Best of Class

Artisan Distilled Whiskey
Corsair Artisan Distillery – Grainiac 9 Grain Bourbon

Artisan Merchant Bottled
Smooth Ambler Spirits Co – Old Scout Straight Bourbon Whiskey

WHISKEY 

CLEAR WHISKEY

Silver Medal

Copper Fox Distillery – Wasmund’s Rye Spirit

Deerhammer Distilling Company – Whitewater Whiskey

Tennessee Distilling Company – Collier & McKeel Charcoal Mellowed   White Dog

Dark Horse Distillery – Long Shot White Whiskey

Bronze Medal

High West Distillery – High West Silver Whiskey – OMG Pure Rye

Finger Lakes Distillery – White Pike Whiskey

CORN WHISKEY

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Limestone Branch Distillery – T.J. Pottinger Moonshine

Silver Medal

Asheville Distilling Company – Troy & Sons Moonshine

Colorado Gold Distillery – Colorado’s Own Corn Whiskey
Dark Corner Distillery – Moonshine Corn Whiskey

Bronze Medal

Balcones Distillery – Balcones True Blue
Kings County Distillery – Kings County Moonshine
Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery – Corn Whiskey
Pinchgut Hollow Distillery – Corn Shine

BOURBON

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Grainiac 9 Grain Bourbon

Silver Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Nashville Bourbon
Tuthilltown Spirits – Hudson Whiskey Four Grain Bourbon

Bronze Medal

Kings County Distillery – Kings County Bourbon
Tuthilltown Spirits – Hudson Baby Bourbon

STRAIGHT BOURBON

Silver Medal, Best of Category,

Colorado Gold Distillery – Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Silver Medal

Ballast Point Spirits – Devil’s Share Whiskey

Bronze Medal

Peach Street Distillers – Colorado Straight Bourbon

Malt Whiskey

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Golden Distillery – Samish Bay Single Malt Whiskey

Silver Medal

Golden Distillery – Samish Bay Whiskey Reserve
Rogue Ales & Spirits – Oregon Single Malt Whiskey

Bronze Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Pils American Malt Whiskey
New Holland Artisan Spirits – Double Down Barley
Rogue Ales & Spirits – Dead Guy Whiskey

STRAIGHT MALT WHISKEY

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Ballast Point Spirits – Devil’s Share Whiskey

Silver Medal

Edgefield Distillery – Hogshead Whiskey
New Holland Artisan Spirits – Zeppelin Bend
Rye Whiskey

Silver Medal, Best of Category

Breuckelen Distilling – 77 Whiskey

Silver Medal

1512 Spirits – Aged Rye Whiskey
Corsair Artisan Distillery – 100% Rye
Corsair Artisan Distillery – Ryemageddon

NON-TYPICAL WHISKEY

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Balcones Distillery – ‘1’ Texas Single Malt

Gold Medal

1512 Spirits – Signature Poitin

Silver Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Oatmeal Stout Whiskey
Corsair Artisan Distillery – PreProhibition American Malt Whiskey
Florida Farm Distillers – Palm Ridge Reserve
Koval Distillery – Lion’s Pride, 47th Ward Whiskey
Old Sugar Distillery – Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey
Glacier Distilling Company – Wheatfish Whiskey

Bronze Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Quinoa & Barley Whiskey
Corsair Artisan Distillery – Triticale & Barley Whiskey
Koval Distillery – Lion’s Pride Millet Whiskey
Middle West Spirits – OYO Whiskey

SMOKED WHISKEY

Silver Medal, Best of Category

Balcones Distillery – Brimstone

Silver Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Oak Smoked Wheat Whiskey
Corsair Artisan Distillery – Cherrywood Smoke

Bronze Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Triple Smoke
Square One Brewery & Distillery – JJ Neukomm Malt whiskey

HOPPED WHISKEY

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Citra Whiskey

Silver Medal

Spirits of St. Louis – Hopskey

Bronze Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Elderflower Bohemian Whiskey

FLAVORED WHISKEY

Bronze Medal

Corsair Artisan Distillery – Old Punk

Artisan Merchant Bottled Whiskey

Gold Medal, Best of Category

Smooth Ambler Spirits Co – Old Scout Bourbon Whiskey

Gold Medal

Bull Run Distillery – Temperance Trader Bourbon

Bronze Medal

Great Lakes Distillery, LLC – Kinnickinnic Whiskey

Recent additions to the website include a number of the highly collectable Vintage Macallan’s and plethora of outstanding island malts. 

Macallan 1958 25 Year Old Anniversary Malt, 43% ABV, 75CL – £1699

Increasingly difficult to source, this 25 year old was distilled in 1958 and bottled in 1984. 

Macallan 1959 Vintage Bottling, 80 Proof, 75CL – £1449

A well kept sherry wood 1959 from Macallan, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail.  

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Unblended, Rare Box, 43% ABV, 75CL – £549

An unblended Laphroaig that dates back to the late seventies and eighties. Scored a brilliant 93 points with WhiskyFun. 

Talisker 8 Year Old, Seventies Bottling, 80 Proof, 75.7CL  – £899

Hugely rare 8 year old from Isle of Skye master distillers, Talisker, that was bottled in the 1970’s.

Bowmore 12 Year Old, Dumpy Style Bottling, 40% ABV, 75CL – £275

A 12 year old Islay malt in the classic Bowmore dumpy style bottling from the eighties. 

Port Ellen 1982 28 Year Old, QV.ID Bottling, 57.5% ABV, 70CL – £379

A quite brilliant 28 year old that was distilled in 1982 and bottled in 2010. One of just 100 bottlings, this was carefully selected by Luc Timmerman for the Belgian distributor QV.ID and won a fantastic 92 points from WhiskyFun. 

Visit the website at http://www.thewhiskyvault.com/ to view all the latest products and an existing catalogue of the world’s most sought after and rare whiskies. 

The Whisky Vault Ltd

Web: http://www.thewhiskyvault.com/

Enquiries: mail@thewhiskyvault.com

THE FAMOUS GROUSE EXPERIENCE CELEBRATES 10TH BIRTHDAY

The Famous Grouse Experience is celebrating its 10th birthday this year and to mark this milestone the distillery is launching a new Celebration Tour that will run from April through to the end of the year.

Glenturret Distillery is the oldest working and most visited distillery in Scotland and 10 years ago also became the spiritual home of Scotland’s favourite whisky when The Famous Grouse Experience opened its doors on the historic site.

A decade after first opening to the public, The Famous Grouse Experience has seen close to one million visitors through its doors and boasts a number of accolades including winning a BAFTA in 2007 and receiving the 5* visitor attraction rating from Visit Scotland for the last 16 years.

The Celebration Tour gives visitors the chance to learn about the highly skilled blending process used to make The Famous Grouse, as well as the traditional production of Glenturret single malt, one of the malts used to make The Famous Grouse. Following a tour of the distillery and the interactive zone visitors will be taken to the tasting bar to sample a superb selection of whiskies including: The Famous Grouse Celebration Blend, Highland Park 25 year old, The Famous Grouse Gold Reserve and The Naked Grouse.

Tracy McCafferty, General Manager of The Famous Grouse Experience, commented: “This year marks a great milestone for us and the launch of our fantastic new Celebration Tour is just one of the activities we will be organising to mark our 10th birthday. We have welcomed visitors from all across the world over the past 10 years and hope many old and new visitors will come along to help us celebrate this special year.”

The Celebration Tour costs just £14.95 and includes five whisky samples.

About The Famous Grouse (www.thefamousgrouse.com)

The Famous Grouse is the no. 1 whisky in Scotland and no. 6 blended whisky worldwide.
The Famous Grouse has been the best selling whisky in Scotland since 1980.
The Famous Grouse is exported to over 100 countries.
Created in 1896 by founder Matthew Gloag, it was originally called The Grouse Brand.
The brand became so popular that on August 12th 1905 it was renamed The Famous Grouse
The Famous Grouse Experience is located at Scotland’s oldest working distillery – Glenturret. Originally established as a single malt distillery in 1775, today
The Famous Grouse Experience is the most visited distillery in Scotland. (www.thefamousgrouse.com/experience)

About The Famous Grouse Experience

The Famous Grouse Experience is located at Scotland’s oldest working distillery – Glenturret. Originally established as a single malt distillery in 1775, today The Famous Grouse Experience is the most visited distillery in Scotland (receiving an average of 100,000 visitors a year).
The distillery offers the opportunity to learn about how a single malt is made in the traditional way, as well as learning about where some of the Glenturret single malt ends up – in the blending of The Famous Grouse.
Not only is The Experience an attraction for tourists, offering three types of tours – ‘The Experience’, ‘The Celebration Tour’ and ‘Warehouse no. 9’ – as well as a cafe and shop, it also caters for corporate functions and private hire. The Experience has conference facilities for team meetings and away days and can be used in the evenings for events catering for up to 275 (248 seated).
· The visitor attraction has received a number of prestigious awards in recent years including three consecutive Thistle Awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009, for People Development, Customer Service and Business Tourism respectively. In addition to this it has been awarded Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Star Awards for Customer Service and Retail in November 2008, Customer Service in 2009 and Training and Development in 2011.

· Opening Hours 9am – 6pm. First Tour 9.30am & Last Tour 4.30pm. Tours from £7.50. Children under 12 go free. For more information please visit www.thefamousgrouse.com/ visit-us or call 01764 656565.

Angels Whisky Club – The Perth Easter tasting sesh.

Now I must have to translate for our members without the gift of the translate; sesh; is a session. Easter here in Scotland does not hold the same draw as it does south of the border, our posties (postmen) are working, its almost a normal day, banks do close, that’s aboot it. Where were we? Back in the old haunt of Christies Pub (our local). Who was in the sesh? Paul, Ming, his brother Boab, Billy, floating guests; Offaly man, combat Paul, Lizzie, Ron, Kev and Diageo man (who was no invited).

Why? Celtic won the league trophy. (Glasgow Celtic Football Club), if we actually needed an excuse, this was it, Christies is a braw Hoops place after all. Naturally we started with Booshmills Black Bush; matured in Oloroso Sherry casks, giving it a deep amber tone, fruity and so easy to slip doon the neck its almost laffable! This is a (Paul) favourite in the pub and always runs oot. Taken with water or straight, it’s a really good Irish whiskey, why it has that name we dinnae know, it does cause some trouble when a new bar girl works, but lets not go into that. As we are celebrating another Celtic title, we thought it very apt to go for an Irish dram. This was then followed by another one. Offaly man (another Paul, from Co Offlay and a Liverpool supporter) wandered in, “here, av a dram big man”… about now a few pints of beer arrived; Dark Island, ( a dark real ale brew from Orkney) Ming drinks this as his “usual” – someone had seen him in from the other side of the bar and sent a couple over, so while he consumed these most of us had a Jamesons; made at the Midleton Distillery, this beauty niffs of flowers and cut grass – mind as a lad you knicked the marmalade when granny wasnee lookin? Smells (or memories) of this if you close yer eyes, a bit o fudge and honey, just a shame it didnee hang aboot long, so another was needed. Just around noo, Diageo man walked in, he’s a pain in the preverbial, nae one really talks to him, why the name? he works for em. As usual he steals Paul’s favourite dram off the shelf; Black Bush. As he attempts to chat to some poor unsuspecting stranger, we ignore him, but he is getting dangerous looks from someone, he downs his glass and leaves.

Ming was back after his trip to the dark side, so we moved on to a Highland Park; it screams Orkney so it does and we thought it a grand follow- on from the dark Island – see? Tryin to be clever again. The nip we tucked was the 18 year old; deliciousness, toffee, oak, and peat, a fantastic amount of smoke with the lasting taste note; “must have another!” There was a private party in the pub, a christening I believe, there was far too much food, so – as you do, an offer to help them out was taken graciously. Ah, a cheese butty with a dram of rich peaty liquid doesnee ever go wrong, a half cut sausage roll and a piece o keesh. We now wondered aloud “who brought the chokky egg?” a chocolate Easter Egg had appeared from nowhere. Now that’s another grand example of the whisky drinkers art; a wee slice of chocolate to cleanse the palate, so we all cleansed away. It turns oot it was Combat Paul who brought the egg, “Combat” was home on leave from Afganistan, aye, he’s a squadie. Proceedings were halted just then, a gaggle of good looking lassies came in, although the drams were a callin, so too were the lassies. After a very brief interuption (too many years difference in age soon put a stop to our chat) realism set in, so we had a very serious Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix Limited Edition; this is a gem that’s hidden behind the bar for those with a “good nose and being a local”. (it had snowed here in Perth recently) OK it costs a wee bit more, but well worth it. (Angel) Paul had introduced this to the bar a while back and persuaded the bar to keep it for special events, well aye this was special, c’mon the Hoops! wild ember smells of a campfire, with heather honey and swished doon with another piece of chocolate, a rich and complex dram (thanks Bert) with a whiff (readers question; is there a difference between a niff and a whiff?) of coffee and smoke. Bottled at 47.6% volume. We just had to keep it on the bar and sniff its open neck. Watching Celtic take Kilmarnock apart (a replay) sure helped the afternoon go well, a 6 – 0 slaughter was all we needed to tempt us into a Redbreast 12 year old; a beautiful pure pot still Irish Whiskey, rich flavours and a spicy kick (bit like Charlie Mulgrew). In the view of many of us, the best Irish whiskey available. Picked up many top prizes so a grand wee dram to end on, did I no say; Celtic are the Irish Catholic team in Glasgee, with many Irish flags flying at the games, we play in green and white, or is it white and green? Father Timothy started the team back in 1888, hence all the Irishness. Och just as we thought we were done, out went Combat and in donders Lizzie, who does like a dram (ask Paul). “Hi everyone, what you been upto?” so we relate our sesh and ye can see she is green, so we buy her a dram, Redbreast and a Snow dram, one or two wander away home for grub but Ronnie and Kev wander in, so its another sesh startin. With an Irn Bru diet and a Dark Island or two, we linger at the bar chattin to the newcomers. Talk moves to fishing, why? how? But it does, so Paul, Lizzie and Ming sit doon away from them, soon its Paul and Lizzie – thick as thieves. Its generally Lizzie who looks after Paul, but he does his fair share of lookin after too, these two have been known to share a drink or nine between them and normally, one helps the other home. Dinnae say anything, but sometimes there may be a fall, but of course its poor health no the drink that causes it. A cracking Easter had by all, Easter drinks, eggs, food and craik, cannee beat it eh! Did you notice we had 6 drams? Celtic scored 6, so we did too! I like it when a plan comes together!

Angels Whisky Club is free for everyone, new members welcome. www.angelswhiskyclub.com 

Send us your own ‘Vignettes – Moments in Whisky’. If you have a whisky moment please feel free to submit your moment and we’ll do our best to publish it. Go on, you know you want to be famous…

What’s NEW THIS SPRING?

All the latest news from the Isle of Arran Distillery

Arran Distillery and Visitor Centre News
 
We have been busy over the winter months, and despite some stormy weather over the Christmas period, we have managed to push ahead with the construction of our brand new warehouse! Construction had to be halted for a couple of weeks again in February to allow for the nesting season of the pair of Golden Eagles which reside in the hills behind our Distillery, but we were soon back on track and can’t wait to get all our casks settled into their new home! Official 2012 production started on 13th February and we can’t wait to fill that warehouse with our precious new spirit.

Our Managing Director Euan Mitchell also made a special trip to Arran to present The National Trust for Scotland with a cheque for £6000 – we donated £1 from every bottle of our Limited Edition bottling “The Sleeping Warrior” to the Trust for the upkeep and safe maintenance of the pathways on Arran’s landmark mountain Goatfell.

The new season at the Visitor Centre starts again on 5th March and we are once again looking forward to welcoming many of our friends and fans across the world through our doors 7 days a week.  Faye and the team have been hard at work to get everything ready for our guests and we can’t wait to share some drams with you all. This year, we have some brand new exciting tour options to offer you, from the introductory “Oak” tour through to the VIP “Gold” tour.  More information on these tours can be found here on our web site.  Click for further details. 

 
The Final Icon has flown the nest!

At long last, the widely anticipated release of the fourth and final Icon of Arran is upon us!  In tribute to those magnificent hillside residents of ours, we chose “The Golden Eagle” to close this extremely popular series and you can buy your bottle and complete your set straight away in our web shop.

“The Golden Eagle” is a bottling of 16 Bourbon Barrels and 7 Sherry Hogsheads from 1999 and is an outstanding example of the Master Distillers craft.  Creamy citrus notes with hints of tropical sweetness and a depth of character not dissimilar to the eagles themselves, will make your palate soar and take you right across to the Isle of Arran in all its splendour.

We are all very excited about this release and indeed there is plenty more where this came from.  Later this year, we will be launching a new bottling named “The Devil’s Punchbowl” after another celebrated stretch of Arran landscape, and we can assure you that this one is not to be missed.  Whisky is being selected as we speak and we are sure that you will agree that there are worse jobs in the world than searching through our warehouses to find just the right casks for this devilishly extravagant amber nectar.  Watch our web site for updates on this and other new releases planned throughout the year.
 
Why not browse our web shop for all the latest bottlings and special offers? Click  here to lead yourself into temptation! 
 
Finally, our Open Day this year will be very special indeed, and is set to be the best one yet! On Saturday 30th June, our Open Day will take the form of the very first ever Arran Malt and Music Festival hosted by our very own Visitor Centre!  This looks set to be a fantastic event for all the family and will bring together the best produce on the island with our Single Malt and some fabulous musicians.  Put the date in your diary, come over and celebrate with us!  
 
Best wishes to all from everyone here in Lochranza,
 
Isle of Arran Distillers
 
Find us on Facebook (Arran Malt Distillery) and Twitter ( @arranwhisky)

Come Meet & Greet Master Distiller Dave Pickerell!

250 Ogle Street Costa Mesa CA 92627 1(800) 331-3005

A Smith Bowman Distillery Opening Gift Shop and Tour Operation

Grand Opening Will Be Held April 19th at Noon

Fredericksburg, VA. (April 2012) – A. Smith Bowman Distillery, long known as a producer of fine bourbon whiskey, is adding tourism to its portfolio. A new visitor center and tour program will kick off April 19th at its location in Fredericksburg.

On the guided tour, visitors will have a chance to explore the A. Smith Bowman museum, see “Mary,” the unique copper still, visit the barrel aging warehouse, and end in the gift shop, which contains A. Smith Bowman signed bottles by Master Distiller Truman Cox and other gifts. Tours are complimentary and run Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and by appointment.

Gary Skinner, Spotsylvania board of supervisors, Lee Hill district supervisor will join Truman Cox, master distiller, A. Smith Bowman Distillery, for the ribbon cutting at noon on April 19th.

Who: A. Smith Bowman Distillery

What: Grand Opening of Visitor Center and Tourism Operation

When: April 19, 2012 at noon

Where: One Bowman Drive, Fredericksburg, VA in Spotsylvania County

Why: To offer visitors a unique opportunity to visit one of Virginia’s finest Distilleries!

Note: This event is a private party for media personnel and special invitees only. It is not open to the general public.

About A. Smith Bowman

Smith Bowman’s distilling roots date back to the years before Prohibition. In 1935, after the Repeal of Prohibition, Abram Smith Bowman and his sons continued the family tradition of the distillation of bourbon. The original Distillery was located on the Bowman family homestead in Fairfax County, Virginia called Sunset Hills Farm. In response to the rapid growth of Northern Virginia, the Distillery was moved in 1988 and is now nestled in Spotsylvania County near the city of Fredericksburg, 60 miles away from the original location.

As a small and privately owned company, A. Smith Bowman Distillery continues the time-honored traditions on which it was founded. Considered a micro-distillery by today’s standards, A. Smith Bowman produces an assortment of hand-crafted spirits distilled from only the finest natural ingredients and using the latest technology. This micro-distillery focuses on the production of premium spirits honoring the legacy of Virginia’s first settlers. For more information on A. Smith Bowman, please visit www.asmithbowman.com

Longmorn 19yo (51.1%, SMWS of Canada, 7.70, refill hogshead, 161 Bts., +/-2011)

“Naughty nectar” The nose reveals light malt and some simply perfect sweetness (think of warm raisins, lychee, vanilla and toffee) and then there is a very light dusting of ground malt and the slightest hint mint. A really sensational collection of aromas and with time in the glass it only improves. With the addition of a little water the sweetness increases but it is tamed by the leather and tobacco notes and the some malt binds everything together. The taste is a good facsimile of the nose (undiluted) with only hints of the leather and tobacco that water reveals however these are present none the less and they compliment the sweetness quite well, a good interplay between the two. With water it is much the same and it doesn’t require a lot; just a splash. The finish is malty and sweet (all in all excellent balance) with a hint of smoke (finally) and then some very, very good vanilla and malt that changes into some late arriving cocoa.

What an excellent dram and don’t over do the water.

$155

Score 90 points

Part four of four examining SMWS of Canada Bottlings….

Ladies only Whisky Tasting with Zoran Peric of Suntory – Wednesday 16th May

On Wednesday 16th May we will be hosting our first Ladies Whisky tasting of the year and we are delighted that Zoran Peric will be coming along to present some of the distinctively elegant Japanese whiskies from the Suntory range. These sophisticated whiskies are perfect for an early summer evening and will be enjoyed by both whisky novices and more experienced whisky drinkers. Full details of the evening are below but just to whet your appetite, as Zoran is a top mixologist you will be greeted with one of his renowned whisky cocktails before moving on to taste through 5 or 6 drams of these fragrant whiskies (which will include the subtle smokiness of the Hakushu 12 year old for those of you who like a touch of peat).

Whisky, cocktails, good company – the perfect ingredients for a great girls night out! See below for all the details and if you have any queries just contact us.

Sláinte!
Fran and Ken
Arkwrights Whisky and Wines
www.whiskyandwines.com

Ladies only Whisky Tasting with Zoran Peric of Suntory
Wednesday 16th May 2012

7pm for 7.30pm
Stanton House Hotel, Stanton Fitzwarren

Ladies, if you’ve never tasted Japanese whisky before then this is your ideal opportunity to see why whisky from Japan has grown so much in popularity in recent years. Whilst the basic method of whisky production is similar in Japan to Scotland, the two Suntory distilleries have some fascinating variations in production. For example, at the Yamazaki distillery they have 6 different types of pot still and use many different types of barrels – including one made from the Japanese Mizunara tree.

These type of variations, along with a mild climate, result in a distinctive style of sweet and elegant whisky that we think you will enjoy sampling – so come along and give them a try!

Tickets are £12.50 per person, and this also entitles you to a discount of £3 against a bottle of one of the featured whiskies if bought or ordered on the night of the tasting. Tickets are very strictly limited, and allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. To buy tickets just log on to www.whiskyandwines.com and place an order for the number you require, or telephone us with your payment details on (01793) 765071, or call in and see us at Arkwrights, The Dormers, Highworth, Wiltshire.

Admission to the tasting is by ticket only, and the whiskies tasted will be available to purchase on the night so come prepared.

N.B. We have negotiated special rates at the hotel for anyone who wants to stay overnight after the tasting – contact us for further details of rates.

Arkwrights Whisky & Wines. Phone No. 01793 765071 Fax No. 01793 764860 Registered Address. The Dormers, Highworth, Wiltshire, SN6 7PE