Distilled in Washington A HISTORY By Becky Garrison Foreword by Mr. Charles Finkel

Washington has a tortured history with liquor. Efforts to ban or restrict it date back to1854, before the region even attained statehood, with blue laws remaining on the books well into the twentieth century. From Jimmie Durkin, an enterprising saloon owner, to Roy Olmstead, a former Seattle cop turned gentleman bootlegger, the business of liquor has inspired both trouble and innovation. Join author and journalist Becky Garrison as she traces the history of the barrel and the bottle from early settlement to the modern craft distilling boom in the Evergreen State.

Stories to Savor

ARCADIA PUBLISHING

FEBRUARY 2024 AUCTION ENDS TOMORROW (FEBRUARY 18th)!

Not long now! There is still time to bid on your favourite bottles. The Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix has possibly has one of the most interesting stories of our auction this month. After a prolonged period of heavy snow, three warehouses at Glenfiddich Distillery collapsed due to the weight of the snow laying on the roofs of the warehouses on the 7th of January 2010. Many of the Casks were lost due to this event but some remained intact and despite being exposed to the cold winter air, they were used to create this legendary Speyside release.

Or, how about something a bit different? The award-winning Macallan Amber Liqueur, flavoured with pecans and maple syrup. This was only available for a short time before being discontinued!

Next up, we have a lovely limited bottling from a highly revered closed Islay distillery. Released in 2010 as the 10th instalment of the hugely popular Annual Release series. Distilled in 1978 by the iconic Port Ellen distillery then bottled at 31 years old in 2010 at natural Cask strength.

How about this premium 30 year old blended Scotch whisky from blending giants Chivas. Using only the most exceptional malt and grain whiskies from the Chivas Brothers portfolio, all of which have been aged for a minimum of 30 years.

The Macallan Archival series is inspired by original, past adverts from the 1970’s – 1990’s. Each Folio release is presented with an illustrated hardback book that denotes the history of those adverts that were originally designed by David Holmes and advert copywriter Nick Salaman. The Folio series was first released in 2015, this extraordinarily popular and highly collectable series has been added to with new releases mostly annually ever since. Released in 2020, this is the fifth release of the Folio series.

These are only a few of the bottles in our February auction, to view more wee gems visit clickwhiskyauctions.com. Register to bid. Remember, you’ve got to be in it to win it! Auction ends Sunday 18^th February from 8pm GMT.

Tomintoul Cigar Malt

Tomintoul Cigar Malt is an intricate combination of classic Tomintoul Single Malts and rare peated Tomintoul Single Malts. Each of these individual single malts has been either matured fully or finished in hand-selected Oloroso Sherry butts sourced from Andalucía, Spain. The rich and sweet sherry notes, creamy malt profile and gentle peat smoke, make this single malt the perfect accompaniment to the world’s finest cigars.

NOSE Bold and pronounced with aromas of dried fruits, sweet spices, pecan pie and subtle peat smoke.

PALATE Sweet and rich with layers of chocolate raisins, butter toffees and brambles mingled with black pepper and smoky wood spices.

FINISH Warming and long with notes of mocha, maple syrup and toasted oak lingering on the tongue.

£82.00

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Raasay 2018 5 Year Old

This is a marriage of a refill hogshead and a 1st fill bourbon barrel. Designed to balance richness and sweetness, with the clear voice of the distillate character. This is waxy, coastal, full of bright citrus fruits and a delicate thread of peat. Extremely evocative of what I think Skye and Western Island malt whisky should taste like and a wonderful wee dram in its own right that shows terrifically for the age.

Only £124.00 >

Ben Nevis 2013 10 Year Old

This is Whisky Sponge Edition 85 and it is a 10 year old Ben Nevis, distilled in 2013, aged primarily in a refill butt, and then finished in refill quarter casks for around six months and bottled at 52%. For this bottling, they wanted to round the whisky off with exposure to more air and to manage the reduction from cask strength in stages. They re-racked this refill butt evenly into four refill quarter casks. This exposed more of the spirit to air and enabled them to bring down the ABV slowly to 52%, which is where they felt the sweet spot was that maximised the Ben Nevis distillate character. The refill quarter casks also rounded everything out nicely while preserving the distillate character and without adding in yucky, vulgar woodiness!

This whisky tastes like cliffs and tidal waves. Please enjoy while wearing only a pair of hessian swimming trunks.

Only £94.00 >

TyndrumWhisky.com
The Green Welly Stop
Tyndrumwhisky, Tyndrum
Crianlarich, Perthshire FK20 8RY
United Kingdom

Aberfeldy 18 Year Old Napa Valley Red Wine Finish

£99.95

An exciting release from Highland single malt distillery Aberfeldy, this limited-run expression makes use of ex-Cabernet Sauvignon Napa wine casks for a decadent finishing. Aged initially in both re-fill and hogshead casks, the Californian influence shines with red berry aromas and a velvety texture. Mouth-wateringly complex. Aberfeldy 18 release. Finished in ex-Cabernet Sauvignon wine casks from Napa, it offers the jammiest of red fruits wrapped up in a decadent velvety texture. We love the depth and complexity, and reckon you will too.

Tasting note:

Nose: Jammy and sweet with cranberries, raspberries, blackberries and an oaky spices

Palate: The sweetness continues with the addition of hazelnuts, milk chocolate, nutmeg, coffee and a slight menthol hint.

Finish: More drying oak spices and a suggestion of honey.

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ralfy review 1014 – Springbank Distillery (OSWA winner 2023)

I hope this email finds you well as we approach the Family Day Long weekend… at least it is a long weekend here in Alberta… though as I’ve said before, that doesn’t apply to those of us in retail!

We have six new whiskies to fill you in on, five from GlenAllachie, and one from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. The GlenAllachies are all limited editions, including a single cask bottled for Canada. The Society bottling is a black label, 30 year old Mortlach. Some of you might recall sampling it in the KWM UBER Whisky Calendar.

There are also some new tastings to fill you in on, built around some pending new releases from GlenAllachie, and Compass Box.

Last but not least, we are having a drop-in event tomorrow, Saturday, February 17 at KWM for consumers to sample The Hearach First Edition. The whisky will be on sale for the day, and we have engraved glasses to give away with purchase… So if you’re around for the long weekend, drop in for a taste of one of Scotland’s most exciting new whiskies!

As always, in the event of a price discrepancy, the point of sale at KWM will be taken as correct. Online ordering and in-store purchasing are always our preferences. You can email your requests in, but they may not be dealt with as quickly as the web orders… especially if I am busy!

Sincerely,

Andrew Ferguson

Kensington Wine Market

Free Drop In Tasting – The Hearach 1st Release

Saturday February 17 – 12-5 PM

SAVE 10% – Free Glass with Purchase

We have been impressed with the inaugural release of whisky from the Isle of Harris Distillery. This lightly peated (12-15 ppm) single malt was matured at least 5 years in a mix of First Fill ex-Bourbon casks as well as Oloroso and Fino Shery Butts. It is married for at least 12 weeks in small batches before bottling at 46%.

We will be offering samples of The Hearach between noon and 5 PM tomorrow. It will be on sale, 10% off all day, and best of all we are giving away an engraved glass with purchase… but only tomorrow, Saturday, February 17!

New Whiskies from GlenAllachie

 We have five new GlenAllachies arriving next week, the 10th batch of the 10 Year Cask Strength, a trio of Wine Series releases, and an 11 Year PX Cask bottled exclusively for Canada. These will all be featuring in future tastings along with some other new GlenAllachie bottlings arriving in the weeks ahead!

1. GlenAllachie 10 Year Cask Strength Batch 10 – 586.% – PX & Oloroso Sherry Casks, as well as Virgin Oak barrels, and Red Wine Barriques – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: Waves of honeycomb, orange zest and treacle, with fig syrup, mocha and poached orchard fruits, followed by cinnamon and butterscotch. Taste: Lashings of cocoa, heather honey and baking spices, followed by dried red berries and Black Forest gâteau, with maraschino cherries and anise on the finish.” – $120

2. GlenAllachie 9 Year Douro Cask – 48% – Finished in Douro Valley barriques – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: Waves of plum jam, clementines and dried red berries, with notes of heather honey and vanilla spice. Taste: Bursting with dried apricots, heather honey and crystalised fruits, followed by hints of ripe black fruits, butterscotch and cinnamon spice.” – $100

3. GlenAllachie 10 Year Grattamacco Cask – 48% – Grattamacco Wine Finish – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: Bursting with dark chocolate, butterscotch and heather honey, with notes of blackcurrant, caramelised brown sugar and cinnamon spice. Taste: Waves of ripe red berries, grapefruit and toasted honeycomb, followed by butterscotch, sugared fruit and black truffle.” – $102

4. GlenAllachie 11 Year Premier Cru Cask – 48% – – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: Waves of butterscotch, blackcurrant and heather honey, with hints of minerality, poached orchard fruits and orange zest. Taste: Layers of honeycomb, black fruits and dark chocolate, followed by coffee, truffle and cinnamon, with crème de cassis and ginger on the finish.” – $113

5. GlenAllachie 2011 PX Sherry Cask #4493 – 61.8% – 11 Year – Bottled for Canada – PX Sherry Hogsheads – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: Notes of Orchard fruits, black pepper and orange zest, with hints of ginger, mocha and caramel. Taste: Bursts of hazelnut, heather honey and grapefruit, followed by hints of ginger and icing sugar, with butterscotch and dried figs on the finish.” – $195 – Limit 1 Per Customer!

Introducing: Scotch Malt Whisky Society 76.151 Cloves Studded in Honey Glazed Ham

SMWS Canada released a new Vaults Collection* bottle yesterday. “It is from a distillery that has our heart, and it’s a rarity indeed! We haven’t seen a release from Distillery 76 since 2019, and certainly never one this old. A very small allocation came to Canada and we don’t expect them to last long, so show yourself a little love and snap one up before they’re gone.”

*The Vaults Collection is a selection of the finest and rarest single cask, single malt whisky, set aside from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s most remarkable stocks over the years. They have been released from the depths of our treasure trove of casks, after decades of slow maturation and careful nurturing. The Vaults Collection represents the whisky lover’s dream: a chance to journey back into whisky history, including the opportunity to experience styles or distilleries that no longer exist. The Collection takes its name from the Society’s historical home at The Vaults in Leith, Scotland’s oldest commercial building in continuous use whose connection with the drinks world dates back to the 12th century. Each bottle has a specially designed label and is offered in a beautiful wooden box.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 76.151: Cloves studded in honey glazed ham – – 57.2% – 30 Year – 26 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead before being transferred to a 1st fill oloroso hogshead – Flavour profile: Old & dignified – Panel’s tasting note: “An irresistible concoction of coffee and cloves pulled us towards beef jerky smoked with pencil shavings and served with maple syrup on bacon. A prickly palate of peppercorns and pickles danced with glee to the sound of black pudding sizzling in whirling clouds of wood smoke. A drop of water unleashed a compelling accumulation of chamomile, caramel and cooling camphor that skilfully merged with the heavyweight hues of molasses, prunes and almond-coated jamaica cake. Then cloves and saffron adorned poached pears alongside oloroso sherry trifle while we used burnt sticks to trickle rich honey over oily iberico ham. After spending 26 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead this was transferred to a first fill Spanish oak oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.” – $1675

Not a Scotch Malt Whisky Society Member? No problem… purchase of this bottle would also include your first year’s membership!

Changing of the guard at Isle of Raasay Distillery owner R&B Distillers

William Dobbie appointed as Managing Director, with Bill Dobbie switching to Chairman role at company he co-founded in 2014

William Dobbie moves up from Commercial Director, a position he has held for the last four years

R&B Distillers owns Isle of Raasay Distillery, and plans to launch the Machrihanish Distillery near Campbeltown over the next 12-24 months, with longer term plans for The Duke Street Distillery at Coldstream

R&B Distillers reported revenue of £5.0 million in calendar year 2023, and has set sights on growing sales to over £25 million in the next decade

Left to right are William Dobbie and Bill Dobbie of RB Distillers (by Stewart Attwood)

Edinburgh, Isle of Raasay, London, 5 February 2024 – R&B Distillers Limited has announced a reorganisation of its senior executive team, with William Dobbie appointed as Managing Director and his father Bill Dobbie switching to the Chairman role at the company he co-founded with Alasdair Day in 2014.

Bill Dobbie, Chairman, R&B Distillers, said: “William has helped drive double-digit revenue growth at over 20 per cent per annum during his four years as Commercial Director, and R&B’s Board was unanimous in its decision to give him the opportunity to lead the company’s next phase of growth.  We have continued to see solid growth in the UK and internationally over the last few years, including during what was a challenging year for the industry in 2023, and are excited by our prospects to build sales in existing and new markets over the next decade.”

R&B Distillers owns the Isle of Raasay Distillery, which opened its doors in 2017, and plans to launch the Machrihanish Distillery near Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre over the next 12-18 months, which will mark the first new farm distillery in the region in over 180 years. There are also longer term plans for The Duke Street Distillery at Coldstream in the Scottish Borders.

R&B Distillers reported revenue of £5.0 million in the year ended 31st December 2023, and now sells in 40 markets worldwide after launching the Isle of Raasay Gin in mid-2019 and the Isle of Raasay Single Malt at the end of 2020. The company has set its sights on growing sales to over £25 million in the next decade.

William Dobbie, Managing Director, R&B Distillers, said: “The whole team deserves so much credit for our success to date, and our 10-year vision is centred on taking the business to the next level, increasing our international presence in lucrative markets like North America and Asia. While the high end of the whisky market has come under pressure over the last year, we have managed to significantly increase sales, grow a loyal customer base and brand in the face of industry headwinds.”The Isle of Raasay Distillery, based on the Inner Hebridean island off the west coast of Scotland, sells directly to tens of thousands of consumers through hundreds of outlets in the UK and via distributors worldwide. The distillery, which has a visitor centre and luxury accommodation, won Distillery of the Year and Tourism Destination of the Year at the Scottish Whisky Awards in 2022. R&B has a team of 47 people, with 35 based on the Isle of Raasay, supporting long-term local employment for the community.

R&B’s senior management team also includes Stuart Blues (Finance Director), Norman Gillies (Operations Director), and Alasdair Day (Co-founder and Master Distiller).

R&B Distillers is owned by Scottish entrepreneur Bill Dobbie’s Chanrossa Group, a Scotland-headquartered scaleup with a portfolio that includes both spirits & drinks and beauty & wellness brands. The drinks business includes stakes in the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Caskshare.com, Waterford Distillery, and Renegade Rum Distillery. Chanrossa positions itself as a “long-term business that creates and owns brands of provenance, quality, and global appeal.”

Every drop of The Hearach single malt whisky is distilled, matured, blended, married, and bottled here in the Isle of Harris and nowhere else. Our distillers and blenders are all drawn from the local community and have been trained from scratch in the craft and science of spirit-making. We have one of the youngest teams of distillers in Scotland with an average age of 25 years with the youngest Rebekah Morrison from the village of Bowglass being 21 years old.

Some key facts about the whisky they make…

Bottled at 46% abv

Non-chill filtered and no artificial colourings

Released in batches of around 12,000 bottles

Each batch is ‘married’ for a minimum of 12 weeks

The youngest spirit in each batch is 5 years old 

Matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks, Oloroso and Fino butts

Lightly peated (12-15 ppm)

HEAR ABOUT THE HEARACH

After the ‘First Release’ of our historic single malt whisky in September last year, we’re now almost ready to release batches 9, 10, 11, and 12 of The Hearach. Every batch is made to the same recipe. However, there will be subtle, natural variations between each which reflect the casks chosen and the length of time we ‘marry’ the vatting. Our bottles come with a special combination of letters and numbers on every stopper seal. This strip code helps you to learn more about the dram in the bottle you’ve bought or plan to buy. Simply visit our website to find the code which matches your bottle and you’ll be able to read and download an information sheet to discover the story behind your dram…

ALL ABOUT OUR BATCHES

As you know we are hard (but relaxed) at work to provide you with a great anniversary program in September! We will be out there meeting you and our exhibitors at several festivals.

Want to meet us? The first quarter of the year is usually a period of lots of relaxed whisky festival goodness! The next couple of days, February 9th and 10th, you can find us in Alkmaar at the Hielander festival. So if you have got any questions or suggestions, or want to find out why Maltstock is so relaxed!

Don’t just take our word for it. Hear from our guests! Seasoned Maltstock guests (The very relaxed Bianca and Victor) will join Klaas in the Maltstock stand in Alkmaar. Stop by for a relaxed dram and here about Maltstock from a guest perspective

So, see you at a festival nearby or in September at our 15th edition of Maltstock!

Annette, Bob, Klaas, Stan, Teun

So feel free to join the relaxed fun. Simply get your ticket here:

https://www.maltstock.com/shop