1792 Ridgemont Reserve Barrel Select (46.85%, OB, “DSP-KY-12+/-2011)

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky…on the nose is a quick blast of sweet floral notes which quickly settles down to present some solid and very good bourbon notes. Leather and tobacco with dusty grains followed by banana (hints there of) and then back to the light vibrant floral notes. Behind the floral notes are some heavy aromas that add to the heady mix; both the floral and the heavy notes compliment each her very well. The taste is of the leather and tobacco and the light floral notes, very well intermingled; a little of the banana is present and a slight dark chocolate like bitterness along with some spiciness that also adds to the whole mix. The finish is very, very dry and spicy and quite long, the floral makes a late appearance along with the dark chocolate notes.

Another cracker at $75

Score 88 points

Day FOUR of American Whiskey Week.

Come and Taste a Wee Dram
Scotch Tasting / Seminar

Thursday, March 29th, 2012
6:00 pm

TO BE HELD AT: The City Club of San Francisco
Come taste the following whiskies:

Chieftain’s Choice… Only the worthy are chosen … Naturally

Chieftain’s Aberfeldy
Chieftain’s Glenturet
Chieftain’s Mortlach

Special Guest ~ Ed Kohl

Kilchoman… Islay’s Farm Distillery
Kilchoman Sherry Cask Release
Kilchoman 2006 vintage

Special Guest ~ Anthony Wills

The Arran Malt …Pure by Nature
Arran 10 yr
Arran 14 yr
Arran Bourbon Single Cask
Special Guest ~ Euan Mitchell

Sponsored By

To Reserve a space please calls 415-989-1030 (Space is Limited)
Admission is $ 95.00 For Members $ 30.00 discount use code WOWCCSF
Must purchase tickets in advance

Monday March 26th 7:45pm at Rivera Restaurant 1050 S. Flower St. #102 Los Angeles, CA 90015. Tickets are $35 per person and includes a Scotch Tasting with tapas with special guests Euan Mitchell, Managing Director, Isle of Arran Distillery and And Anthony Wills, Managing Director, Kilchoman Distillery.

Make your reservation by phoning (213) 749 1460 and mention “scotch tasting”. Seating is limited to 35 guests.

Ralfy here!

www.ralfy.com (my on-line shambles) is proud to present Whisky Review 259 – Old Pulteney 17yo lovely!

Fancy a wee dram?

There are many dates in the normal calendar to get excited about like Easter and Christmas, but in the bartenders calendar there are a few great dates too. One in particular is WORLD WHISKY DAY, which is next week on the 27th March.

Join us then (Tuesday 27th), for half price off all of our whiskies sold neat….

ZENNA Cocktail Bar
77 Dean Street, Soho, London, WID 3SH.
020 7437 2525 – info@zenna-bar.co.uk

All during 2012 A.D Rattray’s Whisky Experience and Shop in Kirkoswald, Scotland, will send a voucher entitling you to a free sample of Single Cask Whisky (redeemable all during 2012 in our Kirkoswald shop) to interested parties who email emily@adrattray.com or contact us via our Facebook or Twitter (www.twitter.com/adrattraywhisky). The first 200 will also receive one of our brand new Whisky Distillery Maps.

Discover some of the finest and rarest Single Malt Scotch Whiskies at our new shop premises in Kirkoswald, South Ayrshire. Whether you are a novice to Scotch Whisky or a real connoisseur you will find your visits to the Whisky Experience absolutely fascinating.

Shop Opening Times:

Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm
Sunday 12-5pm (April-December)
Tel: +44 (0)1655 760 308

As well as being a shop we welcome guests for tasting experiences. You can view some of our sample tasting menus here.

Where:

32 Main Road, Kirkoswald, Ayrshire, KA19 8HY

Located 14 miles south of Ayr on the A77. If you are travelling south, we are on the right hand side as you enter the village. Get directions

Ballantine’s Marks Fifth Championship with Golf Limited Edition

Ballantine’s, the No 1 ultra-premium whisky in Asia Pacific, is set to launch a new Ballantine’s Golf Limited Edition pack for its 17 and 21 Year Old blends. The pack will reinforce the brand’s strong association with world-class golf ahead of the fifth consecutive Ballantine’s Championship – one of Asia’s most prestigious golfing events – which takes place from 26th – 29th April 2012 at the Blackstone Golf Club in Icheon, Korea.

The pack, which doubles as a golf accessories bag, houses a 70cl bottle alongside six branded golf tees. Inspired by the pattern of a traditional brogue golf shoe, the pack’s super premium cues include a debossed Ballantine’s Championship logo and a leather trimmed zip toggle featuring the recognisable Ballantine’s ‘B’. A parchment-style label wrap, which echoes the labelling on the bottle, adorns the pack to enhance on-shelf stand-out.

Peter Moore, Ballantine’s Global Brand Director, says: “We are delighted to be unveiling a Ballantine’s Golf Limited Edition pack for our 17 and 21 Year Old expressions. Commemorating the fifth year of the Ballantine’s Championship, the premium design of this unique keepsake echoes the high quality and attention to detail that underlines the brand, while the additional benefit of the pack functioning as a golf accessories bag will strongly appeal to consumers.”

Since the inaugural event in 2008, many professional golfers have demonstrated their world-class talents at the Ballantine’s Championship and the tournament has left an impression on Asian golf history. The brand is committed to the tournament until at least 2013.

The Ballantine’s Golf Limited Edition packs will be available in Asia from March 2012 with the 21 Year Old pack retailing from RRP 118 USD in Asia Duty Free.

Notes:

About Ballantine’s
Ballantine’s is the No 1 ultra-premium whisky in Asia Pacific and the range sells over 70 million bottles a year worldwide. Ballantine’s has won more than 80 trophies and medals at international competitions in the past 10 years for quality, as a result of its unique richness of character and perfect balance. The range, from Ballantine’s Finest to the iconic 30 Year Old, is the most extensive in the world of Scotch and is maintained by the latest in a tradition of Master Blenders that dates back to 1827.

About Chivas Brothers
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 Scotch.

In July 2010 Chivas Brothers launched The Age Matters campaign to help consumers understand the importance of Scotch whisky age statements.

For further information visit: www.chivasbrothers.com

Booker’s 7yo Small Batch (63.7%, OB, Batch#C03-1-16, +/-2011)

Black pepper on the nose and then some good fruit and sweetness, beef stock and a very evident presence of alcohol (!) along with some gentle cask notes that are very nice. The taste is vibrant and very dry with lashing of flavour and loads of cold dark unsweetened black tea. This is begging for a little water…so with water things are much more manageable and all the afore mentioned notes are present but simply not as aggressive…still very excellent. The finish is much as the nose and the taste and is extremely long and active. Hints of liquorice and sweetness. The finish with water improves also and the pepper etcetera is still very much in play and adds to the end game significantly. After some time the pepper turns to lemon pepper….

Benefits from some water; the addition of which makes it into an absolutely stellar whisky.

Another steal for $56

Score 89 points

Day THREE of American Whiskey Week.

KINGSBARNS DISTILLERY, KINGDOM OF FIFE, SCOTLAND

Here is a chance to become involved from the very start, plans for a new distillery near to the Home of Golf (St Andrews) are well under way.

Paul has been chatting to Doug Clement, asking some questions on your behalf, some a wee bit awkward we thought, but needed to be asked.

DOUG; Hi Paul, Thanks for getting back. Some answers for you.

PAUL; Doug, can I say at this moment, £1.8m costing seems a low amount. DOUG; We are using the proven “Lark” craft distillery model rather than the traditional start up distillery model others have recently used which is very cost effective and efficient. Our distillery plant and renovation/construction costs have been fully costed and tendered. LARK DISTILLERY VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqxQkZTv49k

PAUL; will everything be secure and cosher? DOUG; there can never be guarantees but we have fully costed things conservitally and used conservative visitor numbers and sales. All interested parties interested in the investment opportunity please ask any questions to Colin Botfield; corporate finance advisor, at colin.botfield@ogilviemunro.co.uk who deals with new investors. Quote from investment site; Kingsbarns Distillery is a new yet traditional craft visitor distillery by the home of golf, St Andrews, at Kingsbarns, Scotland. EIS tax relief, inheritance tax relief, low cost business model, growing market demand, excellent location, experienced management team and full planning permission makes this an attractive long term proposition.

PAUL; what style of dram will you be aiming for? DOUG; Style – we will mainly maturing in small single quarter casks sherry and port. The whisky will be lightly peated using bill larks innovative post peat smoking techniques whereby one peat smokes the dry malted barley rather than the green unmalted barley. So a lightly peated, full bodied, rich, oily malt with a big finish will be our style although our flexible “lark” distillery set up it will be easy for us to change our style if required. Thus we will be breaking free from the light floral lowland lady apertif style that is most common in our lowland region.

PAUL; can we bring you whisky visitors? DOUG; We can use our distillery mill restaurant and bar and private members room bothy as the clubhouse, and play special (golf) events during the year at the places I’m a member at, Crail and St Andrews. I also have good links with Kingsbarns having worked their since the course opened. There is no doubt that golf followed by an evening of whisky tours, tastings, music, dinner and stories in our fabulous venue will work! We have done it before a few times at Cambo House for 100 people and it was amazing!

Well, there you have it, an intro to a brand new distillery (no yet built!) Go and find out more by looking at www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com for lots more info.

Brought to you by Angels Whisky Club
Worldwide online dedicated whisky club, free to become a member.
www.angelswhiskyclub.com

A bit of news:

We are pleased to announce that the Aberdeen University Malt Whisky Society has won the AUSA Society of the Year Award
After four years of hard work, we finally made it!
What better way to celebrate than at this evening’s Tasting!

Tomintoul Distillery Visit!

Friday 23rd March 12-6pm:
£10 per person – tickets available also at tastings (limited to 14 people)
Tomintoul, known as the ‘Gentle Dram’, does not normally do visits.
You will be one of the few people to have access to this great distillery!

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Tastings coming up…

Wednesday 18th April: Glenfiddich Tasting
Tickets on sale at Balvenie Tasting, and in Societies Reception after that

Friday 20th April: ABERDEEN WHISKY FESTIVAL
Advance tickets available at Balvenie Tasting
Also available at Aberdeen Whisky Shop, The Grill, St Machar Bar and Skene House Rosemount from 19/03
www.aberdeenwhiskyfestival.com

Thursday 26th – Sunday 29th April: ISLAY TRIP
Details on request

Wednesday 2nd May: Jura Tasting
Tickets on sale week before at AUSA reception in Butchart.

All of the above tastings start at 7pm sharp in the Butchart Centre – details below…

Location: BookEnds (top floor), Butchart Centre, University Road, Old Aberdeen
(click here for map)
Time: 7pm sharp
What to Bring: £3/£5 for entry + Membership Card + money for raffle

join our Facebook group!
follow us on twitter!
and bring your friends!

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In Support of Childreach International

Univesity of Aberdeen Malt Whisky Society
The Butchart Centre
University Road
Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire AB24 3UT