March 2012 Outturn Offerings

 Cask No. 53.154 – President’s Choice 

Surfer’s sundown dram 

Cask No. 53.154                   

Islay,NorthShore 

Unreduced the nose was like the soft smoke of burning driftwood on a distant dune. Damp coarse sand, seaweed and brine fill the nostrils as if one were laying prostrate on a wet beach after an energetic swim across the bay. On the palate it sets the tongue ablaze with hot smoke and black peppercorns cracked between the teeth. With water the nose softens as if a mist has fallen; pleasant, cooler with a hint of eucalyptus. Citrus, tar and swirling smoke cover and console the palate. The narrows of the Sound of Islay remain visible through the mist. 

Drinking tip: Outside on a cool autumn evening 

Colour: Dried pasta in a glass jar                                  

Cask: Refill sherry butt                                    

Age: 17 years                                        

Date distilled: July 1993

Alcohol: 59.8% 

$120 

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Geologist’s Dream 

Cask No. 26.81                     

Highlands,Northern Highlands 

The cooling Icelandic nose brought thoughts of tundra and sea with lemon splashed on dry stone; an empty beach with dew, grass and rock salt followed by fresh lime, balsam and pine resin. The neat palate was almost Chablis-like, licking lemon off flinty rocks or ‘sucking a pebble’ said the tour guide. With water, the nose became clean with a sherbet-like fizz; washing powder on clean linen laundry drying on hot rocks; botanicals of juniper, coriander and angelica brought depth. The reduced palate continued the effervescent theme with sherbet lemon, moondust, cremola foam and candy floss. This distillery has beautiful views over theNorth Sea and sources its water from the Clynemilton burn. 

Drinking tip: Forget the gin and tonic – have this when you need something more interesting 

Colour: Platinum gold                                       

Cask: Refill hogshead                                       

Age: 11 years                                        

Date distilled: April 2000

Alcohol: 58.6%

$95 

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The Roly-Poly Pudding 

Cask No. 66.32                     

Highlands, Speyside (Bogie) 

Raw dough with a whiff of smoke. Dusty, coal smuts: we thought of Beatrix Potter’s story about Tom Kitten… Over time the smokiness increases, soon joined by light medicinal notes (sphagnum moss, Swarfega hand wash), while the dough becomes more buttery, like Aberdeen ‘rowies’ (a buttery form of croissant). The taste is sweet, clean and hot, with light sulphur, antiseptic and peaty elements. Water raises European oak notes (struck matches) for a moment, then bread and butter pudding, and now the taste has treacle toffee, salty butter and charred toast in the finish. Famously smoky for an Aberdeenshire malt. 

Drinking tip: Reading Beatrix Potter beside an unlit fireplace

Colour: Pale amber                                           

Cask: Refill gorda, ex sherry                            

Age: 13 years                                        

Date distilled: March 1998

Alcohol: 58.6% 

$110

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Greta Garbo 

Cask No. 125.47                   

Highlands,Northern Highlands 

Another superb example of ‘Scotland’s favourite malt’. Hazel nuts and sappy wood give way to honeysuckle and jasmine, with traces of unlit cigarettes, and later a faint wisp of smoke. A thick, creamy nose, with soft fudge and hints of coconut – and the creaminess is repeated big time in the mouth. The taste is sweet, with Amarillo liqueur; mid palate and smooth. Water makes it more floral – rose petals with fresh coconut, and a hint of cigar ash; the texture is still silky smooth; the taste sweet (tinned peaches) and the medium finish is ashy. We thought of a classy dame in a silk negligee, lounging in her suite at The Savoy. 

Drinking tip: Lounging at The Savoy 

Colour: Mid gold                                               

Cask: First-fill ex-Bourbon hogshead                

Age: 15 years                                        

Date distilled: December 1995

Alcohol: 56.1% 

$115

John climbed up Ben Lomond because he figured it would be the BEST place to do a tasting video for his whisky. 

Take a look for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0hhiJbkmmM

Well done John and thank you Emma!

A word to the wise malt-mates, some of the most characterful of all Scotch malts come from the East coast Highland region, including Whisky Review 260 – Clynelish 14yo @ www.ralfy.com

WORLD WHISKY DAY – 27th March 2012

Today sees the first ever World Whisky Day, a new event celebrating the global admiration for Scotland’s national drink. And to help celebrate we are giving away a FREE Whiskies of Scotland Map with every order for today only. 

BENRIACH’S ENHANCED PEATED RANGE TAKES CUSTOMERS BACK TO THE FUTURE!

from subtly-peated malts to peat so thick you could dance on it, the four are sure to become firm favourites!

INTRIGUINGLY, BenRiach’s revamped range of peated single malts shows the award-winning Speyside distillery going back to its nineteenth-century roots to give its twenty-first century customers a truly unique and authentic taste experience.

Back in the 1800s, the majority of Speyside distilleries were producing pungent, peated whiskies, but this trend changed in the 1960s when the US market emerged and a softer, easier-drinking style of whisky was preferred.

BenRiach was one of the first Speyside distilleries of the modern era to release a peated expression, with the 10 year-old Curiositas in 2004. The majority of the distillery’s output is the more traditional, non-peated style that most people associate with Speyside, but the peated range certainly represents a unique selling point.

Over the last few months, the distillery has been working to come up with a revamped, definitive range of four peated expressions that will be available on an ongoing basis. The final line-up can now be confirmed as Birnie Moss, Curiositas aged 10 years old, Septendecim aged 17 years old and Authenticus aged 25 years old.

From subtly-peated malts to peat so thick you could dance on it, the four are sure to become firm favourites!

Birnie Moss is an area of windswept moorland close to the BenRiach Distillery and it’s this wild place that gives our single malt its name. This is a younger expression of peated BenRiach, capturing the peaty, phenolic characteristics at their most pronounced. It’s also something of a “first” under the new owners, as it’s the first core expression that uses whisky distilled under the new stewardship of BenRiach. Initially launched around three years ago, Birnie Moss has recently been re-packaged to synchronise it with the rest of the BenRiach range.

Curiositas, the 10 year-old, is BenRiach’s core peated expression and has been available since the company formed in 2004. Traditionalists believe that peated malts achieve optimum balance of peat-bittersweet and oak infusion after ten years’ maturation, and Curiositas proves that point superbly.

Septendecim, the 17 year-old, was only launched in January and already has acquired a reputation for being a magnificent, moody, multi-layered malt with fantastic length. On the palate, it gives sweet, concentrated peat flavours which dominate from the start. Bold and intense, the peaty heart is united with honey-infused raisins, roasted nuts and a luxurious leather impression. Overall, it’s a real robust heavyweight, full-bodied and beautifully balanced with enormous impact. Septendecim is non chill-filtered and bottled at natural colour, with a strength of 46% vol.

And completing the impressive quartet is the full-bodied and audacious Authenticus, formerly available as a 21 year-old and now available and re-packaged as a 25 year-old peated single malt. At 46%, it’s bright, warm and amber gold in colour. On the nose, it offers elegant aromas of ripe pineapple, fresh mountain herbs and a profusion of sweet peat. On the palate, it’s a fantastic fusion of rich peat and smouldering embers bound together by fresh herbs – oregano, aniseed and chicory in particular. Overall, it carries terrific weight and development which leaves a powerful lasting impression long after the glass has been drained.

Sales Director Alistair Walker said: “Peated malt whisky production only represents approximately six weeks’ worth of the annual production at BenRiach, but the peated whiskies have become an important part of the distillery’s portfolio as they offer something new and unexpected from the Speyside region.

“We wanted to offer our consumers a range of peated BenRiachs that would span the age range – one that would both allow the development of the malt to be charted and also be available on a regular basis. Hopefully, with these four expressions, we will achieve that.”

Whisky fact of the day

Hi all,

Part of my role as a Global Ambassador for Grant’s is to share the many interesting facts and stories that surround our whisky.  I do a lot of it in person – meeting fans wherever I go. But the world is a big place and there’s only one of me.

Thankfully, social media sites have…(please click on the link below to read the remainder of the article)…

THE LINK

Kind regards,
Ludo

Glenfiddich’s ‘New’ Releases

The folks at Glenfiddich have been busy recently. Since Christmas we’ve had a couple of new and interesting bottles pop through our warehouse doors, and just this week another new whisky has appeared on our shelves. To celebrate this fact, … Continue reading >>

Come enjoy an afternoon with Curtis McMillan of the McMillan Distillery & Corey Bunnewith (on the bar) while they take the prohibition recipe of Moonshine and turn it into a cocktail you wont be able to live without. From the success of the last class involving moonshine, we’ve decided to do a second class on the white spirits and infusions. We’re looking to push the boundaries of what’s thought to be possible with white spirits and help the customer try new and exciting taste that they’ve never had before. We’ll be sampling eight different infusions and will also be talk about how the consumer can make these infusions themselves at home. Bottoms Up!

curtis@mcmillandistillery.com

Friday, March 30th at Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose

ImpEx Beverages will conduct a tasting  seminar featuring the following brands (please see the link below for the information)…

THE LINK

Saturday, March 31st ImpEx Beverages, Inc. will be participating in the Whiskies of the World Expo