the oak that’s grown. The different oak types also appear in far-off places. ‘European oak is not a kind of oak,’ says Miguel Martin, ‘it is a blend that has happened over the years.’ Due to wonders of wild pollenation and deliberate farming, you’ll occasionally find a more Russian style of oak popping up in your forest of French oak, and every tree has to be handled on its own merits. While Spanish oak casks are traditionally good at providing flavour to spirits, others may not work as well – ‘Ukrainian oak is like concrete,’ says Miguel, great for storage, less good for maturing whisky.

Once you have seasoned your oak, it needs to be turned into staves, the lengths of wood that make up the cask. The planks are cut to size and inspected, and staves with too many knots or inconsistencies are discarded. The staves are flat and straight at this point, quite unlike the curved pieces required to build a cask, and the next stage of the process transforms them.

The cask production line – a very hands-on process

Firstly, the cooper forms a tent-like ‘almost-cask’, with the staves held together by metal bands. The cask is then positioned over a flame pit, fuelled by the rejected staves, and toasted. From time to time, water is thrown around inside the cask to create steam and soften the wood. A pair of cables are attached around the base of the cask and when the wood is soft enough, winches are turned on, tightening the loop of cable, drawing the staves together, and bending them into the correct shape. More metal bands are hammered on, heads are fitted, and the cask is left to rest before being used.

How are they used? Find out in our next post…

DECEMBER & JANUARY EVENTS

Hogmanay at The Vaults, The Vaults, Leith – Wed 31 Dec

Hogmanay in the Dining Room, The Dining Room, 28 Queen St – Wed 31 Dec

Hogmanay at 28 Queen Street, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Wed 31 Dec

New List Open Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Sat 10 Jan

Steak & Whisky Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Mon 12 Jan

The Ultimate 2014 Highlights Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Tue 13 Jan

Rabbie Burns Tasting and Dinner, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Thu 22 Jan

Keswick Members Tasting, Middle Ruddings Country Inn, Keswick – Sat 24 Jan

Burns Night at The Vaults, The Vaults, Leith – Sat 24 Jan

Robbie Burns Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Sat 24 Jan

​​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

This week Joe Ellis reviews Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 (Jim Murray Whisky Of The Year). 

http://youtu.be/Vz5WgNjH8aQ 

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

https://www.facebook.com/whiskytube

BOWMORE ANNOUNCE LONG-AWAITED SECOND RELEASE OF 50 YEAR OLD EXPRESSION 

Bowmore, Islay’s first Single Malt Scotch Whisky, announce the highly-anticipated second release of Bowmore 50 Year Old, launching on 1^st December 2014. 50 bottles of the 1961 expression will be released this year, with 200 bottles of this extremely rare range being made available globally over a four year period.

Distilled one very cold day in December 1961, the new-make spirit was then carefully filled into two ex-bourbon hogshead casks by the expert Bowmore Distillery team. Half a century later, just 200 bottles were filled with this truly exceptional single malt in which hints of black truffles and tropical fruits reveal the full maturity of Bowmore’s warm, smoky spirit. With a warm, honey gold texture, the bursts of ripe fruit intermingled with black truffles and gentle smoke manifest themselves from the first sip, with an evolving finish of almond cake and caramelised pears interwoven with subtle peat oils.

The Bowmore 50 year old (1961) is a work of true craftsmanship utilising the finest Scottish materials. The collector, for the sum of £16,000, will acquire a bottle which has been hand-blown by renowned glass sculpting studio Glasstorm, while the neck collars and cork tops of the bottles have been beautifully made by Fattorini Silversmiths. To complete the piece, the bottle will be housed within handmade cabinets which have been crafted in Scottish Elmwood by master carpenter Peter Toaig.

Rachel Barrie, Bowmore’s Master Blender, added: “It has been a joy to work with a whisky with such amazing alchemy and complexity of flavour as the Bowmore 50 year old – witnessing the release of these 200 bottles over the next few years is a personal career highlight of mine. Selecting whisky from the 1960s combines the joy of being like a child in a sweetie shop with the taste of being an adult in paradise!”

Eddie MacAffer, Bowmore’s Master Distiller, said: “The second release of this 50 year old Bowmore is reminds us of yet another wonderful example of the older whiskies that the Distillery has matured in our No. 1 Vaults warehouse, right on the shores of Loch Indaal. This rare whisky was slowly and expertly distilled using the old coal-fired stills used in Bowmore at that time and was then filled into ex-bourbon hogshead casks and carefully stored away in the No 1 Vaults. Those that get to taste the results of all that dedication and care, applied since 1961, should feel extremely privileged.”

NOTES: 

Bowmore

The best-balanced Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky is the perfect reward after your outdoor experience. Founded in 1779, Bowmore is the oldest Distillery on Islay, one of the Scottish isles, which make up the region known as the ‘Islands’ in the lexicon of Whisky. The other regions are the Highlands, Speyside and the Lowlands. Islay malts are famous for their characteristic smokiness and Bowmore is no exception; we carefully smoke our malt and use skills handed down from generation to generation to craft a perfectly balanced Single Malt.

Bowmore’s adherence to traditional production methods helps to shape the character of our Single Malts. We’re one of only a few distilleries anywhere which still produces its own floor malted barley, hand-turned by traditional wooden malt shovel and hand drawn machinery. For our whiskies we draw water from the Laggan River, with its rich peaty overtones, and it’s the same Islay peat that fires the malt-drying kiln.

Bowmore Distillery’s close proximity to the sea is also vital in determining the final character of our spirit. The legendary Bowmore No. 1 Vaults is where most of our whiskies spend their long lives resting quietly in the cool, dark, damp cellars below sea level, oblivious to the waves thrashing the Vault’s sea-facing wall.

They mature in oak casks, previously used for bourbon, sherry or claret, gradually developing rich and mellow flavours.

It’s this combination of peat, barley, sea breeze, water, wood, people and tradition that together create the perfectly balanced warm and smoky character of Bowmore Single Malt Scotch Whiskies.

The Bowmore domestic product range:

• Bowmore Small Batch
• Bowmore 12 Years Old
• Bowmore 15 Years Old ‘Darkest’
• Bowmore 18 Years Old
• Bowmore 25 Years Old

Islay

Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides, and is also known as “The Queen of the Hebrides.” Its mild climate and rich peaty soil make it ideal for creating whisky, and despite having a population of not much more than 3,000, it is home to no fewer than eight working distilleries.

GLENGLASSAUGH RELEASES RARE 51 YEARS OLD SINGLE MALT

Glenglassaugh Distillery is extremely proud to launch a sumptuous 51 Years Old single malt. 

This complex and sophisticated dram is an extremely rare, one-off whisky. Bottled at cask strength on May 14 this year, non-chill filtered and with no colour added, this is truly an exceptional dram.

Specially selected by Master Distiller Billy Walker, the rich and flavoursome whisky is from 1963 cask 3301 and has been maturing in our coastal warehouses at Portsoy for over 51 years. Distilled and filled to cask on February 15 1963, it is one of the oldest casks in our inventory and brilliantly captures Glenglassaugh’s unique Highland coastal character.

Founded in 1875 by local entrepreneur James Moir, Glenglassaugh was mothballed for over twenty years, lying silent and forgotten until production was re-started in 2008. It was taken over by BenRiach last year and the distinctive fruity character of its whisky is loved by all who discover it.

Master Distiller Billy Walker said: “We’ve inherited some extraordinarily fine whisky at Glenglassaugh. It’s a real treasure trove and the 51 years old is the oldest bottling ever released from Glenglassaugh…and it is of unbelievable quality.

“It’s a gorgeous Glenglassaugh – a silky, sublime balance of fruits and herbs mingling seductively with astonishingly refined oaken notes. Put simply, it is elegance personified.”

Colour: Rich mahogany holds a deep crimson edge.

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.

Finish: The rarity of the vintage mirrors the rarity of the unique characteristics of the whisky. Combining many facets of its ever-changing nature as it opens on the palate, the style and elegance of this rare whisky are to be savoured.

The Glenglassaugh 51 Years Old comes in a beautiful wooden box, hand-crafted in Scotland. Each bottle is hand-numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Billy Walker.

On our website (www.glenglassaugh.com) you’ll find more information on this new release.

NEW PARCELS: MORE SECRETS FOR SHARING

Oh my goodness! Members have done a great job as Santa this weekend and Society elves have been sending out bottles at a frantic pace. With only a handful of rare bottles left from the December list, we couldn’t leave you without exciting, panel-picked whisky when you need it most. So fear not, brave gift-givers: we’ve added two new Japanese bottlings (look out for the highly prised provenance), a corker from a closed distillery and two palate-pleasing parcels. You’re still in time to be everyone’s favourite Santa… #happysharing

Last orders for Christmas delivery midday Friday 19 December.

Sweet, fruity & mellow

124.5

Juicy fruits and spicy oak

RARE & MATURE 23 year old Japanese malt from a first-fill ex-bourbon hogshead.

Low availability: only 14 left!

£275.00

Deep, rich & dried fruits

119.14

Raspberry imperial stout

RICH & INDULGENT 11 year old Japanese malt from a first-fill bota corta.

Did you know this comes from the same distillery as Jim Murray’s 2015 Whisky of the Year?

Low availability: only 45 left!

£155.00

Juicy, oak & vanilla

25.69

Fresh faced and fabulous!

Rare chance to own a rare bottle: LOW OUTTURN of only 35 bottles and CLOSED DISTILLERY.

Low availability: only 14 left!

£175.00

Browse New Bottlings>

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

Wemyss Velvet Fig

Matured in Oloroso Sherry casks to generate rich autumn and winter fruits and spices. Limited release from the owners of Kingbarns Distillery.

Velvet Fig Scotch $48.81

www.ralfy.com has some mixed-emotions about Whisky Review 506 – Dewars 12yo Legacy Scotch