True Tales in Philadelphia

Hello,

True Tales events are now happening in different countries around the world and I would like to encourage you to attend one if the opportunity arises.

I have been to a few since the Manchester event I wrote about here, but I wanted to mention the last event in Philadelphia as I had a particularly good…(please click on the link below to read the rest of the post from ‘Behind the Blend with Ludo’)

http://blog.grantswhisky.com/2011/05/true-tales-in-philadelphia/

Kind regards,
Ludo

May Outturn: 13 Mesmerizing Malts

This spring it’s time to reawaken the senses with May’s Outturn, 13 mesmerizing malts drawn straight from the cask

Society Recommendations:

Perceptive Pair:
Buy 77.22 & 39.79 together for £88.50 (save £20.10)
77.22 Plentiful sweet delights
Highland Northern
£44.10 inc. free p&p
Meadowsweet, elderflower, laurel, lily – with sweet delights – vanilla, marmalade on toast and strawberry jam on scones (with clotted cream)

39.79 A lush chameleon
Speyside Lossie
£64.50 inc. free p&p
Brittle toffee, white paint (oil then poster-paint, then Play-Doh and crayons), wine gums, eiswein, ripe peaches and pomegranate

Count to 1..2..trio:
Buy 4.152, 44.49 & 53.150 together for £132.50 (save £27.00)
4.152 Hay bales in a limestone cave
Highland Island
£55.30 inc free p&p
Raspberry and strawberry sweets (Jolly Ranchers) candied orange, hay bales, cereals, cardboard tubes of Smarties and slight smoke

44.49 Lamb chops, mint sauce and blueberries
Speyside Spey
£44.10 inc free p&p
Some found lamb chops with boiled potatoes and mint sauce while the rest of us found cherry pie, white pepper, dried fruit and pot pourri

53.150 Beachcombers’ convention dram
Islay
£60.10 inc free p&p
Seaweed, sea-scrubbed nylon ropes, tar and brine; but then another bunch of beachcombers approached – some smoking roll-ups, some cooking bacon on bonfires

Six Scents: Take the Perceptive Pair, the Count to 1..2..trio and add 1.157 – six bottlings for only £260 (save £55.40)

1.157 Spicy chocolate raisins
Speyside Spey
£47.30 inc. free p&p
Coconut, liquorice root, chocolate raisins, jasmine tea, hot tubs, dry wood, glossy magazines, spice and furniture polish

All bottlings from May’s Outturn are available by the bottle and dram at our three Members’ Rooms – The Vaults, 28 Queen Street, Greville Street

Drams at Hotel du Vin & Malmaison

Joining the fine selection of drams we have behind the bar at Hotel du Vin & Malmaison from this month’s Outturn:

50.41 Winter Fireworks

2.79 Puff candy on a tropical Island

Society Tastings & Events

New Members Tasting – London, Mon 16 May
A Crash Course in single malts – The Vaults, Tue 24 May
Dunfermline Preview Tasting – Garvock House Hotel
Guildford Preview Tasting – Manor House Hotel, Thu 26 May
York Preview Tasting – Bedern Hall, Fri 27 May
Liverpool Preview Tasting – Malmaison, Fri 27 May
Cardiff Preview Tasting – Novotel, Fri 27 May
Champions League Final – Queen Street, Fri 27 May

Society Whisky Tastings

Whatever and wherever our tasting or event, the main focus is to give members an informal, enjoyable and relaxed night out..with a taste of the single cask good stuff!

Events range from step by step instruction in how to get the most from tasting single cask, single malt whisky to more adventurous couplings of whisky with food.

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.  

Derby Trifecta Challenge: Take your best shot!

Kentucky Derby 137 is ready to run. Put your handicapping skills to the test! Log-in to the Buffalo Trace Saloon and pick 3 horses – win, place and show. If you guess all 3 in the correct order, you win! It’s that simple.

In the event of a tie, the shots you’ve earned from your regular Saloon activities will be added and used as the tie-breaker (so it could really pay to play around in the Saloon!)

The winner will experience Kentucky the way everyone should: scenic horse farms, a rustic 200-year-old distillery, southern food and of course, lots of bourbon tasting, courtesy of Buffalo Trace.

Go to the contest page for complete details.

Not a saloon member yet? Sign up now and take your best shot.

Share this contest with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Good luck,

Buffalo Trace
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Where Has This Year Gone To?
 
2011 seems to be passing very quickly with 1/3rd of it gone all ready. Winter was over rather quicker than we expected here and we are now well into spring with a changing faces at the distillery, new cask releases and new products being developed.

Cask Owners Looking Out to Sea at Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

New Aged Over 30 Years

We recently started filling our latest “Aged Over 30 Years” cask bottling, this whisky which is 34 years old was matured for almost 33 years in a refill sherry hogshead before spending the last 15 months of its life in a first fill ex-Sauternes cask. The result is a stunningly complex dram full of fruit notes and spices and with a long lingering after taste. Perhaps our best yet in the “Aged Over 30 Years” range? well that is a personal decision but for me it is right up there with the very best.

New Aged Over 40 Years

This single cask bottling is from 1966 refill sherry cask and is 45 years old, rich in sherry notes and spices with the influence of the long maturation apparent, simply a classic.

The First “New” Glenglassaugh Bottling

We will be announcing more information on this bottling in the coming months but I can reveal that we will be releasing a single cask bottling of the very first “new” whisky from Glenglassaugh since the refurbishment and which will only be available from the distillery or through our internet shop.

The first cask filling took place on the 16th December 2008 and we have already identified one of these casks to become our first release at the end of this year. Our plan is to empty the cask and then fill the bottles at cask strength and have them shipped in time for Christmas.

There will be around 650 bottles available and the price is likely to be £50.00 excluding shipping.

This is a truly one-off opportunity and I am sure that the demand will be high and is likely to outstrip available bottles.

I will provide more information over the coming months, including details of the whisky cask, confirmation of the price and details of how to order.

The Chosen Few

Following the success of The Manager’s Legacy Series we have developed a new series of single cask releases which have been chosen by individual members of the team here. Each release will be unique and could be from one of our existing older aged whiskies while others will be from one of our newer whiskies, once they are at least 3 year old.

The first of the releases is a 1976 cask which spent most of its life in a refill sherry hogshead and has then been further matured for a final 15 months in a first-fill ex sherry hogshead. The cask was chosen by Ronnie Routledge, after a hard painstaking search through many samples which seemed to last a long, long time and which always ended up with Ronnie leaving with a smile on his face each evening.

New Importers

We hope to be able to announce that we have increased the number of countries that we export to, shortly as we are in discussions with a number of companies in different parts of the world. Although it is too early to say exactly which new countries we are discussing exporting to, I can say that we are hopeful of increasing the availability of our brands in Asia.

Recent Festivals and Forthcoming Events.

I recently attended the inaugural Hamburg festival which suffered similar teething problems to other first events with a very low turnout but I am sure given the support from the industry and the enthusiasm of the organisers then it will prove to be successful in what was a first-class venue in an excellent location.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival proved to be a success once again with a large number of people taking advantage of our half-price offer on “The Ultimate Tour” while other took the opportunity to fill their Octave Cask and others filled their very own limited edition “Spirit of Speyside” Spirit Drink which had matured for 2 years in a first-fill ex-Bourbon cask. All-in-all a great weekend which was enjoyed by everyone.

Fill Your Own Bottle at Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

On the 4th June Ronnie will be at “Whisky ‘n a that” in Ayr. This is organised by Robbie’s Drams.

On the 2nd and 3rd July we will once again be involved with the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival which takes place annually in Portsoy.

Changing Faces

Following on from the last blog when I announced that Mhairi McDonald had rejoined us, this time I have some sadder news. Graham Eunson has decided to leave and will soon join Tomatin as distillery manager.

Graham has become very much associated with Glenglassaugh and has been my right-hand man throughout the last three years. Our relationship has been built on trust and respect for each other’s skills and knowledge and we have operated very much as a team. I will certainly miss Graham and he leaves behind a big pair of shoes to fill but life moves on and Glenglassaugh will continue to grow and to develop.

Although Graham won’t be leaving until July, I want to take this opportunity to record my thanks and to wish him all the very best for the future. He is moving to a big challenge but one that I know he will tackle with relish and will be successful.

As always, all comments are welcome.

Slange

Stuart

Visit Glenglassaugh Distillery at www.glenglassaugh.com

SPRINGBANK 14 YEAR OLD AMONTILLADO CASK 305 

Limited release of 524 bottles of Springbank fully matured in Amontillado sherry casks for 14 years, exclusive to Preiss Imports. —- Tasting Notes – Nose: Toasted oak and tobacco. Warm leather. Aromatic herbs. Black pepper. Tropical fruits. Palate: Woody. Pepper. Nutty, roasted hazelnuts. Slightly acidic. Finish: Clean and woody.
              
Code:    Size: 750ML    ALC. VOL: 55.40%
 
SPRINGBANK 14 YEAR OLD FINO CASK 265 

 
               
Limited release of 576 bottles of Springbank fully matured in Fino sherry casks for 14 years, exclusive to Preiss Imports. —- Tasting Notes: Woody, floral and fruity. Green grapes and apple blossoms. Sandalwood. Delicate and pleasant. Palate: Oaky, Slight smoke. Wild herbs. Heather. Dry. Finish: Nutty and dry.
               
Code:    Size: 750ML    ALC. VOL: 55.30%

SPRINGBANK 14 YEAR OLD MANZANILLA CASK 259

  
         
Limited release of 546 bottles of Springbank fully matured in Manzanilla sherry casks for 14 years, exclusive to Preiss Imports. —- Tasting Notes – Nose: Sharp with notes of almonds, marzipan, cinnamon, camomile. Lime zest. Orange marmalade. Palate: Dry, dough like. Lime juice. Parma Violets. Fruity and floral. Finish: Fresh, dry and bitter.
               
Code:    Size: 750ML    ALC. VOL: 54.80%

SPRINGBANK 14 YEAR OLD OLOROSO CASK 268

  
      
Limited release of 546 bottles of Springbank fully matured in Oloroso sherry casks for 14 years, exclusive to Preiss Imports. —- Tasting Notes – Nose: Nutty and spicy – walnuts and ginger. Mulled wine. Citrus fruits. Brown sugar. Ginger cake. Leather. Tobacco smoke. Zesty. Palate: Warm and fruity. Blood oranges, lemons, citrus fruits. Dark chocolate truffle. Chewy. Rubber. Finish: Leather and smoke.
               
Code:    Size: 750ML    ALC. VOL: 56.20%

Visit Preiss Imports at www.preissimports.com

June 5th  (Sunday)
Single Malt Tasting 4:00 p.m.

June 9th  (Thursday)
Single Malt Tasting 7:00 p.m.

“B & B”

Bill & B.J. explore new whiskies found on trips to the U.K. in May

$50 per person. Applies to purchase. Reservations are accepted but not required.

402.553.9501 or patg@dundeedell.com

Visit the Dundee dell at www.dundeedell.com

 
Canadian Club 1.75L…$16.99
Canadian LTD 1.75L… $10.99
Canadian Mist 1.75L…$16.99
Cutty Sark Scotch 1.75L…$19.99
Dewar’s White Label… 1.75L $27.99
Early Times 1.75L…$16.99
House Of Stuart Scotch 1.75L…$14.99
Jameson Irish Whiskey 1.75L…$34.99
Jim Beam Bourbon 1.75L…$21.99
Jim Beam Red Stag…$13.99
Johnnie Walker Red Label… 1.75L $25.99
Macallan 12 Year Old…$39.99
Seagram’s 7 Crown 1.75L…$14.99
Seagram’s VO Canadian 1.75L…$18.99
 
*Prices valid W/Binny’s Card May 4 through May 10, 2011. Not responsible for misprints or typographical errors. Sizes 750ml unless otherwise stated. Advertised items limited to quantities on hand. Don’t forget to use your Binny’s Card! Get discounts on mixed case wine purchases and work towards a 2% rebate on every $500 of eligible purchases. Get your free card at a Binny’s near you.

Visit Binny’s at www.binnys.com

Aberfeldy 21yo (40%, OB, +/-2010)

From a distillery that does not offer too many official bottlings in the line up but appreciated by many none the less. The nose offers delicate fruit and oak spice, a gentle combination that is very pleasing. The fruit is in the form of marmalade and fruit leather (dried minced fruit and therefore concentrated some what). Again all very pleasing. A little bit of cocoa powder floating around in the back ground. The taste is quite dry and is represented from the characteristics from the oak side of the house; oak spice and cocoa (again), some citrus, brandy, unlit Virginia tobacco and a little chocolate malt towards the end. The finish is very much from the oak side of the house and is quite dry but also with some nice sweetness and a little citrus. The fruit leather again and a surprisingly long finish for such a whisky that presents as being quite gentle at first. At the tail end some really good malt moments.

Not a step wrong from beginning to end.

$150 in some markets

Score

88 points

Pernod Ricard – Glenlivet et all
Mint Hotel, Granary Wharf, Leeds 
Friday May 13th 2011, 7.30pm 

£22.00 / ticket
 
Pernod Ricard is a company not too many people know a great deal about when it comes to whisky. However, when they aquired the Chivas Brothers portfolio from the dismantled Seagram in 2001, people began to take notice. They now have the responsibility for several key malt distilleries as well as the Chivas Regal and Ballantine blends.

Phil Huckle, the Chivas UK Brand Ambassador, will be joining us as we look at the rich and varied range of whiskies available from this diverse company. This includes some rarer bottlings of the famous Glenlivet distillery, but also the lesser known, but highly sought-after Longmorn and Scapa – among others…

As always each tasting is designed to be fun and enjoyable for all levels of whisky drinker, and is not a lecture. You will almost certainly learn something new every time, but if you don’t walk out with a smile on your face then there we have done something wrong!

If you would like to order tickets for this tasting as a gift, we can email you a PDF with ticket/s for you to print and pop in a card. Just email us at info@thewhiskylounge.com after placing your order.

You will not be sent a ticket through the post. Your details will be added to the event register and all you need to do is print the payment confirmation page and bring it with you to the event.

Dear Customer

Some of the new releases are big on Islay influence, plus some extreme counter points, with a few really sweet Sherry casks from Speyside and the Highlands, all of which we hope will have a real interest for you and your clients. Amongst the Cigar Malts you may wish to look out for a rather unique 20 year old Ardbeg within our OLD & RARE selection.

Tasting Notes for OLD MALT CASK

OMC2014 BENRIACH 15 YEARS
Nose: Big, round, full of dark fruits/sugary grist + honey.
Palate: Spicy with macerated red fruits, vanilla, toast + barley.
Finish: Now more toasted & citric with a soft mocha finale. (F)

OMC2029 IMPERIAL 16 YEARS
Nose: clean & fresh carrying a fruity (distinctly pear drops) quality
Palate: Sweet & fruity – round & creamy – more pears, now in syrup!
Finish: Mellow, round – replicating the fresh nose & palate (J)

OMC2022 LAPHROAIG 18 YEARS
Nose: Distinctly peated with a fresh/clean/sweet ozone style.
Palate: Initially soft and sugary building to phenols/ash/cinders.
Finish: Now lightly smoked +cough drop type warming spices. (F)

OMC2015 CAOL ILA 21 YEARS
Nose: Opens smoky before dry hay appears + burnt cookies + liquorice
Palate: Initially sweet + damp ashes with a honey coated BBQ grilled style
Finish: Replicates the sweet & ashy character + a long tail of light smoke (J)

OMC2016 TAMDHU SHERRY MATURED 21 YEARS
Nose: Rich with leather, walnuts and a sweet, toffee’d character
Palate: Mouthcoating – carrying rich spices + an oaky/tannic quality
Finish: Long & spicy – still tannic + an attractive cedar wood style (J)

OMC2013 BEN NEVIS 40 YEARS
Nose: Sweetly fruited + big with dry smoke and a coffee style
Palate: Lightly peated (unusually) with warming dark spices + liquorice
Finish: Now dryly spiced + toasted barley and more smoky peat. (F)

OLD MALT CASK – CIGAR MALT Tasting Notes – for the Macduff and Caol Ila follow

OMC2025 MACDUFF SHERRY MATURED 10 YEARS
Nose: Big, sweet, citric and toffee’d
Palate: Chewy, vanilla’d – with muscovado sugar.
Finish: Barley sugar, spice and sweet dark mocha (F)

OMC2026 CAOL ILA 7 YEARS
Nose: Sweetly peated + hot bbq ashes and soft smoke
Palate: Sweet & smoky + a caramelised burnt fruit style
Finish: Honeyed and ashy with a smoke – and – spices character (J)

OLD & RARE Tasting Notes:

OAR0133 MORTLACH SHERRY MATURED 18 YEARS

This Mortlach opens on the nose with a rich polished wood character and runs to a spicy, caramelised oranges and almond cake quality. The palate is viscous and mouth coating being richly spiced, carrying a flamed orange peel, full “chewy” style. The finish is long, still spicy with warm orange zest and a chocolate richness plus a dark roasted malt character. (J)

OAR0131 ARDBEG 20 YEARS

Initially we have a subtle Islay nose – which warms sweetly to citrus, smoke and salty rock pools in summer. Palatewise it starts saline and dry but held there – the phenols develop plus an interesting (tongue tingling) sprinkle of salt and sweet drifting smoke. The long finish is smokier again – with tar, cinders, oily rags and ash much in evidence – with a great length to it. (F)

OAR0129 LAPHROAIG SHERRY MATURED 22 YEARS

Fragrant, perfumed, and big in a sweet (lightly fruited) and barley style all warming to later suggestions of tar and cinders on the nose. On the palate much more tar is apparent – with chimney soot, barley sweetness and creosote all to the fore. The finish is long, medicated, with peat and more of that same ashy, tarry and creosoted character. (F)

OAR0127 HIGHLAND PARK 33 YEARS

Round, full, spiced and with a (dark) fruit style initially on the nose – it warms later to citrus and old fashioned furniture polish. Palatewise – it is big – immediately and warmly spiced with a camphor type interesting domination – softening to vanilla toffee – now replicated on the early finish which turns once again into a spicy and full warmth. (F)

We believe there are some big interesting Malts within this month’s selection – “bigger” than normal which seems to be the way they have come through our system this month – and we look forward to share some of these on.

All best wishes,

Fred H Laing
Managing Director

Visit Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd. at www.douglaslaing.com