Chicago – Lincoln Park

TEMPLETON RYE – “THE GOOD STUFF”
Thursday, February 3, 6:30-8:30pm

Learn the history and folklore behind one of the hottest whiskey releases since Prohibition, Templeton Rye, from Distillery President Scott Bush and 3rd generation Master Distiller Keith Kerkhoff. Templeton has been legally produced since 2006. But it’s legendary status as Al Capone’s favorite whiskey starts the story of it’s early production during Prohibition in the 1920’s. We will sample “the Good Stuff”, made from the original recipe, plus a surprise, and each attendee will have an opportunity to purchase a bottle autographed by Scott and Keith. $25 W/Binny’s Card / $35 non-members. Seating is limited and paid reservations are required.

A LINCOLN PARK TASTING ROOM EVENT! 
Call (312)664-4394 for more information.

New whiskies from Duncan Taylor & Co

Rare Auld Single Malt and Single Grain

The critically acclaimed and award winning Rare Auld collection represents Single Malt and Single Grain Scotch whiskies of outstanding quality from Scotland’s prime whisky producing regions – Speyside, Islay, Highland, Island, Lowland and Campbeltown.

The majority of casks within this range are over 30 years old. They include a variety of cask types including Sherry, Port, American Oak Bourbon and wine.

The bottles come in gift boxes which are colour coded according to the region of origin (Speyside: green, Islay: navy blue, Highland: purple, Island: light blue, Campbeltown: brown, Lowland: red and Grain: maroon) with a special wooden gift box option also available.

The whiskies are bottled as single casks at cask strength with no chillfiltration or colouring. Each bottle of this collection is individually identified with information detailing the distillery and region or origin, distillation date, cask number, cask strength, date bottled and individual bottle number from the limited number available in each cask.

Each hand-selected cask is matured at the original distillery to allow it to age in the environment in which it was distilled. A cask is only bottled when it reaches its optimum age and quality.

Aultmore 1989 21 year old £70.00                                    
Glenburgie 1988 22 year old £70.00      
Glen Grant 1991 19 year old  £59.99
Glen Grant 1974 34 year old £121.00        
Port Dundas 1973 37 year old £79.00                       
Tamnavulin 1989 21 year old £79.99

New whiskies from Douglas Laing & Co

The Old Malt Cask Range
 
This intriguing range emerged in 1998 with a caveat that the single cask bottlings would only be available in limited numbers. But the initial 50 – to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary – was gradually passed and today we can regularly offer over a hundred superb Malts to the connoisseur or anyone else with good taste for that matter.

In our book, colouring is wicked (in its original meaning) and chill filtration techniques make us shiver at the thought. Without apology, The OLD MALT CASK offerings are not chill filtered, leaving in each bottle all the oils, fats and enzymes that combine to give the quality of the nose, palate, mouth-feel and finish.

A preferred strength of 50% alc/vol (referred to as the Golden Strength by old die hards) is maintained as we wholeheartedly believe this strength creates a fine, round, full quality for various Malts when taken “neat.” And lately, because we’re small and perfectly formed, we’ve added 20 cls “sample bottles” to the selection. These limited edition 20cl gems replicate those “pulled” by the distillery warehouseman for dispatch to the blenders for quality control purposes.

Ardbeg 18 year old £130.00
Dalmore 20 year old £71.99
Rosebank 20 year old £89.99

Visit Single Malts Direct at www.singlemaltsdirect.com

Glengoyne Awarded Ultra Premium Dram of 2010

Edinburgh: Connoisseurs from one of the UK’s largest and most prestigious whisky events, The Whisky Show, have named Glengoyne 40 Years Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky as the Ultra Premium Dram of 2010.

Competing against over 20 luxury whiskies currently available in the global marketplace retailing from a minimum of £300, Glengoyne 40 Years Old was selected as the pinnacle dram that best captured the distiller’s art.

A combined vote from visitor sampling and nomination for their preferred Ultra Premium whisky and a final tasting by Event Director Graeme Wallace and The Whisky Exchange proprietor Sukhinder Singh, Glengoyne was declared the ultimate winner of the ultimate whisky award. Praised for its “sweet, complex” and “oily texture”, it was noted that this Single Malt had remained “superbly balanced” and velvety smooth, without being overpowered by its 40 years of contact with the cask. 

Graeme Wallace, Event Director commented:  “To evaluate and settle on which expression was the best of the very best is always going to be extremely hard, with every Ultra Premium Dram being of the highest magnitude, reflecting the finest whisky available today.”

“For a whisky to top this category and win the Ultra Premium Dram Award is no easy achievement and should in no way reflect negatively on the runners up. It was a very close call but Glengoyne 40 Years Old was a very worthy winner.”

Iain Weir, Marketing Director for Ian Macleod Distillers commented: “We are thrilled with this result.  It is testament to the Glengoyne team’s craftsmanship and skill that the 40 Years Old has succeeded in winning this very prestigious title against such a high calibre of entrants.

“The 40 Years Old Single Malt captures the pure essence of Glengoyne and its exceptional, un-peated ‘Real Taste of Malt’. It is a joy to open the highest quality sherry casks after four decades and find such great balance between malt and Still. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Owned by the Scottish, independent, family owned company Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd, Glengoyne distillery has been producing whisky from the heart of the Trossachs for over 175 years. With a highly selective cask policy, Glengoyne is also distilled slower than any other single malt Scotch whisky. Using air-dried malted barley, rather than pungent peat smoke, the distillery nurses the spirit through its stills at around one-third of the normal rate. This creates a more subtle, complex whisky in which all of the delicate flavours are freely allowed to express themselves.

Only 250 bottles of the limited edition Glengoyne 40 Years Old have been produced, retailing domestically for £3,750, this luxury whisky is presented in a hand-blown bespoke crystal decanter and stitched leather and solid oak presentation box of the highest quality.

Glengoyne 40 Years Old has been described by Michel Roux Jnr, as “simply sensational”, with the two star Michelin chef commenting on the “complexity in the flavours that linger in the mouth. There’s a strong richness in both the colour and in the flavours. It has a long, dry finish.”

The Whisky Show is an annual premium consumer whisky tasting even that takes place in London at the end of October. For more details visit www.thewhiskyshow.com

For further details on stockists and distribution details for Glengoyne, contact Alan Wardrop, UK Sales Manager, Ian Macleod Distillers, 01506 852205.

Only the slowest distillation process, untainted by peat smoke, creates Glengoyne THE REAL TASTE OF MALT

Glengoyne encourages responsible drinking

www.drinkaware.co.uk   www.scotch-whisky.org.uk

Dear Customer,

Last year was a great one for whisky lovers, because loads of instant classics were launched. Kilchoman, Islay’s newest distillery (founded in 2005) released an absolutely cracking all-bourbon matured single malt last Winter; Highland Park gave us the next instalment in their trio of whiskies dedicated to the history of Orkney; and independent whisky maker Ichiro Akuto has added some stonking additions to his range.

For a limited time only, we’re offering you 4 limited editions gems with great discounts…

Cheers!

The Chaps at Master of Malt

Highland Park Saint Magnus

 
Part 2 in the ultra collectible new trio from Highland Park celebrating Orkney’s history. This limited release was bottled at 12 years of age.

Was £86.95
Now £81.95

Kilchoman Winter 2010

 
The 5th official release from Islay’s youngest and smallest distillery. This was aged for three years in bourbon barrels.

Was £45.95
Now £42.95

Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries

 
Made by vatting whisky from Hanyu and Chichibu (two legendary distilleries) before a marriage in Japanese oak…

Was £81.95

Now £77.95

Ichiro’s Mizunara Wood Reserve

 
Aged exclusively in Japanese Mizunara oak, this is incredible and offers oodles of character – a highlight of the year…

Was £81.95
Now £76.95

Visit Master of Malt at www.masterofmalt.com

February Previews: 53.146 & 36.51 for £90 (save £17.70) With February First Friday just round the corner, we’ve release two preview bottles to whet the appetite (along with a rather juicy offer)…

53.146 A saline gargle with peanuts
Islay
£59.20 inc free p&p
All peanuts to start with – peanut butter, dry roasted, peanut brittle – unusual for this make, although it fades into the more familiar smoked cheese, with carbolic soap advancing steadily

36.51 In the sweetie shop
Speyside Spey
£48.50 inc free p&p
This ‘dumb blond’ of a malt – attractively simple – took us straight to a sweetie shop: hard, boiled fruit sweets dusted with icing sugar, lemon drops and acid drops, Lockets introducing a mentholated, herbal note

Buy 53.146 & 36.51 for £90
(save £17.70)                                                                                    
         
Society Tastings & Events (47 Society tastings online)

Whisky Galore with Keith Hewitt – The Vaults, Thu 3 Feb
New Outturn Open Tasting – London, Sat 5 Feb
New Outturn & Sunday Roast Tasting – The Vaults, Sun 6 Feb
New Outturn Open Tasting – London, Mon 7 Feb
New Members’ Tasting – Queen Street, Tue 8 Feb
Whisky Quiz – London, Tue 8 Feb
Penderyn Tasting – The Vaults, Fri 11 Feb
6 Nations Wales V Scotland Lunch – The Vaults, Sat 12 Feb
Valentines’ Champagne & Whisky Tasting – Queen Street, Mon 14
Dining Room Valentine Dinner – Queen Street, Mon 14 Feb

Share your adventure with a friend

“Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life”

Recommend a friend to the Society – we’ll reward you a £15 e-voucher for every friend that joins.  You can use your e-voucher online against any of our whisky, tasting tickets or even your membership renewal. 

There’s no limited to the number of friends you can recommend so spread the word and start saving!

http://www.smws.co.uk/your-society-adventure/share-adventure?afc=PromoteIT_367266
 
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929

Panel Services Africa run panels independently as well as for clients and use our communities to answer surveys for research. We have quite a few requests from international companies who are keen to do surveys of whisky drinkers in SA.

We offer incentives and pay cash for completing all surveys.

Please join the online panel at www.tellusaboutit.co.za and once you’ve registered you’ll receive email links to surveys. We need your opinions!

We will also be offering a prize of a bottle of whisky to the value of R1000. (Now you have our attention!)

Please email Claire at Panel Services Africa – claire@panelservicesafrica.co.za if you have any queries.

www.ralfy.com strikes again with whisky review 181 – sulphur    … all about the stuff from Volcano’s that can add character to your Mortlach or destroy the efforts of an over-sterilized sherry hogshead !

So What Exactly is the Flavour of Real Canadian Rye Whisky?

Follow canadianwhisky.org as it Goes on the Road to Find Out

With notebooks at the ready, eager to try whatever was placed in front of them, fifteen malt whisky aficionados gathered recently at Victoria’s Grand Pacific Hotel to taste a range of classic Canadian rye whiskies. Their goal? To identify the flavours rye grain contributes to Canadian whisky.

The session began with tasters synchronizing their palates with a brilliantly well-balanced and rye-rich Canadian blended whisky, Crown Royal Fine De Luxe from 1963. Most notably, this whisky, in addition to the luxuriant corn-derived mouthfeel, showcases the full range of typical rye spices – cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger; – the breadth of undefined fruitiness; sweet floral notes bordering on pansies, violets, and lilacs; and an almost fragile brittleness found only in Canadian rye. Great rye supported by great corn and barley whiskies.

Deconstructing Canadian rye then began with WhistlePig Rye, a fine example of unmalted Canadian rye. No other grains are used to make WhistlePig so the flavour is 100% unmalted rye. It’s a big whisky, exhibiting typical rye flowers, and fruits, but especially rich in rye spices including cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. WhistlePig is a hugely voluptuous whisky that, frankly, is just a little bit rough around the edges and in need of some balancing corn or barley to broaden its palate. But here are found the typical unmalted rye nose and palate: spices first, with fruit and flowers continually poking their heads through. So rye, it seems is all about spices, fruit, and flowers.

To get a full appreciation of the effects of malting on rye grain, the tasters next sampled Lot 40 from Corby Distillers. Lot 40, which has been off the market since the late 1990s, is distilled in a copper pot still at Hiram Walker’s plant in Windsor using malted and unmalted rye. Yes, Lot 40 is spicy, but rather than the dominant spiciness of WhistlePig, Lot 40 exhibits more fruity and floral notes, expressing, most particularly, large and delightful aromas of lilacs and spring flowers. Sweet and rich, on the palate it tastes more than anything, like rye bread. Malting, it seems brings out the flowers.

Armed with this new-found information the group next sampled Wiser’s Legacy, a new whisky, released in 2010, but based on a century-old original J.P. Wiser recipe that incorporates both malted and unmalted rye. Wiser’s Legacy demonstrates the blender’s art at its zenith, with its enormously broad palate featuring the full rye whisky spectrum. Legacy displays unmalted rye spices directly front and centre, but also showcases the fruitiness and the floral notes that the process of malting brings to the fore.

So what else did these tastings and discussions reveal about Canadian rye? In Canada, “rye” has been synonymous with “whisky” for several centuries. Rye is the defining flavour of Canadian whisky. North Americans drink more Canadian rye whisky than all other whisky styles combined. And rye flavours can also be extracted from oak. Oh yes, and speaking of flavour, in the right hands a little rye can go a long, long way.

But will this tasting session be repeated? Not exactly. However, canadianwhisky.org will present a similar tasting in Toronto on May 14 at The Spirit of Toronto held at Roy Thomson Hall. The organizers have already lined up some very spectacular vintage Canadian ryes to tantalize your tastebuds. See you there?

For full details of the Victoria rye tasting session and to read reviews of Wiser’ Legacy, WhistlePig Rye, and Lot 40, visit www.canadianwhisky.org 

Photo credit Jen Steele The Victoria Whisky Festival

 

Jim Murray’s Whisky Swirl ~ Friday, February 4, 2011

The Whisky Guru and author of “The Whisky Bible”, Jim Murray, is returning to The Fairmont Empress for another amazing Whisky Event from 6pm – 9pm. During this inspiring 3 hour event you will have the opportunity to taste the world’s best whiskies, blend your own whisky and interact directly with this iconic man. Tickets are $95 or $76 for Friends of the Empress.

All prices noted exclude taxes and gratuities. Friends of the Empress privileges apply to all events unless otherwise stated. For reservations and information, please call (250) 389-2727 or emp.diningres@fairmont.com

The adoration of a new constellation.

Astrum is the Latin word for constellation. As the stars glint and gleam in the night sky so will The Dalmore Astrum shine with an unmatched brilliance among whiskies.

Set to cask in 1966, The Dalmore Astrum, spent most of the ensuing four decades in American white oak casks before being transferred for a final 18 month flourish to 30 year old Matusalem casks from Gonzalez Byass.

Just 500 bottles are available worldwide. Each bottle and its priceless contents are proudly protected in a bespoke, high gloss black lacquer box, making The Dalmore Astrum a true star among malts.

For further enlightenment, please visit www.thedalmore.com/astrum or email astrum@thedalmore.com

Availability varies by market.