WHISKIES

OUR 10 FAVOURITE WHISKIES OF THE MONTH

Chosen by Whisky Exchange co-founder Sukhinder Singh and head buyer Dawn Davies MW

Loch Lomond 30 Years

Award winning Highland single malt released in small annual batches. Loch Lomond 30 Year Old Highland Single malt Scotch whisky. Matured in American oak casks with half being finished in 1st fill Oloroso casks.

£580.00

NOSE: Honey, peach and melon, vanilla and cinnamon.

TASTE: Toffee fudge sweetness, crisp green apple and fresh pineapple, gentle spice of ginger and nutmeg.

FINISH: Long with juicy green fruit, kiwi, gooseberry and lime.

Buy Loch Lomond 30 yo »

Loch Lomond Distillery is equipped with three different types of sills and was established just to the south of the Loch Lomond in 1964. There are two pot stills, six pot stills with rectifying columns in place of swan necks, a Coffey continuous still and additional continuous stills that produce grain whisky. Thus Loch Lomond Distillery produces malt and grain whisky. Inchmurrin malt whisky is produced using malt spirit distilled in the two pot stills fitted with rectifying columns in place of swan necks. The Loch Lomond single malts include a 12 Year Old and an 18 Year Old.

ralfy review 956 Extras – Chapters in our whisky book.

John Crabbie & Co Announces Special Chain Pier Release for Milroy’s of Soho

 One of the Rarest Single Malt Scotch Whiskies under £100 

Pioneering Scotch whisky brand, John Crabbie & Co, has announced a new release from its Chain Pier Distillery in Edinburgh, which will be available exclusively at Milroy’s of Soho. Just 290 bottles of this exclusive launch will be available to buy.

Milroy’s Chain Pier Single Malt has been matured in Australian Shiraz casks, and bottled at 57.9%. It is rich and fruity on the nose, with hints of forest fruit and rich oak, boasting sweet grape, toffee, raisin and gentle wood spice on the nose and a long, sweet fruit and caramel finish.

John Kennedy, Sales Director, Halewood Artisanal Spirits, comments; “We’re excited to partner with Milroy’s on this fantastic new bottling from our John Crabbie & Co Chain Pier Distillery. We had such an overwhelmingly positive response to our first Chain Pier launch earlier this year, we’re really confident that this quality whisky created by our Master Distiller, Dr Kirstie McCallum, will be just as popular with whisky lovers far and wide”.

Jolyon Dunn from Milroy’s of Soho comments; “We are delighted to bring this exciting collaboration to market – from visiting Edinburgh to select the casks, to active involvement in the design process, we have worked closely with the team at John Crabbie & Co. on every aspect of this release. Chain Pier was an experimental make and no longer in production. With only around 30 casks filled, this is possibly the rarest single malt scotch whisky under £100”.

Milroy’s Chain Pier Single Malt will go on sale on Friday 9^th December 2022, exclusively at Milroy’s of Soho, whilst stocks last. RRP £99.99. Sign up to the newsletter to be first in line.

About Halewood Artisanal Spirits (www.halewood-int.com)

For all the latest news and launches:

Instagram:  @halewood_artisanal_spirits

Twitter: @HalewoodIntern1

Facebook: @HalewoodArtisanalSpirits

LinkedIn: Halewood Artisanal Spirits

Halewood Artisanal Spirits is an award-winning UK-based craft distiller. Its premium gin brands include Whitley Neill Gin, City of London Gin, Marylebone Gin and Liverpool Gin.  Halewood also has a strong portfolio of other high growth premium sprits, including Dead Man’s Fingers spiced rum, J. J. Whitley Russian Vodka, Samuel Gelston’s Irish Whiskey and Crabbie Whisky.

The business operates 10 artisanal distilleries across the UK, Russia and South Africa including:  The City of London Distillery (the home of Whitley Neill Gin), The Liverpool Gin Distillery, Crabbie Distillery in Edinburgh, Aber Falls Distillery in North Wales, Bankhall Distillery in Blackpool, The Bristol & Bath Rum Distillery, Belgravia Distillery in South Africa and JJ Whitley in Russia. The company also operates the Hawkshead Brewery in Cumbria.

At the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition the business was awarded nine double golds and 13 golds, as well as 44 golds at the International Wines and Spirits Competition.

Outside the UK, the business exports products to over 90 countries around the world and has significant operations in a number of international markets including North America, Russia, Australia and China. The business has a £400m+ turnover, and employs over 950 employees globally.

The business was founded by the late John Halewood in 1978 and it remains owned and controlled by the Halewood family.

THE REIMAGINATION OF TIME: GLENFIDDICH, CANADA’S FAVOURITE SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

UNVEILS THE RARE AND REMARKABLE TIME SERIES COLLECTION

Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt scotch whisky, introduces Time Re:Imagined, the ultimate expression of rare 30- and 40-year-old whiskies

TORONTO, ON: Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt scotch whisky, announces the coveted release of Time Re:Imagined, bringing the ultimate expression of time with the release of two extraordinarily rare, aged single malt scotch whiskies.

The Time Series collection consists of two exquisite aged single malts, matured over decades of 30 and 40 years, each capturing a moment in time through a rich concept, curated experience, and aspirational vessel. These remarkably rare Glenfiddich whiskies have been carefully aged, developing a richness and depth of flavour rarely encountered…

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LAST CHANCE:

Win a rare tasting with

House of Hazelwood

This Christmas, one lucky Whisky Magazine reader will have the rare opportunity to taste the full range of eight old and rare whiskies from House of Hazelwood’s Autumn Release, which is now available to order, and two further readers will be given a taste of the four new Legacy Collection bottlings.

To be in with a chance of winning one of three exclusive tasting packs, simply sign up online to become a House of Hazelwood ‘Keyholder’ using the link below. Part of the bottlers’ inner circle, Keyholders receive benefits including members-only releases, invitations to private events and preferential access to new House of Hazelwood releases.

The deadline for entries is Sunday 11 December 23:59 GMT.
Winners will be notified the following week. 

T&Cs apply.

ENTER NOW

The history of ‘single blends’

On a handful of occasions in Scotch whisky history, malt and grain spirits have been produced on the same site. Inspired by House of Hazelwood’s recent release ‘A Singular Blend’, Editor-at-Large Christopher Coates found out more

Single malt and single grain are well known by whisky enthusiasts as the two styles of spirit that come together to make blended Scotch whiskies, which may be household names such as Grant’s or aged rarities like House of Hazelwood’s ‘The Next Chapter’ 50 Years Old. Few and far between, however, are whiskies like House of Hazelwood’s ‘A Singular Blend’ 1963 – a blend of malt and grain whiskies that were both distilled, in copper pots and column stills respectively, at the same Highland location.

During the 20^th century, an increase in demand for blended Scotch whiskies and a desire for logistic efficiency led some whisky companies to move to dual-style model and build malt distilleries within their grain facilities.

In 1966, William Grant & Sons built the Ladyburn malt whisky distillery on the site of its Girvan grain distillery, which began producing grain spirit on Christmas Day 1963. (See: House of Hazelwood’s ‘The First Drop’). By 1975, however, it was decided that Girvan needed to expand and Ladyburn was dismantled to make room, ending malt production at the Ayrshire site for 32 years. However, history has a way of repeating itself. Lowland malt spirit returned to Girvan on 24 September 2007 with the first distillation run at the new Ailsa Bay distillery, Ladyburn’s spiritual successor.

Most of these ‘Russian doll’ malts were never officially bottled as single malt, and rarer still are instances of the so-called ‘single blend’ – whiskies created solely from the malt and grain spirits of a single site. Of this tiny number, only a scant few are known to have been matured to any significant age and, thus, the style has passed by many connoisseurs and collectors without notice.

However, all is not lost. Those who wish to try the oldest known example of this rare style may seek out

House of Hazelwood’s ‘A Singular Blend’1963, a ‘single blend’ produced entirely at one Highland distillery and released as part of the Charles Gordon Collection after an impressive 58 years of ageing. But prospective buyers will have to move fast, as just 74 bottles were made available in Autumn 2022 and only a few remain.

  Read our full article about the fascinating history of single blends online at whiskymag.com

READ

TASTING THE AUTUMN COLLECTION

One of the latest whiskies to be made available in House of Hazelwood’s Legacy Collection, this blended grain Scotch whisky has been given the name ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ in recognition of its heady floral character. Reviewed blind by Whisky Magazine’s tasters, it has been awarded the honour of Editor’s Choice in the December 2022 edition (issue #188).

Tasting Notes by Christopher Coates,

Whisky Magazine Editor-at-Large

A Breath of Fresh Air 37 Years Old

ABV: 46.4%

Style: Blended Grain

Country: SCOTLAND

Region: N/A
Price per bottle: £1450

Bottling: Independent

Availability: Online

Nose: Intense dried pineapple, jasmine green tea, lychee, furniture polish, dried rose petals, walnuts, mahogany, muscovado sugar, and Averna amaro. Dark chocolate, anise, tomato skins, sage and subtle menthol. Faint orange blossom water.

Palate: Medium. Dried mango and pineapple pieces, jasmine, Chinese five spice, cinder toffee, Camp Coffee (chicory), lemon meringue pie, caramel chews, apple pie with lots of brown sugar and cinnamon, super-ripe tomato, coffee cream chocolates, and umeshu plum sake.

Finish: Medium-long, on toffee, plum and coffee cream.

Comment: Everything one could want from a really, really old whisky, with not even a hint of an age-related ache or pain. Simply superb.

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A cask trader, a blender, an independent bottler, a whisky warehouseman, an experimenter and an explorer of flavours…  and whisky admirers, regular drammers and cask huggers.

Mortlach 12 Years Old

NOSE: Sultana & raisin, a hint of marzipan, Christmas pudding with sweet maltiness.

PALATE: Salted meat, espresso, dry roasted nut, and winter spices like nutmeg and clove.

FINISH: Oily finish with earthy spices and dark chocolate.

£99.00

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Aberdeen Whisky Shop
474 Union Street, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, AB10 1TS

GIRVAN DISTILLERY 32 Year Old 1989 The Golden Cask Cask #CG011

1989 vintage single bourbon barrel from the Lowland distillery, Invergordon 32 Year Old 1989 vintage LOWLAND single grain Scotch whisky. Single bourbon hogshead #CG011 bottled September 2022 by House of Macduff for the Golden Cask series. 157 numbered bottles.

£167.00

Buy Girvan 32 yo »

Girvan Distillery is a Scottish Lowland grain whisky distillery situated on the Ayrshire coast. It looks out to the island of Ailsa Craig the source of granite from which curling stones are shaped. William Grant and Sons Ltd opened this distillery in 1963 to supply grain whisky to their blends of scotch but with careful maturation in quality casks Girvan is also able to produce excellent single grain whiskies.