Wow, well that was some summer! A very welcome surprise and we hope you enjoyed it. That’s not to say it is over by the way…

However, with schools (and Whisky Schools) re-opening and the autumn in the post, we thought it would be rude not to give you an update on where we are here at Whisky Lounge Towers. We have been working away on our program for the rest of 2013 and within this email you will find everything up to and including events in October, so let’s go!

It’s nearly here…

Our 3rd year in Liverpool is fast approaching and to celebrate, we are going to offer out the early bird until the end of the coming weekend for anybody who missed out! So tell your friends, tell your family – The Whisky Lounge is coming to town and is bringing some great stuff with them once again! Just check out a few of the exhibitors we have in store for you…

As always, your ticket price includes:

• FREE Glencairn Crystal Tasting Glass
• FREE Festival Guide
• FREE Bottle of Water
• FREE Access to sample ALL ‘On The Counter’ Drams for no extra cost
• FREE 2 WHITE Under The Counter Dram tokens – NEW (see website)
• ACCESS to The Whisky Exchange shop within the event
Just a reminder that it takes place on Saturday 7th September at The Camp & Furnace, Greenland Street between 12pm and 5pm. The usual ticket price is £30, but the early-bird is just 2 tickets for £40! You can’t say fairer than that!
Click here to go straight to the offer page and to see what joys await you!
This offer will be switched off at midnight on Sunday, so please do not delay!

NEXT UP:

What’s the first thing you think of when you think Whisky?

Johnnie Walker? Chivas Regal? Famous Grouse?

Hmmm, maybe not. But WHY?? You’re more likely to be thinking about a whisky festival or maybe an amazing trip to a malt distillery. But if you were the average whisky drinker in most of the world (including the UK) then the above whiskies aren’t just blended whisky – they are whisky.

In fact, according to a 2011 statistical report by the Scotch Whisky Association, of all the whisky sold around the world in 2011, only 8% was actually single malt! So why is this the case? Surely single malt is better, right?….

Well, events like our very own ‘Jam & Dram’ or ‘The Great Whisky & Music Experiment’ showed this year that blends can not only be good, but they can be intriguing and beguiling…

Six tasty drams will be filling your glasses – three blends and three single malts – drams that will almost certainly get you thinking differently. And just to make it a little spicier, they will be tasted in pairs…blind! We want to get you thinking not just about malt whisky and blended whisky, but whisky as a whole. Dare to be different!

Your opportunity to take part in this series is bigger than ever, with venues all over the UK. We are always looking to expand our horizons, so if you have an area and venue in mind, let us know – there may be a little something in it for you…

BLENDS VS MALTS DATES & VENUES

10th September – Sheffield, The Blake
13th September – Newcastle Upon Tyne, Blackfriars
18th September – London, The Red Lion SW1
19th September – Brighton, The Hilton Metropole
21st September – Manchester, Britons Protection
25th September – Leeds, The Crosskeys
27th September – York, The Brigantes

Well what are you waiting for, get booking!

ALSO COMING SOON…

We have plenty more coming up, including our next term of Whisky Schools. A unique proposition whereby you and/or your loved one spends a full day learning, blending, breathing and tasting whisky – what a chore. Taking place in the luxury that is Malmaison and Hotel du Vin hotels and including a 2-course lunch at the venues – this is the business!

If you fancy getting involved, we are running Whisky Schools up and down the country in select locations during September and October. Click here to find out more.

Both Manchester and York Festivals are booking – and have been for some time so where have you been?! All the details can be found on the website for these highlights in the TWL calendar. Just click on the relevant banner to be taken to the relevant page!

COMPETITION TIME!

Another topical quiz for you this month, this time focussing on blends.
As always, the first to email in with the correct answers wins a sample of something interesting…

1. In what year did Aeneas Coffey invent the continuous still? Which Scotsman’s original design was it based upon?
2. In which town did John Walker first start blending whisky?
3. What is the maximum number of single malts allowed in a blended Scotch whisky?
4. What is the difference between a blended Scotch and a blended malt whisky?

Once you have your answers, click here and fill them in on the email to us, along with your name and postal address. Good luck!

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

That’s it for now, plenty to work at there and we’ll see you at an event soon – happy dramming!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter – @thewhiskylounge – and like and share our Facebook page to keep bang up to date with the latest news about our events and more.

We look forward to seeing you over a dram or two soon.

Sláinte!

Eddie, Amanda & Joe
Team Whisky Lounge

Compass Box is a specialist Scotch whiskymaker. You will discover a world of small batch Scotch whiskies, made in a variety of styles to appeal to a variety of tastes.

Discounted Items

Compass Box Asyla, Grain and Malt Blended Scotch Whisky
Sweet, delicate and very smooth on the palate, with flavors of vanilla-cream, cereals and a subtle apple like fruit character. $54.99

Compass Box “Great King Street” Artist’s Blend Scotch Whisky
Its smooth to the palate with vanilla, tropical fruits and fresh toast. $39.99

Compass Box “The Spice Tree” Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Bourbon lovers take note; the nose shows caramel popcorn, brown sugar and butter,with a smooth palate of vanilla, spice and dark chocolate. $72.99

Compass Box “The Peat Monster” Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
For those who love big, rich, peaty and smoky malt whiskies, this is your whisky. $64.99

Compass Box Orangerie Scotch Whisky Liqueur
Infused with Orange Zest, Cassia and Clove.It is soft and pretty, an after dinner drink. $49.99

About our D&M Buying Clubs

Here at D&M we are passionate about Single Malt Scotch whiskies . To help make our passions a little easier on your (and our) pocketbook, we have come up with a number of different buying clubs. The purpose of these clubs is to explore these wonderful beverages, trying new things, and to save money. Look around these pages to see what we’ve offered in the past, and what is yet to come. To sign up for a club, click on the desired link below, add the club to your cart and enter your contact information and credit card number during checkout. Your credit card will not be charged until your club items are mailed to you for that month.

American Whiskey
Single Malt Connoisseurs’ Club
Single Malt Aficionados Club

September Previews: Beautiful Landscapes Unfold

The gentle foothills of an Indian summer or perhaps the shady valley of the first frosty night – who knows what’s just over the horizon in September? Join us in climbing a towering peak of single casks, where the high vantage point will let you catch the first glimpse of next month’s beautiful landscape unfolding before you…

36.63 There is chilli in the fruit pie 

15yo Refill ex-bourbon barrel

Speyside Spey £49.20

The nose neat is a balanced combination of fruity and sweet aromas; apple and pear crumble, rhubarb and custard, apricot jam and strawberry and lime cider. The taste is a surprise like a chilli infused apple and pear pie, very strong ginger beer and tonic water. With a little time sweeter notes of orchard fruit yoghurt and fruit salad with double cream emerge… Buy

73.59 Beautiful landscapes unfold

14yo Refill ex-bourbon barrel

Speyside Deveron £48.10

A front note of lemon trumpeted a parade of fine aromas – beeswax, polished wood, pineapple, apple, pear and rose, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla custard and canvas. The palate had a definite ‘zing’ of lemon juice squeezed over apple slices or pineapple fritters, then toffee apples, Toffoes, spongecake and wood shavings… Buy

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 http://www.smws.co.uk/memberships for your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers.

Spot the SMWS bottles in this You Tube video

www.ralfy.com  reviews his first 100% wheat spirit with Whisky Review 389 – Bernheim Wheat Whiskey

ANNOUNCED AUGUST 2013

Unique in the whisky world (we think), an exclusive to MCLEANSCOTLAND

The Whisky First Aid Kit

How often have you thought “I am in desperate need of a dram”  or “havn’t had a decent whisky in ages”

well, think and wonder no more!

As the label states; if desperate…

to be taken liberally morning, noon & night with or without water.

If a condition of thirst continues, go to a respectable bar right away.

Take until condition returns to normal.

MCLEANSCOTLAND your spiritual advisors.

please drink aware as a sensible adult.

www.mcleanscotland.com

firstaid@cleanscotland.com

info@mcleanscotland.com

Paul Mclean of MCLEANSCOTLAND

BLACK ON BLACK – the headbangers challenge; nae riff raff invited!

Black Bush against JW Double Black. Both are malt-grain blends. Both Diageo brands.

BLACK BUSH  Bushmills.  Rich and ripe, with some black fruit. Raisin, cocoa, coconut. I must admit (Paul) that this is my dram of choice in my local pub, very kindly, Billy and Helen buy the BB specially for me, though some other people “mug it off me” over the bar. Sweet start then a chocolate and raisin taste appear. Long sweet finish, so easy to drink – far too easy I may add. Beautifully balanced. Black Bush is a great blend from Bushmills, mostly malt whiskey aged for 11 years in sherry casks before blending. A word of warning though; be careful how you ask for it if there is a lassie behind the bar, have had that trouble before (luckily, the really good looking lasses in my pub know what I mean – in fact many just say “the usual”, or “ a dram?”).  This is not a powerful dram, it’s an “any time of day or night dram”. You only realise maybe you have had enough when you see the bottle as it’s being poured into the glass, and see its half gone already!

JOHNNIE WALKER has the luxury of having access to some of Scotland’s best whiskies, ranging from the west coast peats to the subtle east coast. BLACK LABEL draws upon all these aromas to create a unique blend with a smooth, deep and complex character.   But we tested the JOHNNIE WALKER DOUBLE BLACK – a Blended Whisky with a rich, intense, smoky flavour. By blending selected aged whiskies that are naturally smoky and rich in character, matured in charred old casks, the Master Blender has created a whisky of real character and depth of taste (as we all know, taste is a matter of … well, taste!). The flavour is full bodied and complex with peat shining through raisins and sultanas. Apples, pears and orange zest bring freshness, vanilla and spice also tangle with your tongue. The finish combines spicy oak and lingering smoke. For those who like the smoke/peat, we reckon this is the best JW for you. Strangely enough, this dram is sometimes very hard to find behind the bar in Scotland, mostly export.

SO WHO WON? well, hard to say, they are both different drams, complex and tasty, both won in our opinion. Where did we sample these? as usual in Christies, Perth. Time of day? oh around 6pm – ish, could have lingered on a bit. Background? aye the jukie (juke box) was playing … you guessed it; ACDC  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA  another few tastes and we were thunderstruck http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM  at the end of the day we were shaken http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo2qQmj0_h4  (not stirred).  Who tasted? usual suspects; Paul, Lizzie, Kevin (now mr and mrs), Ming and Boab. Any photos? you gigglin? none of us could hold a camera or mobile phone straight at that time. Drink sensibly people.

The Mad ferrets in Christies; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxMctrfZoKU  well worth following their website to see when they are back, superb live pub music.

Brought to you by www.angelswhiskyclub.com  a free worldwide whisky club

Jim Beam® Honey on a Mission to Save Bees from a Serious Issue by “Suing” Bears

Deerfield, Ill. – August, 2013 –Jim Beam® Honey, a new Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey infused with real honey and liqueur, is distressed by the current plight of the honey bees. A condition called Colony Collapse is causing honey bees to die at alarming rates. Fewer bees means less honey. Something needs to be done.

As passionate honey lovers and bee advocates, Jim Beam Honey has hired legendary “Seinfeld” attorney, Jackie Chiles, to “sue” honey’s other biggest fan – the bears. That’s right – it’s time for bears to cease and desist from their rampant honey theft.

“Bears are egregious, devious, and just plain mischievous!” says Chiles, who has not represented a case since his “Seinfeld” days. “I’m here to go on the record – with Jim Beam Honey as my witness – to ensure that sweet, mouth-watering justice is served!”

This frivolous fight – a legal first – is something everyone can join. Fans 21 years and over can follow Jackie Chiles in his quest to sue the furry foes by using the #suethebears hashtag on Twitter. While Jackie fights the bears, Jim Beam Honey is focused on saving the bees. For every Tweet using the #suethebears hashtag on Twitter, Jim Beam Honey will donate $100 to the Pollinator Partnership (up to $25,000).

“We’re excited to raise a glass of our new Jim Beam Honey and to raise awareness for the bees’ plight,” said Halley Kehoe, Senior Brand Manager, Jim Beam. “We know that bears love honey, and based on the excitement we’ve seen around our new product, it’s clear that Jim Beam drinkers love it too.”

Jim Beam Honey is also documenting every step and giving its fans the chance to follow along. Exclusive content will be released by Jim Beam Honey on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube along with a series of editorials on BuzzFeed.

Jim Beam Honey Donation to Help Save the Bees

While Chiles handles those troublesome bears, there’s another very real, mysterious and serious issue plaguing honey bees called “Colony Collapse Disorder.” This winter marked among the highest death rate of bees ever documented and without bees to propel the pollination process, U.S. agriculture may face some serious threats. In fact, about one third of bees in beehives across America were reported missing or dead over the 2012/2013 winter season, according to a recent survey of commercial beekeepers.1

To support honey bees, Jim Beam Honey is funding research toward Colony Collapse Disorder through a donation to the Pollinator Partnership, the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to the protection of pollinators.

Get Your Paws on Jim Beam Honey

“Lawsuit” and bears aside, Jim Beam Honey is a smooth whiskey experience that features the real flavor of golden honey. It’s perfect for those who already enjoy whiskey or bourbon as well as those looking for a new flavor:

• Jim Beam’s inspired distillers infused our honey bourbon recipe with natural flavors that round out the edges, giving fans an incredibly smooth, 70-proof spirit with just the right amount of sweet honey flavor
• The taste begins with complex notes of caramel, oak and vanilla and finishes with rich, sweet honey
• It’s delicious on its own, as a chilled shot, on the rocks or mixed

Jim Beam Honey is available nationwide and has a suggested retail price of $15.99 for 750mL. Prices vary by market and product size.

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley (50%)

New 2013 release made using barley sourced only from farms in Scotland.

Heavily peated spirit distilled at Bruichladdich distillery and matured in American oak casks.

Shop – $55.85

From Bourbon Country comes PennyPacker Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. New to the U.S. Market, PennyPacker is an American-made, hand-crafted Bourbon of high quality with a competitive price.  Three types of grain are used in the distilling process: maize, rye, and barley with Maize making up 70% (above average) of the product. PennyPacker is produced according to the continuous method of distillation, which guarantees PennyPacker’s invariable character and consistently high quality. This particularly distinguished bourbon whiskey is full-bodied, yet mild straight bourbon whiskey with a slight hint of vanilla and caramel.  PennyPacker is everything America stands for: from the Penny to Abraham Lincoln to the American Flag.  PennyPacker recently received 91 Points from The Tasting Panel Magazine.

This week I’m opening a fourth bottle of Grant’s Best Procurable. It’s not as old as this pre-1937 blend which I tasted a while back, but it was certainly bottled before this one – and it predates the introduction of our triangular bottles in the 1950s and 60s.

This bottle was clearly destined for the US…

Kind regards,

Ludo