P/O/U/R/S Thursday 24.10.13 £20/17* five drams including:-

Benrinnes 25yo

Longrow Red

P/O/U/R/S Thursday 07.11.13 £20/17*

P/O/U/R/S Thursday 21.11.13 £20/17*

P/O/U/R/S Thursday 05.12.13 £20/17*

P/O/U/R/S Thursday 19.12.13 £20/17*

P/O/U/R/S = Peaty, Old, Unusual, Rare, Sherry cask

*£3 off for first timers & members, membership = £10 for 13 months. Entry by pre-paid ticket only

www.jollytopertastings.co.uk

www.ralfy.com has a shot of malt-momenting with Whisky Review 403 – Strathisla 12yo

Whisky sailing trips Tall Ship Thalassa 2014

Make the once in a lifetime trip and sail with tall ship Thalassa! Sail along with us to the best single malt distilleries and visit the famous Islay Whisky Festival. Discover Scotland’s coastal distilleries, enjoy the company of whisky lovers and learn from whisky professionals! see Scotland and its isles from a different angle and discover its beauty. Read more…

Many guests have been welcomed on board before you: last summer an article about our whisky sailing journey was published in Whisky Magazine 2013. Read more about the experiences  of journalist Martin Mitchell:

Read the article here…

Our whisky sailing trips in 2014

Whisky trip 1: May, 17th – May 24th 2014

Price: EUR 895,- per person

Whisky trip 2: May 24th – May 31st 2014 (ISLAY WHISKY FESTIVAL)

Price: EUR 995,- per person ** ALMOST FULLY BOOKED: ONLY 2 PLACES AVAILABLE!!**

Read more…

Program Whisky Sailing Trip 1

Important notice: during this journey we chose to sail another route compared to the previous journeys! Were you our guest during one of these trips before it might be worthwhile to consider shipping  in on board of Thalassa once more and discover a new part of Scotland!

The sailing trip starts in Oban, Scotland and ends in Troon, Scotland.

Day 1: Embarkation in Oban, departure to Tobermory

Day 2: Visit distillery Tobermory, bustour Mull

Day 3: Departure for Bunnahabhain, overnight stay in its bay OR via Corryvreckan to Jura, overnight stay in its bay

Day 4: Visit distillery Bunnahabhain or Jura, departure to Port Ellen

Day 5: Possible visit distilleries Islay, overnight stay in Port Ellen

Day 6: Departure direction Campbelltown, visit Springbank distillery

Day 7: Tour Glenscotia, departure for Arran, visit distillery, departure for Troon

Day 8: Disembark at Troon

Program Whisky Sailing Trip 2

The sailing trip starts and ends in Troon, Scotland.

Day 1: Embark in Troon, departure to Bruichladdich

Day 2: Departure for Port Ellen

Day 3: Departure to Bunnahabhain

Day 4: Visit distillery, departure to Port Ellen

Day 5: Port Ellen, in the afternoon departure to Jura

Day 6: visit distillery, departure to Campbelltown

Day 7: Visit Springbank distillery, departure to naar Arran, visit distillery, departure to Troon

Day 8: Disembark in Troon

The definite sailing routes depend on wind and weather conditions. The captain of the vessel is authorized to modify the schedule, if necessary due to circumstances as described above. In such case the captain and his crew will make suggestions for a fair alternative route. 

Information and online booking

More information about the trips can be found here. For online booking click here. For further questions please contact us by email or phone: +31-10-4156600.

Welcome on board!

HOLLANDS GLORIE

Liesbeth Wammes – de Graaf

Brigitte Beckers

October 2013

This month we are releasing two (2) new PROVENANCE Single Malt bottlings.

PROVENANCE Tasting Notes follow:

PRV1044 Talisker Young & Feisty

Briny, with an ozone clean quality and a soft smoky trail apparent on the nose. The palate is pelagic/nicely maritime, lightly peppered/warming plus peat and iodine. It runs to a finish full of espresso, dark chocolate, soft peat and a sprinkle of salt. (F)

PRV0979 Glen Moray 11 YEARS

Detect the mix of honey and mixed spices on the nose plus some late vanilla sprinkled fruit salad. Sweet one second – dry the next on the early palate till it settles later into a big barley, maple syrup wallop! Spices come through on the finish – some warming camphor, amongst those same flavours from the palate. (F)

All best wishes

Fred H Laing

Managing Director

THE GLENLIVET DISTILLERY VISITOR CENTRE AWARDED BEST ATTRACTION 

The reputation of The Glenlivet, the world’s No. 2 single malt, has been further enhanced by its recently upgraded distillery visitor centre being named Best Visitor Attraction by the prestigious Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards (HITA).

The visitor centre saw off competition from the other shortlisted attractions to scoop the prize, cementing its standing as a must-see Speyside tourist attraction. It will now go onto compete in the national Scottish Thistle Awards

The centre which has been in operation for 35 years and attracts over 40,000 tourists annually from around the world, was transformed in 2013 to include three different daily tours that enhance the visitor experience and provide the opportunity to hand-fill and purchase your very own personalised bottle of The Glenlivet 18 Year Old single cask selection.

Following its upgrade, the centre put a strong emphasis on obtaining and analysing visitors’ feedback. Facebook and social media channels have become a vital part of this process, allowing the public to keep up with the distillery’s activities and tour availability. This search for excellence in customer services really impressed the judges with  Laurence Young, Chair of the judging panel for the HITA, commenting: “The Glenlivet Distillery’s application demonstrated that the organisation is really committed to listening to customers and responding to their feedback. Introducing great ideas during a recent major upgrade to the centre demonstrated that the company genuinely values the opinions and suggestions of the people visiting the centre each year.“

Caroline Mitchell, Manager of the Chivas Brothers’ visitor centres, comments: “We are delighted that The Glenlivet visitor centre has been awarded Best Visitor Attraction. It really goes to show that all our hard work in developing exciting activities and listening to feedback has paid off. It means a lot to us to be recognised by The Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards. We want to thank everyone in the distillery for all their work in maintaining the centre to such high standards and we will keep our fingers crossed for further recognition at the national Scottish Thistle Awards.”

Introduced in 2005, The Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards promote and encourage excellence within Highlands and Islands tourism industry, rewarding the best businesses in the region.

Good afternoon Society Members,

I hope you are all well. Just sending a quick newsflash with the latest news here at Springbank…

Springbank Gaja Barolo now available

The newest addition to the Wood Expression family is now available for purchase. The Springbank 9 year old Gaja Barolo is bottled at 54.7% and there are only 11,000 bottles available. The first 4 years were spent in refill Bourbon casks and the final 5 were in refill Gaja Barolo casks. The retail price for this bottle is £58.00 but you will receive your 10% Society discount making it £52.20 for Society members. I tasted it yesterday and it was deelicious!

The tasting notes for this bottling are:

Colour: Golden honey

Nose: Initial aromas of liquorice are followed by poached pears, chocolate, cream and marzipan. Springbank’s traditional earthy and coastal influence qualities also make an appearance.

Palate: There is no mistaking the red wine tannis from the Gaja Barolo casks, complemented by earthy and woody notes. Swedish lingonberries and rhubarb crumble give the whisky some sweetness and a touch of sea salt comes into play.

Finish: This is like a raspberry ripple ice cream but combined with peat and spices and a medium dry finish.

New Society bottling – due for bottling mid-November

The new Society bottling is due to be bottled mid-November and will be available for release by the end of November. As mentioned in the last newsletter, it will be a Springbank 12 year old Fresh Port and the price will be £55.00.

Also mentioned before, as there are only going to be 300 bottles from this cask it will be limited to one per person to begin with to keep it fair for all members. The reserve list is filling up very quickly but there are still a few bottles available so if you have not reserved your bottle yet and would like to, please get in touch with me soon.

New merchandise available

We have recently received a number of new items of merchandise into the Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop Campbeltown:

•Copper Decanter – £180.00
•2014 Springbank Calendar – £6.50
•Springbank Glencairn scented candle (Citrus Delight – Chocolate/Orange scent & Cedar Surprise – Cedar/Pear scent) – £9.00
•Springbank golf towel in a range of different colours – £10.50
•New golf ball and golf tee sets – £10.50
•Wooden barrel 6 coaster set – £10.50
•Wooden barrel savings bank – £12.50
•Wooden barrel pen holder – £9.00
•Scarf with the Springbank Tartan – £12.00
•New colours of the popular men and ladies Glenmuir polo shirts – £30.75

Also newly introduced to Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop Campbeltown is the shop exclusive bottlings which are only available if you visit the Campbeltown shop. The first release was a Springbank 10 year old which was matured in 100% bourbon casks and was bottled at marrying strength (49.7%). This proved to be very popular and flew off the shelves so we now have the second batch available in store which is bottled at 49.3%. The label for each release will feature a different photo from Springbank distillery.

If you would like more information on any of the above products then please call or email the shop directly on 01586 55 1710 (ext 1) or shop@wmcadenhead.com.

I will be out of the office from 5pm this evening until Wednesday morning so will be able to reply to your emails from Wednesday onwards.

Kind regards,

Mairi Paterson

For the Springbank Society

To join the Springbank Society please contact them at society@springbankwhisky.com

Exclusively from In The Pipeline, we are delighted to announce that the fourth and final Limited Edition release in our Peter Arkle series, Warehouses, has now been bottled and is ready for you to enjoy!

Inspired by the traditional dunnage warehouses at Knockdhu Distillery, the design depicts the buildings which are guarding the magic happening within. anCnoc would not be anCnoc without these magical warehouses.

Matured in a combination of American ex-bourbon casks and Spanish ex-sherry butts, the whisky displays aromas of cut flowers and lemon meringue pie which open up to honey sweetness, creamy vanilla and a touch of sherry spice.

With only 1,000 cases in existence, it’s worth seeking out this remarkable dram. If you live in the UK, you can order a bottle from our online store or contact us for your nearest stockist. Warehouses will also be available soon in the USA, Canada, Russia, Germany and Japan.

Sláinte!
anCnoc

The brand new Dalmore 25 year old is now available to purchase online @ The Whisky Shop

The Whisky Shop are proud to introduce the stunningly limited Dalmore 25 year old.

Matured initially in American white oak, this rare whisky is then carefully divided into hand sourced 25 year old sweet Palomino Fino sherry butts and Dalmore 1980 first fill bourbon casks. These exceptional whiskies are then expertly married together in bourbon barrels before being transferred, for the final time, into Tawny Port pipes from Portugal, for an outstanding triple wood finish.

Aroma:  Exotic fruits, marzipan, vanilla pods, treacle toffee, fig cake and sweet balsamic.

Palate:  Orange peel, chocolate truffles, liquorice, sweet damsons and sherry soaked raisins.

Finish:  Demerara sugar, maple syrup, bitter chocolate, and spiced gingerbread.

Very limited with only a few hundred bottles available in the UK

Simply click here to buy only £600

The Macallan 1824 Series and Macallan M

We’ve alluded to the Macallan’s recently released 1824 Series a few times in recent blog posts, but we’ve not really had a chance to sit down and properly dig in to what the range offers. With the top of the … Continue reading >>

THREE SHIPS HOLDS WORLD’S FIRST FACEBOOK WHISKY LOYALTY AUCTION

Three Ships, South Africa’s most awarded whisky, has launched its Pioneering Auction on Facebook, a first of its kind for this social networking site.

Participants are required to comment on the auction post on the Three Ships Facebook page, pledging the number of days they are prepared to keep the Three Ships Facebook cover image on their profile page. The person with the highest number of days will win one of ten bottles of the limited-edition Three Ships 10-year-old single malt. The competition will run every Tuesday until 7 November.

According to Marcel Swain, SA brand manager for Three Ships Whisky, Facebook loyalty is the currency for the Pioneering Auction and the brand is the first to do so on this popular social networking site.

“Three Ships whisky has always been a step ahead and created many firsts for the South African whisky industry. It’s only fitting that we have now become the first on Facebook to host such an auction. The Three Ships 10-year-old single malt is only made in very small quantities and 2013 marks the tenth year since the launch of the first 10-year-old in our portfolio of whiskies, which at the time was another first for the South African whisky industry.”

The Three Ships 10-year-old recently received gold at the 2013 San Francisco Spirits Competition. Only 8 000 were released in October last year.

The whisky was matured in American oak casks of different ages, with the older small wood contributing its exceptional smoothness while also imparting a slight sweetness to it.  It is a full-bodied and well-rounded whisky with a hint of peat and estery notes that add a slightly sweet fragrance hinting of dried fruit and fudge.

The ten most loyal Three Ships Whisky Facebook fans will each receive a bottle of the premium Three Ships 10-year-old-single malt, presented in customised packaging, once they have kept the Three Ships Facebook cover image on their Facebook profile for the duration of the days pledged.