anCnoc builds on Peter Arkle partnership

Once-in-a-lifetime competition launched to celebrate latest release

anCnoc Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky has unveiled its third Limited Edition Peter Arkle release.

The striking and distinctive packaging from the New York-based Scottish artist takes its inspiration from the thick, brick walls of anCnoc’s Knockdhu Distillery’s dunnage warehouses.

Internationally-acclaimed illustrator Peter Arkle said:

“I have loved working with anCnoc and am very proud of our latest limited edition. The distillery at Knock is such a great place and I had a fantastic time visiting there. This particular illustration for me really shows a complex thought in a very simple way. On one hand it’s just a drawing of the bricks that make up the walls of the distillery and the warehouses with a yellow sign stuck on. But, on the other hand, those bricks are so old and so soaked with the essences of anCnoc –absorbed over the years – that they are not just any old bricks. They are bricks with real character and history. And the sign is there to remind people that anCnoc is not something you can take for granted. One must handle something remarkable with care.”

The liquid has anCnoc’s signature honey and lemon notes and has a spicy taste with notes of citrus, sherry and dark chocolate.

Strictly limited to only 1000 cases, this Limited Edition will be available online and through specialist retailers in the UK as well as across the globe in the USA, Germany, Russia, Japan, Taiwan and Canada.

To mark this unique collaboration, anCnoc is offering 10 fans the chance to win a personally illustrated bottle of anCnoc in a Twitter contest. By Tweeting in a picture of how they enjoy their whisky, 10 of the entries will be chosen by Peter and hand-drawn before being transposed onto a label and tube of anCnoc.

Gillian Gibson, Brand Manager for anCnoc, said:

“anCnoc has long had a close relationship with visual art and we are delighted to not only be continuing with this fantastic series with Peter which we are sure will become instant collectors’ items like its predecessors, but that we can also offer truly personalised art with a mighty fine dram with our #youranCnoc campaign.”

The campaign, called #youranCnoc, will go live on June 17th when people all over the world will have a single day to Tweet in their perfect way to enjoy a dram of anCnoc – whether that be at the beach, by a roaring fire with a dog or looking at the countryside from their window. One of the 10 winners will be flown to New York to meet Peter and be presented with their personalised bottle.

Peter added:

“I have been so inspired designing for anCnoc and I’m really excited for people to get the chance to be inspired themselves and have their own personal anCnoc moment immortalised onto their very own bottle. It’s such a fun opportunity.”

For more information on the anCnoc range or the #youranCnoc campaign please visit www.anCnoc.com

www.ralfy.com kicks into part 2 of a 7 part vlog-series based on 2013’s Spirit of Toronto Whisky Gala it’s called Whisky Review 362 (2/7) – Wisers 18yo Canadian Whisky

Alan Winchester, Master Distiller of The Glenlivet led the inaugural tasting of a new mystery expression, The Glenlivet Alpha at a media launch event held at the Whisky Shop in Piccadilly on 8^th May.

Chivas Brothers CEO, Christian Porta, attended the event to support the launch of the new expression, which is limited to 3350 bottles.

Guests were also invited to try a range of sensory challenges (pictured left) launched by the Glenlivet in collaboration with Greyworld to help whisky enthusiasts master their senses to unlock the secrets of The Glenlivet Alpha. The sensory challenges are hosted on The Glenlivet Facebook page and http://www.theglenlivet.com/.

Alan Winchester (pictured above leading the tasting) will reveal the tasting notes and cask information for the mystery expression in a video broadcast on 6^th June at 12:30pm. To watch the reveal live, visit The Glenlivet’s Facebook page. 

Notes 

Follow The Glenlivet on Twitter via the handle @The_Glenlivet and stream the campaign through #alpha 

The Glenlivet is the No. 2 single malt Scotch whisky in the world. Crafted in the remote Livet Valley since 1824, it is the only whisky with the unchallengeable right to be called The Glenlivet. 

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard – the world’s co-leader in wine and spirits. Chivas Brothers is the global leader in luxury Scotch whisky and premium gin. Its portfolio includes Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, Beefeater Gin, The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Aberlour, Plymouth Gin, Longmorn, Scapa, 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, Something Special and Passport.

For further information please visit http://www.chivasbrothers.com/

Jura Whisky Revamps Core Range Packaging

Jura whisky, one of the world’s fastest growing malts, has revamped its packaging to make the brand stand out on shelf and to clearly explain the distinct flavour profiles of each expression.

Each carton will have its own distinct colour palette featuring a different image, drawn from the landscape of Jura.  The image that adorns each carton connects back to the whisky’s distinct island story and sits beside a half outline of the distinctive Jura bottle shape.  When the expressions are lined up together the outlines join up to reveal the whole outline of the iconic Jura bottle.

Gemma Parkinson, Jura Brand Manager commented: “2012 was an exceptional year for the brand. We are now looking to build on this momentum and release a new creative look and feel that we hope will resonate with consumers and help them to truly identify with our brand story.”

About Jura

Off the west coast of Scotland lies one of nature’s best kept secrets, the Isle of Jura.  Populated by a community of less than 200, known as Diurachs (the Gaelic name for the people of Jura), the island is home to Jura distillery and an award-winning range of single malt whiskies.

There are four classic bottlings in the Jura Collection, each with their own distinctive flavour profiles: the light and delicate Origin 10; the rich and full bodied Diurachs’ Own 16 year old; and Superstition and Prophecy, which are lightly and heavily peated respectively.

Jura whisky, as we know it today, was born in the late 1950s when two local estate owners – Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith – took the bold decision to rebuild the Jura distillery following decades of neglect, employing architect William Delme-Evans. By 1963 their work was complete, providing much needed economic support for an isolated island community.

The story of the distillery’s rebirth is one of many that define the unique character of Jura, the islanders and their whisky. From the Writers’ Retreat to the annual Music and Whisky Festivals, Jura continues to generate stories worth telling.

To find out more visit www.jurawhisky.com

The fantastic programme of events is only two weeks away. Masterclasses are now sold out but there’s still a load more to see and do. Have a dram, a dance and grab a hearty venison burger in the cooperage. Click the button below for the full run down.

If you can’t brave the waves to Jura then get online. We’ll be covering the festival on Facebook & Twitter. Keep your eye out for our 39 ¾ year old –pre release of our 40 year old in the week following the festival, you could win a vial of this very special dram in our video competition.

See you at the dramming bar!

VIEW THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

www.ralfy.com on location in Canada beginning a seven part vlog-series with Whisky Review 362 (1/7) – Spirit of Toronto Whisky Gala 2013

THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY SHINES THE SPOTLIGHT ON GRAIN WHISKY 

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the world’s leading malt whisky club, is today (Friday 17 May) launching a week-long celebration of one of the hidden gems of the whisky world – grain whisky.

Unlike malt whisky, which is made from malted barley, grain whisky is made from unmalted cereal grains such as wheat, rye, maize or corn. Traditionally, grain whisky has been used in the production of blended whisky and is rarely released on its own. But when aged for long periods, such as 20 to 30 years, in highquality casks, it can become a superb spirit in its own right.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, winner of the Grain Whisky of The Year in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2013, is flying the flag for this often over-looked whisky with its Grain Whisky Week (17-25 May). Grain Whisky Week, part of the Society’s 30^th-anniversary celebrations, kicks off today with the release of 10 grain whiskies, all bottled from single casks in the tradition of all SMWS bottlings, and continues with a grain whisky sampling at the London Whisky Fest on Saturday.

The Society, a members-only organisation, will also celebrate Saturday’s World Whisky Day by opening its doors to the public and inviting them to sample grain whisky at its three private venues – 28 Queen Street and The Vaults in Edinburgh, and 19 Greville Street in London.  A complementary 10cl bottle of grain whisky will be offered to anyone buying membership in the venues on the day.

The Grain Whisky Week celebrations continue with grain whisky tastings at the following locations:

?         28 Queen Street (Tuesday 21)

?         19 Greville Street (Wednesday 22)

?         The Angel Hotel in Guildford (Friday 24)

?         The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock (Friday 24)

?         The Whisky Stramash Festival in Edinburgh (Saturday 25)

A limited number of tickets for non members are available for all the above tastings (call 0131 555 2929 to book) apart from the Whisky Stramash Festival.

Helen Stewart, the UK Brand Manager of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, said: “The Society was first established 30 years ago to celebrate the delights of single cask, single malt whisky but we have always explored the full spectrum of the whisky world to unearth the finest casks. Grain whisky is a hugely under-rated spirit and deserves to be discovered by many more people. We have been bottling grain whisky for several years now and are delighted to see it gradually gaining the recognition it deserves.”

Notes 

About grain whisky

?         Single grain Scotch whisky is made from unmalted cereal grains such as wheat, rye or corn, plus a small amount of malted barley – it is distilled continuously in a continuous column still. In contrast, single malt Scotch whisky is made from malted barley – it is distilled batch-by-batch using a pot still.

?         Grain whisky has typically been used in the production of blended whisky. It has suffered from a slightly negative reputation in the past due to a notion it was verylight and cheap to produce, and therefore lacked the quality and character of single malt whisky.

?         The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s single grain bottlings are breaking this stereotype of grain whisky. If you put grain whisky in a good quality cask, you get a unique spirit at the end. This underlines the importance of the Society’s key ethos, which is to only ever bottle from the highest-quality single casks.

?         Like all malt whiskies, all grain whiskies will taste different. But, generally speaking,grain whisky can have a lighter, smooth and creamy taste. It can taste more like bourbon than malt whisky – as a result, grain whisky is a fantastic way to get new audiences involved in whisky.

About The Scotch Malt Whisky Society 

?         The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is an international membership organisation and bottler, which bottles the world’s widest selection of exceptional single cask, single malt whisky for its members

?         The Society bottles the finest single malt whisky from around 300 single casks every year from a range of more than 129 distilleries. The very nature of the single cask means that each bottling offered by the Society is limited.

?         The Society was established in Edinburgh in 1983 and now has more than 26,000 members around the world with branches in 19 countries.

?         For more information about the Society, visit www.smws.com

Grain Outturn: An Intriguing surprise in disguise
We’re still The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, promise…but we do love a good single cask grain.  As part of our 30th Anniversary celebrations, we shine the spotlight on this underrated spirit bringing you 10 unique grain whiskies (and a new distillery).

Leave behind your preconceptions, open your mind and set your compass for absurdly intriguing variety.

West of Scotland Grain Pair Offer: G7.5 & G10.4
G7.5 Smoky Werther’s Originals
The taste has a delicate, well balanced sweet and smoke combination, dusty icing sugar and, if only they would exist, smoky Werther’s Original.

G10.4 A witch’s Christmas tipple
Something quite Christmassy gift-wrapped the nose – oranges, mixed peel, Brazils, pecan pie, floral perfumes, varnished wood and pine trees. Water introduced dark chocolate, toffee, fudge, and coconut, with hints of spice
   
Grain Pair only £116 
Buy 

Grain Outturn
*G7.5 is exclusive to this pair offer

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.

First of all, if you’re not based in the South-East, my apologies, but we haven’t been able to fully regionalise our mailing list. However, we will have a full UK news email in a week or two, with updates on Leeds Festival, hopefully Manchester and a whole sluice of summer tastings…

If you are in the South-East, and London in particular, please read on!

This Sunday’s ‘Jam & Dram’ session at The Village Underground, Shoreditch still has 75 places up for grabs and rather than perform to a half-full room, we would like to give you the opportunity to take up a crazy offer! We put this event together as a truly experimental day which we worked hard, along with the guys from CaskStrength Creative, to put together. What we now have is an event that will (hopefully!) successfully blend whisky and music together. Three bands, each containing not-insignificant industry personnel…

A little more meat for you about the event first…

The idea is to ‘blend’ music and whisky. We wanted something where people could come and sample the tasty wares of the exhibitors, have the opportunity to blend their own whisky and, at certain times, just relax and listen to some good, live music. Pretty simple really! We have already detailed the exhibitors on the website, so its time to tell you about the bands…

The Copper Dogs
– a good time rock and roll band featuring the talents of Dr. Whisky himself (Sam Simmons, Global Balvenie Ambassador), Cat Spencer from Master of Malt and Rob Allanson, the editor of Whisky Magazine.

Prince Adewale & The Endeavours
– Black Keys-esq shenanigans including Neil Ridley of CaskStrength Creative and Dr. Nick Morgan, Diageo’s very own ‘Master of Malt’!

The Whisky Lounge Blues Band
– Whisky-fueled….blues, with your very own, Eddie Ludlow of The Whisky Lounge and his band.

Each band will play for around 30 minutes at predetermined times of the day and will be representing a whisky that you will then get to vote on at the end of the session. You will also get the opportunity to try your hand at blending, plus you’ll get a mini of your blend, a goodie bag courtesy of Cutty Sark and a whole lot more. Most of our Saturday exhibitors will still be on hand to provide you with samples and insight into a room-full of tasty whisky. This all takes place between 12pm and 5pm.

The Deal

If you have already purchased tickets for Saturday’s London Whisky Festival or Sunday’s Jam & Dram, we are offering you the chance to buy additional Jam & Dram tickets for just £12.50! That’s right, for today only, you can get a full days whisky and music – and all of the associated goodies – for the paltry sum of £12.50 – half the original ticket price.

This is unrepeatable and limited to the first 75 to book on. Good old-fashioned, first come, first served.

We have set up a new page on the website specifically for you, and to make this nice and easy for you to take advantage of. Simply click here to be taken to it. A word of warning though. This offer is only for those who have a previous booking – anyone found to have booked this offer without following this guideline will simply have their money returned via Paypal and with no ticket. Please be honest!

A reminder of date, time and place;

The Whisky Lounge ‘Jam & Dram’
Sunday 19th May 2013, 12pm-5pm
The Village Underground
Hollywell Lane
Shoreditch
EC2A 3PQ

We hope you can make it and we know you’ll enjoy it!

Cheers,
Eddie

Kid Rock and Jim Beam Looking for One Lucky Fan to Serve as Rock Star’s Personal Bartender

Clermont, KY (May 8, 2013) – Kid Rock is upping the ante on his tour with a bold request– his very own personal bartender to create and serve Jim Beam® cocktails during his cross-country “Best Night Ever” tour. Through a nationwide search, Jim Beam and Kid Rock are accepting applications from fans 21 and over who are ready to take on this challenge and join the rock star himself as his resident bartender this summer. The winning fan will receive a prize package, personal mixologist training and the opportunity to bartend backstage for Kid Rock during three of his summer tour stops.

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be awarded to one lucky fan who embodies the spirit, enthusiasm and creativity of our seven generations of Beam distillers to join Kid Rock on tour. The grand prize winner will have the opportunity to join the tour for three separate concert stops throughout the summer: Irvine, Calif. (July 26); Detroit, Mich. (August 10); and Chicago, Ill. (August 30); receive a training by Beam Master Mixologist Bobby “G” Gleason and a $10,000 prize package. Now through June 7, fans interested in applying can visit www.JimBeam.com/Music/Kid-Rock for more information, the official contest rules and application instructions. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Must be 21 or older to participate. Void where prohibited. Subject to complete official rules. Contest begins May 6, 2013, and ends June 24, 2013.

“Kid Rock has helped make Jim Beam’s decades-long music legacy even stronger” said seventh-generation Master Distiller and Jim Beam’s great-grandson Fred Noe. “We figure it’s time to pour him a drink or two, and we need our fans to help us make Kid Rock’s perfect cocktail. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!”

This year marks the fifth consecutive year that Jim Beam and Kid Rock have come together to bring legendary music experiences to fans across the country. Since partnering back in 2009, the World’s No. 1 Bourbon and Kid Rock have launched breakthrough consumer programs that have provided one-of-a-kind opportunities for music and bourbon fans alike. This year builds on those groundbreaking music experiences as Jim Beam and Kid Rock honor their loyal fans with Jim Beam’s Mix for Kid Rock Contest. Jim Beam is also sponsoring Kid Rock’s 2013 concert tour, which kicked off earlier this year and concludes this September in Tampa, Fla.

For more information about Jim Beam’s Mix for Kid Rock Contest, the “Best Night Ever” tour, or Jim Beam’s music legacy, visit JimBeam.com/Music/Kid-Rock, www.Facebook.com/JimBeam or follow us on Twitter @JimBeamOfficial.

About Beam Inc.

As one of the world’s leading premium spirits companies, Beam is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including Jim Beam Bourbon, Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Pinnacle Vodka, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Teacher’s Scotch Whisky, Skinnygirl Cocktails, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, Knob Creek Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, Larios Gin, Whisky DYC and DeKuyper Cordials.  Beam is focused on delivering superior performance with its unique combination of scale with agility and a strategy of Creating Famous Brands, Building Winning Markets and Fueling Our Growth. Beam and its 3,400 passionate associates worldwide generated 2012 sales of $2.5 billion (excluding excise taxes), volume of 38 million 9-liter equivalent cases and some of the industry’s fastest growing innovations.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BEAM and is included in the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI World Index.