1993 GlenDronach 19 Year Old “K&L Exclusive” Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($139.99)

Located in an isolated portion of the Aberdeenshire, amid rolling green hills and sinister shadows, GlenDronach is churning out sherry-aged single malt that simply destroys many of its competitors. This 19-year-old selection smells of Armagnac and rich caramel, with roasted fruits and big sherry aromas. The palate is soft, integrated and very smooth, even at full proof. The richness is powerful, but unlike some of their older selections, it is completely in check and balanced by the spice and alcohol in the malt. This is a bigger, more expressive version of Macallan 18. It’s going to be a huge hit!

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com/
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Milroy’s of Soho Bottlings

We are pleased to have been featured as one of ‘London’s Best Shops 2013′ by TimeOut, thanks to a long tradition begun by brothers John and Wallace Milroy in the 1960s of travelling to Scotland, selecting choice casks from the distilleries themselves, and bottling under the Milroy’s of Soho name. We choose the casks with an aim to bottle unusual or particularly outstanding examples of single malt whisky for our discerning whisky lovers back home, and have become rare collectibles in their own right.

So to celebrate our recognition by TimeOut, this February we’re discounting our Milroy’s of Soho Bottlings for you to enjoy; buy any two and receive 10% off!

Milroy’s of Soho Single Cask, 46% ABV, Cooley 2001,
11 Year Old, Cask 3440

We are able to offer you what has become an increasingly rare independent bottling of Irish whiskey; until recently Cooley was the only privately owned distillery in Ireland. It was sold at the end of last year to multinational Beam for about £60 million – you can pick up a bottle from us for just £55! Those of you with a sharp eye will notice that this is an Irish whiskey bottled in Scotland. Just 394 bottles were produced from this single cask.

We recently held our first ever live Twitter Tasting in which our Cooley’s bottling won new fanatics, detecting notes of “Creamy lime & coconut, herbal & rye, even some coriander.” A highly unusual dram!
 
Milroy’s of Soho Single Cask Bottling
Triple distilled lowlander, which is smooth, mellow and easy going. Ideal introduction to Scottish Single Malts in a handy 5CL format.
£6.00
 
Glen Garioch 1978, Single Cask Cask Strength, Exclusive to Milroy’s of Soho
An extremely rare limited edition of just 146 bottles exclusively for Milroy’s of Soho. An elegant Glen Garioch with fruity finesse. Notes of fine eau de vie, dusty melon candy fuses with traces of wood-smoke, leaving a gentle finish of heather honey and clean powdery icing sugar.
£300.00

Our mailing address is:

Milroy’s of Soho
3 Greek Street
London, England W1D 4NX
United Kingdom

Rarest Wins Gold
Duncan Taylor are proud to announce the Rarest Collection has won a Gold Award at the World Wide Whisky Design Awards for 2012, a fully independent competition. This is a great achievement for both the new brand and Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky.

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #32

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, takes you to the Isle of Skye on the West coast of Scotland. The only distillery on the island is Talisker. Their entry level malt, the 10 Year Old, is considered to be outstanding. Join Mark and find out.

http://youtu.be/Xgm6Vrntd4I

CHIVAS CELEBRATES REAL FRIENDSHIPS WITH RELEASE OF FIRST SHORT FILM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CANANA

Chivas Regal, the world’s original luxury whisky, has launched the second phase of its successful Here’s to Real Friends campaign with the release of Drifting, the first of a two-part short film in partnership with Mexican arthouse film company, Canana.

The release follows the announcement last week that Chivas is collaborating with Canana – which was set up by real-life friends Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Pablo Cruz – to produce the film about friendship, following the adventures of a group of life-long friends.

Filmed in Tulum, Mexico and directed by Diego Luna, the first part of Drifting can be viewed at www.chivascanana.com along with exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with the director. The conclusion, directed by Gael Garcia Bernal, is set for release in early February 2013.

James Slack, Chivas Regal Global Brand Director, says: “As a brand created by brothers and shared by friends around the world, Chivas understands that friendship is – and always has been – a vital source of inspiration and support for men.

The story of friendship behind Canana and the opportunity to bring friendship to life not only in the film but also behind the camera through Diego and Gael’s collaboration inspired us to partner with them. We hope Chivas fans around the world enjoy the film.”

Here’s to Real Friends is the latest instalment of Chivas’ ‘Live with Chivalry’ campaign which first launched in 2008 and continues to connect with consumers in more than 60 markets worldwide.

Notes:

About Drifting

Drifting sees Nico (Pablo Cruz Guerrero) and Andres (Ari Brickman) embark on an adventure to lure their friend Al (Alexander DiPersia) away from his idyllic beach paradise, where his new laid-back lifestyle has meant that he has lost touch with his lifelong friends. With Nico’s wedding on the horizon, the friends want to make sure Al gets back for the big event. They plan a surprise visit to convince him but their reunion takes an unexpected turn and the friends find themselves lost at sea with nothing but each other and a life raft. 

About Chivas Regal

Chivas Regal is a truly global brand, selling 4.9 million 9L cases annually in more than 150 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and Americas. The Chivas Regal range is the epitome of style, substance and exclusivity and includes Chivas Regal 12, 18 and 25 Year Old. 

About ‘Real Friends, Make Time’

Chivas Canana Present was inspired by ‘Here’s to Real Friends’, the latest instalment of the Live with Chivalry campaign, featuring two short films about friendship directed by Academy Award® winning short filmmaker Joachim Back. The two cinematic films focus on the trials, tribulations and idiosyncrasies of modern male friendships, celebrating the stories that bind real friends together.

For further information please visit www.chivascanana.com 

About Canana

CANANA was founded in 2005 by Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, Pablo Cruz, and most recently joined by partner and CEO Julián Levin.  Over the past 7 years, CANANA has produced over twenty films including Abel, Luna’s first feature length film, Sin Nombre, Miss Bala, directed by Gerardo Naranjo, and most recently, the English language film, Chavez, directed by Luna and based on the life of Mexican-American labor union organizer César E. Chávez.

In 2012, CANANA expanded its operations in the U.S. with Canana L.A., bridging the talent pool between Latin America and the U.S. with such projects as A Man Must Die, a political thriller produced in collaboration with Focus Features, with Naranjo set to direct. In México, CANANA added both a television arm, which produced Soy Tu Fan, starring Ana Claudia Talancón and Niño Santo, and a distribution outlet, CANANA Presenta, which has been releasing international art house films in Mexico for six years across all platforms, with a catalogue of more than 50 titles, including the award-winning NO, Pina, and The White Ribbon.  The partners’ passion for film has also reflected through Documental Ambulante, a traveling documentary festival that has taken over 200 documentaries to communities across México, having recently completed its 8th tour.

Early February 2013 Outturn Offerings 

Sweet versus savoury 

Cask No. 33.114                                           $105

Islay 

Bacon, maple syrup and waffles vie with Black Forest Gateaux and sticky toffee pudding, while fried seaweed, spare ribs and black pudding tussle with lint bandages, and smoke. Sweet, rich, smoky, ashy, thick and herbal on the palate lent weight to the meatiness (pork covered in caramel). The addition of water brought forth aromas of smoked goose, salty scallops, toffee, Seville orange marmalade and fresh minty notes. The taste was chewy and rich but this time with scorched heather, burnt citrus, barbecued lamb & mint sauce, violet ice cream and caramelised onions. This distillery’s mascot is Shortie the Jack Russell. 

Drinking tip: A definite foodie dram – while spit roasting a suckling pig perhaps? 

Colour: Burnished gold                              Date distilled: August 1999

Cask: Refill ex Sherry butt                          Alcohol: 56.3%

Age: 11 years                                               USA allocation: 168 bottles 

Coconut shy 

Cask No. 1.161                                             $160

Speyside, Spey 

Strawberry jam and vanilla brings to mind Victoria sponge dusted with icing sugar, with Cornish ice cream, but soon light bosky notes emerge: dried grasses, high-summer dustiness, gorse flowers. The latter come through strongly in the taste, now as full-blown coconut; sweet to start, and tannic dry in the finish, with a light aftertaste of cottage cheese. It drinks well straight; with a dash of water, the aroma is lightly woody before the coconut returns, with sugared almonds and some Fruit & Nut chocolate. A creamy texture, with more coconut, and a return of the Fruit & Nut in the finish. The distillery is still owned by descendants of its founder. 

Drinking tip: To accompany a Jilly Cooper novel 

Colour: Pale amber                                     Date distilled: December 1986

Cask: Refill hogshead                                 Alcohol: 49.2%

Age: 24 years                                               USA allocation: 114 bottles 

Mon Chérie 

Cask No. 7.71                                               $135

Speyside, Lossie 

A profound, very dark chocolate, nose, reminiscent of Mon Chérie cherry-liqueur chocolates, a hint of wild mint and creamy coffee. A creamy mouthfeel at full strength, with the bitter chocolate theme continuing, joined by light coconut and sultanas: lively but pleasant. Water reveals its Speyside origins – acetone and warm vinyl, creamy and buttery; vanilla ice cream with desiccated coconut. A soft and gentle texture; not as sweet to taste as previously, with traces of orange bitters and later, canvas or hessian; a long finish, with dry coconut in the aftertaste. The distillery used to be connected to BenRiach Distillery, which supplied it with malt, by a railway line. 

Drinking tip: At dusk with a loved one and a box of hand-made chocolates 

Colour: Deep gold towards amber                     Date distilled: April 1992

Cask: Refill hogshead                                             Alcohol: 53.0%

Age: 19 years                                                           USA allocation: 138 bottles 

Moselle and nasturtiums 

Cask No. 121.52                                           $90

Highland,Island 

Soft and gentle, with vanilla sponge, tart apples (or sour apple chews), hard pears, skins of peaches and nectarines, then a sharper note, like lime, with traces of jasmine. Water sweetens it – ‘poached pears in Moselle’ – and raises estery notes of warm vinyl and ‘leaky BIC biro’, with ladies face powder, developing to warm apple pie. At natural strength the taste is hot and simple, with traces of apple and flour; water makes it sweet and spicy, with a spritzich fizz and a slightly bitter finish, like eating nasturtiums. The island on which this distillery is located is known as ‘Scotland in miniature’. 

Drinking tip: A lunchtime aperitif 

Colour: 9CT gold, white wine                                Date distilled: July 2002

Cask: Refill barrel                                                    Alcohol: 59.9%

Age: 9 years                                                             USA allocation: 60 bottles

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America at http://www.smwsa.com/ for further information on their single cask bottlings.

January 2013

We offer two (2) new bottlings under the OLD MALT CASK label with two (2) ADVANCE SAMPLES – four (4) from PROVENANCE together with one (1) CLAN DENNY Grain release.

Tasting Notes for OLD MALT CASK follow:

OMC 2225 Arran 15 Year old –

Nose: Rich spices +honey -fruit& barley + a home baked doughy quality

Palate: Carries barley + macerated dark (raisiny)fruit + treacle toffee

Finish: Sweetly spiced (camphor style) plus molasses & herbs +light oak (F)

OMC 2224 Dufftown 30 Year Old

Nose: Clean, fresh & fragrant – runs to a floral style with a hint of anise

Palate: Llight & spicy – carrying a sweet herbal character + light liquorice

Finish: Now running drier to a spicy, slightly oaked style + subtle smoke (J)

Advance Sample 20 cls.

SMC 0435 Glengoyne 12 Year Old

SMC 0437 Fettercairn 10 Year Old

Tasting Notes for PROVENANCE:

PRV 0948 Miltonduff 7 Year Old Sherry

Opens with spiced oranges and cloves on the nose (mulled wine style) and develops to polished wood plus a chili & caramel mix. For its age, the palate is surprisingly rich and distinctly mouth coating with a real chocolates-with-orange-filling style. The finish is medium long, lightly oaked running drier with a leather and dark chocolate quality – now with black cherries. (J)

PRV 0959 Fettercairn 10 Year Old

Despite being so blond – opens with an attractively crushed sugar sweetness and develops to a candied fruit quality. The palate is light and fresh, still sweet, carrying soft spices and orange zest. The finish is spiced,sweetly toffee’d, remaining fresh and light. (J)

PRV 0958 Glengoyne 12 Year Old

Clean, fresh, and sweetly sugared plus juicy barley tones – all warming nicely on the nose. Palatewise it carries a distinctly chewy Maltiness before soft spices, toffee and a light oakiness gather – all being rather neatlyreplicated on the finish. (F)

PRV 0957 Caol Ila Young and Feisty

The nose opens distinctly Islay in style, balanced with a malt mash and a sweetly vanilla’d quality. This sweetness continues on the palate and develops to a sweet liquorice and soft warm tar character. Sweet smoke plus honey on distinctly burnt toast linger on the long finish. (J)

Tasting Note for CLAN DENNY Old Grain:

DEN 0089 Invergordon 46 Year Old

Lightly oaked initially on the nose – with burnt sugar – then citric fruity tones appear till vanilla custard and sweet baking ease in later. The palate is sugary sweet then vanilla from its Bourbon cask (plus some of its oak)is released – with more candied citric flavours – all running to a finish that carries a syrupy sweet set of fruit-inthat- custard flavours. (F)

We hope you have a good start of 2013, which we hope will be happy – and above all HEALTHY, for you and your family.

Yours faithfully

Fred Laing

www.douglaslaing.com

Loch Fyne Whiskies ‘New in stock: Springbank 12yo Cask Strength [Batch 5 – 2013 Bottling]’

Springbank 12yo Cask Strength

53.1% abv

£43.50 inc vat

£36.25 ex vat

Best regards,

Loch Fyne Whiskies

david@lfw.co.uk

www.ralfy.com completes a run of blended scotch reviews with a fair wind and tall sail for  whisky review 336 – Cutty Sark Storm certainly suitable for sailors!

Liz and Paul of mcleanscotland attended the festival, here is the trip blog/story by Paul;

A Scots perspective view on the whisky festival.

We left a chilly Scotland on Wednesday 16 January, flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow (my advice, try and NOT travel via Heathrow, a nightmare!) from here to Calgary and on to Victoria – our travelling time including stop overs? Roughly 24 hours, tiring! We arrived tired out and exhausted at Victoria, we had Stan Willow waiting for us at the gate, what a relief and what a guy! Never met Stan before but he turned out to be a gem. He drove us to the Grand Pacific hotel, we checked in 9pm ish, thanked Stan and dumped luggage in the rooms, we then HAD to check out the hotel bar, och come on, we are Scots after all! A few drinks and bed beckoned.

THURSDAY; I woke up around 4am, couldnee sleep, still on Scottish time (8 hours different) so started unpacking and ironed some shirts! Met Mark Davidson from Edinburgh (the Jolly Topper) Oliver from Germany and Billy Abbott (The Whisky Exchange)  at breakfast.  A few other guys at breakfast, awaiting the trip to Shelter point, sadly I had to drop out of this trip (dam and double dam!). Top man Lawrence Graham appeared to say hello, it was he we were working with on the long lead up to this event. Liz appeared around 9ish to my amazement! We had a free day for a while, met a few people and dondered into town, where we found shops and, more importantly, the Bard & Banker Scottish pub, so we HAD to go in and see.   A great bar with seriously good looking lassies working there, we had a couple of drinks, as you do, then our new pal Stan arrived and took us on a trip around the city, marinas, golf club and several places including his house, before calling in at Spinnakers for lunch and a beer. Good stuff. We had a dinner arranged tonight (Lawrence), the Canadian Whisky Awards, lots of people there and new friends made yet again – Highwood Distillers amongst them, many awards handed out but sadly no drams from the winners! Och well, we enjoyed some nice local wine. After the dinner; Adjourn to the bar, where more drinks consumed (bloody hell, the bar prices there are high!) and we met more folks, all too many to mention but must mention one, Grant Stevely from Dubh Glas distillery, another really nice guy. Cannee mind what time we went to bed? But it was another good day!

FRIDAY; much of a free day today, so went shopping again, guess what? We ended up at the Irish Times pub, well I am half Scottish half Irish! We both enjoyed lunch and drinks, I had a couple of pints of Kilkenny beer, superb, my mum is from there. More good lookin lassies there by the way. We returned to the hotel as we had a masterclass to attend that evening; Duncan Taylor. Peter did a great job and we had 6 drams, my own favourite the Black Bull 40 year old. Er, then back to the bar, becoming a habit eh! More people to meet, one too many for me, but that’s another story.  Another great day ends.

SATURDAY; main day, I was down early (6am) checking out the room for our masterclass, all was ready and waiting for us. Liz came down 9ish and we set up the laptop to the projector, tested and did a trial run, fab!  10.30 friends arrived from further up the island coast, they have been on tour with us and again this year, they were to assist in our masterclass, more later.  11.15 we started our masterclass, Ranald from Cadenhead/Springbank took over for 15 minutes with 3 excellent drams, our thanks to pal Ranald for this, much appreciated. I then took over chatting about Scotland, showing photos and generally yappin on! I broke off to show an excellent short film of the 2012 Tiree music festival, a wee isle between Mull and Skye, this went down very well. Back to a wee bit of chatter then introduced Jack and Mike (locals) who told our class how good we were! I was very flattered and thankful we did well for them, you just cannee buy words like that, many thanks lads. Class over, a quick pack up and over to the hotel lobby. Can I just say, the festival staff are brilliant, they set the room up, poured all drams, stood guard for us and cleaned up at the end, flawless! Some questions and answers with guests, then relax with Mike, Susan, Jack and Lynn over lunch, we enjoyed all of that so far today!  We pottered about checking out other masterclasses, poked our noses in to many rooms and chilled out.  This evening started at 5pm for us, setting up at the table for the main tasting sessions, thanks again to Lawrence, we had a superb location for our stand, right next to the main hall entrance and food room! 6pm saw the VIP’s arrive, 7pm the general masses! It all went on until 10pm, we were kept busy talking about our tours all night, met many people, a few wasters but 99% interested parties looking to visit Scotland and Ireland with us on whisky tours. After many sample drams and great food, we took down the stand and dropped all back to the bedroom. Then ventured downstairs – where to? You know full well, the bar! More really nice people met here, in particular Del boy, most memorable! Drinks, drinks, until the bar closed!!! Liz opted for the pub with Del and a few others, I was worn oot and the legs giving way so stayed at the hotel. A long day.

SUNDAY; a sleep in, down at the breakfast room for 9am, nae sign of Liz. Sat about with Mark again until Liz arrived, Mark due out so we wandered aboot and did some shopping, ending up at the Empress hotel, where in the Bengal Lounge we had an afternoon (too long) of cocktails. A wee bit jolly, we headed back to our hotel to make ready for the farewell whisky dinner. This was an excellent night, great food, superb whisky and a great table of people to chat to. Met old and new friends tonight. Another good night.

SUMMARY;  what a great event! It was hard to pull ourselves away to collect emails and actually do some work, but we did manage it. The whole organisation of the Victoria Whisky Festival was amazingly good, nothing too much trouble for anyone, the main guys superb; Lawrence, Stan, Iain, Glenn and many more – the names I have forgot, I am terrible with names, sorry to all I have missed. Everyone was superb, all the volunteers, every masterclass, dinner and tasting was run so well. The only poor item was the hotel closing the bar so early, but that is no due to any of the management of the festival. We were treated so well, looked after and cared for so well, we have attended many whisky festivals and by far, this one stands out a mile above the others.  Our travel was long but I would do it again, I never knew there were so many Canadian whiskies! All that is left is to unpack and catch up with people, as I have promised to do. So – if you met us there I am pleased to have done so, please do drop me a line, I will answer everything. Thanks Canada!

What also made the Festival so different is that it is a non-profit event. All proceeds go to local charities, and of course lots of volunteers are involved. Another thing, the ‘no drink and drive’ policy is enforced strictly.

Paul McLean, owner mcleanscotland.com   angelswhiskyclub.com    Perth, Scotland

See http://www.timescolonist.com/life/around-town-at-whisky-fest-canada-s-high-spirited-secret-1.51248