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Whisk(e)y
musings, news & notes
A monthly
collection of select whisky news and our
personal rants. You won’t find any
industry profit/lose nonsense here;
we’ll let other sites cover that
THRILLING subject.
Bruichladdich – Scotch
New Multi-Vintage Single Malts
Bruichladdich have released three
dramatic new versions of their
successful multi-vintage range of single
malt whisky.
Each cuvée is masterfully assembled by
whisky legend Jim McEwan from several
ages of Bruichladdich single malt, from
different cask types and diverse whisky
characteristics.
The concept was originally inspired by
Champagne’s Remi Krug: “With a single
vintage, it is God who decides on the
quality. But with a multi-vintage, I am
God.”
The three new bottlings are Rocks, Waves
and Peat, each designed to show the full
repertoire of Bruichladdich style and
peat flavour - the whole gamut of Islay
whiskies.
MD Mark Reynier says: “They had evolved
haphazardly. We have brought them
together under one umbrella, new
bottlings, each with it’s own distinct
identity and flavour profile:”
“Rocks is the classic aperitif cuvée -
minimal peat, so deliciously fresh and
fruity - with a surprisingly
sophisticated flavour profile thanks to
the French oak cask influences.”
“Waves is mildly peaty at around 15ppm,
beguilingly elegant with oodles of
Bruichladdich finesse and fruit. A real
anytime of day dram.”
“Peat does what it says on the tin. It
replaces the 3D range, has been toned
down a bit with an average peatiness of
around 35ppm. Plenty of peat but with
out the medicine.”
BRUICHLADDICH
ROCKS in more ways than one – as
only Bruichladdich can.
Bruichladdich Rocks has been re-designed
as the first in Bruichladdich’s new
Multi-Vintage
Trilogy where Master Distiller, Jim
McEwan has selected superb quality casks
from a variety of
ages, and then has additionally matured
the spirit in excellent quality French
red wine casks to
create a layered, fruity and complex set
of whiskies. At a competitive price.
The quality is a testament to Jim’s
cooperage experience, his extraordinary
palate, the quality of
the American and French oak, and the
quality of the Rhinns of Islay water
that for millennia has
filtered up through the oldest rocks in
the whisky world. Lastly, bold new
packaging design gives Bruichladdich
Rocks a powerful presence on shelf and
reinforces its truly unique position in
the market.
TASTE DESCRIPTORS:
Red apple, pomegranate, spice, brown
sugar and vanilla.
BRUICHLADDICH
WAVES, the second in
Bruichladdich’s new Multi-Vintage
Trilogy range has been redeveloped for
2008 with striking new packaging design
and a new medium peated flavour profile.
Master distiller Jim McEwan has reduced
its peating level slightly to give it
wider appeal and has selected a mix of
different ages of Bruichladdich matured
in Bourbon and Madeira casks to create
an incredibly rich, medium peated
Bruichladdich. The bold new pack design
evokes the power of the Atlantic shores
of Islay – the home of Bruichladdich and
the marine influence that helps to make
our whisky so special – and gives
Bruichladdich Waves a powerful presence
on shelf and reinforces its truly unique
position in the market.
TASTE DESCRIPTORS:
Cranberry, dates, juniper berries,
citrus tang and fresh mint.
BRUICHLADDICH
PEAT, the third in
Bruichladdich’s new Multi-Vintage
Trilogy has been created to offer a
heavily peated flavour whisky – the
ultimate peat destination in this unique
new “trilogy”,
designed and crafted by our Head
Distiller, Jim McEwan. “Peat “ showcases
the unique heavily peated Bruichladdich
style where the heavier sea iodine
flavours that can dominate other Islay
peated whiskies is subdued and made more
elegant by Bruichladdich’s Victorian
long neck stills.
The bold new packaging design features
an atmospheric image of the Rhinns of
Islay, and gives
Bruichladdich Peat a powerful presence
on shelf and reinforces its truly unique
position in the
market.
TASTE DESCRIPTORS: Vanilla
wafers, pear, melon, cracked black
pepper and smoke.
www.bruichladdich.com
Highland Park –
Scotch
The Spectator
I have suggested before that Highland
Park is a single malt for the thinker;
the balance between sweetness and
aromatic peat encourages reflection.
It’s a perfect whisky with which to sit
in your favourite chair reading an
intelligent magazine, and they don’t
come much more thought-provoking than
The Spectator.
To commemorate the first 180 years of
The Spectator, a limited edition of 180
bottles of Highland Park 30 year old
have been commissioned. Highland Park
was established 30 years before The
Spectator so it is fitting that the
anniversary bottling should be a 30 year
old, the age of the distillery when the
magazine was launched.
Like The Spectator, Highland Park is
uncompromising in its approach with a
belief in heritage and a respect for
tradition. |
Colour:
Natural colour, dark red golden, clear
and bright.
Nose: Very
rich, mature oak, chocolate, fudge.
Palate:
Full, rich burst of flavour, soft honey,
nutty toffee.
Finish:
Rich, long and surprisingly sweet for
its age.
Highland
Park 30 Year Old merits time and
attention. It has spent 30 years
maturing so treat it with respect;
you’ll discover the characteristic fudge
sweetness together with complex aromatic
spices and dark chocolate orange. It has
a drying finish, leaving a gentle smoky
flavour and a mildly salty aftertaste.
The Spectator 180th Anniversary bottling
of Highland Park 30 year old is
available exclusively at
www.spectator.co.uk/events-and-offers/
or call The Spectator on 0207 961 0219 –
there are only 180 bottles priced at
£180. This will soon be very
collectable.
For more information about the Best
Spirit in the World visit
www.highlandpark.co.uk
Gerry
Head of Brand Education, Highland Park |
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Laphroaig – Scotch
Our Royal Visit.
First of all I must say what an honor it
was to receive Prince Charles and his
wife (The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay)
to Laphroaig last Wednesday.
The Prince has of course visited us once
before in 1994 to present us with his
personal coat of arms (it proudly adorns
every bottle of Laphroaig). I will be
posting a photograph album on the
website for you in the near future.
Laphroaig TV.
The internet has changed a great deal
recently - especially with Broadband.
Many of you have asked if we could now
show more video/film on the website . To
do this we have created a brand new
section called Laphroaig TV. You will
find it on the top menu bar on our
website.
In this section we have put my personal
Friends tour of the distillery (a must
view, I say!), last year’s Laphroaig
Live webcast (for those of you that did
not watch it live - and see below for
the upcoming Laphroaig Live). I will be
doing regular video blogs and
introducing you to all the members of
the distillery team over the next few
months. You will also get to meet some
of the characters on our island that
make Islay such a special community.
Have a look on the website, you will be
able to see my first video blog about
Laphroaig Live 2008.
The latest video blog we have made is
our Feis Ile Open Day that was on May
23rd, so you can all get a flavour of
this very special day. You will be able
to share our special tasting tours - at
the reservoir,the peat beds and the
malting floors. See Robert doing a
special bottlings tasting and you can be
at our Ceildth (Party) which is held in
the filling store at the end of the day.
I hope you enjoy it all and all the new
clips to come in future. Do please email
me with any additional suggestions you
may have for Laphroaig TV. However our
biggest film event of the year is
Laphroaig Live 2008! Live from the
Distillery!
Laphroaig Live! 2008
Last year we hosted our world-first
Laphroaig Live. It was broadcast from
London and was an enormous success with
many, many thousands of Friends joining
in from all parts of the globe.
Afterwards I had a flood of letters from
many of you asking if another one could
be held up here at the distillery
itself. Well, a satellite truck is on
its way... and on June the 18th we will
be broadcasting to you live on the web
at 20.00 hours (BST). You can’t say I
don’t try. So please put this date in
your diary now! The web site address is
www.laphroaig.com/live.
.
No 1 Warehouse itself!
Yes, we will be filming in our most
historic building, surrounded by ranks
of sleeping Laphroaig. This year, we
have invited as our special guest
Martine Nouet (Queen of the stills).
Probably France’s leading expert on Malt
Whiskies - indeed Islay whiskies are her
specialty. Of course Robert and myself
will be there as last year.
We have some fabulous tastings lined up.
Some you already know, plus we’ve some
new ones you haven’t yet seen!
First we will be tasting our classic 10
year old. We will then be comparing our
multi-award-winning Quarter Cask with a
new expression - Laphroaig Triple Wood.
This expression has been matured in
three different types of barrels:
ex-bourbon, Quarter Casks, and European
Oak. However, it’s so new it hasn’t even
been bottled! You will see this new
expression being drawn straight from the
barrel for the first time live!
Robert will be tasting and discussing
his latest Friends creation Cairdeas
(which means friendship in Gaelic).
Those of you who were able to buy a
bottle I hope you have left some for a
live group tasting! There are, I think,
a few left in the online shop.
To round off the evening, we have
another surprise: a special limited
edition double matured 30 year old.
As those of you who watched our
broadcast last year may remember, we
introduced a 25 year old (matured in
sherry and bourbon casks) to replace 30
year old. However we held back the last
little amount of 30 year old and gave it
a final maturation to create the
ultimate 30 called Cairdeas 30 year old.
Why Cairdeas? Because it will not appear
in any shops it will only be available
to you, our Friends of Laphroaig! These
individually numbered bottles will go on
sale later in the year in our online
shop. Only Robert has tasted it so far,
so I await June 18th with baited breath.
All in all it will be a fabulous, action
packed 45 minutes. We will also be
running some competitions for great
prizes. Just like last year, you can
send in your questions before the
evening by posting them on the website
at (www.laphroaig.com/live) or indeed
submit them live on the evening. Every
question read during the broadcast will
get a prize. Make sure to download a
special tasting mat to taste along with
us. You can also print off this years
special tasting mat and join in the
tasting with us.
I really hope you will all join me for
Laphroaig Live on June 18th. Please do
forward this email to any of your
friends who would like to see a live
webcast from the finest distillery in
the world, as you do not need to be a
plot holder to watch, and it will be fun
for every single malt lover. See you
there at 20.00 hours BST (19.00 GMT) at
www.laphroaig.com/live
Slainthe
John Campbell
As a worldwide leader in the distilled
spirits industry, Beam Global Spirits &
Wine, Inc. is committed to producing and
responsibly promoting the world's
premier brands for adults of legal
purchase age. We are a leader in
educating the public about making
responsible choices regarding alcohol
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information.
Drams You Need To Try (if you haven’t
already)
Scotland
Laphroaig Quarter Cask: A peat
explosion.
Scotland:
PC6: Simply amazing!
American
Parker’s Heritage Collection: You don’t
drink this bourbon, you experience it.
One of the best super premium bourbons
on the market.
Cocktail of the Month (PLEASE!!! just
don’t use anything too expensive)
Scotch
Royale
1 1/2 oz Scotch
1 cube Sugar
1 dash Bitters
Chilled Champagne
Add sugar, scotch and bitters to a
champagne glass and fill with champagne.
Link of the Month - Aberlour – Scotch
www.aberlour.com
A great site to go along with their
great distillery tour.
Quote of the
Month
"What butter and whiskey
won't cure, there is no cure for."
Irish
Saying
Picture of the Month
The Balvenie
As you tour the Balvenie distillery, you
almost feel like you’ve stepped back in
time. Machinery that’s been used for
generations mixed in with modern
equipment that is still older then me.
You breathe in and absorb the tradition,
craftsmanship and history that goes into
each bottle and what makes Balvenie one
of the most sought after single malts
around the world.
Balvenie is not unique. With the
exception of bottling and malting,
whisky making has changed very little.
Unfortunately the malting floors and
distillery employed peat cutters are now
a thing of the past. Most distilleries
buy malted barley from companies who
specialize in the process and use modern
equipment to produce any variation of
peated or unpeated malt the distillery
may need. Balvenie and very few others
still perform the process onsite.
Distillery jobs are usually jobs for
life and are passed down from generation
to generation. Copper stills are hand
made and most distilleries will go to
great lengths to ensure new stills are
exact replicas of the ones they replace.
Some go even as far as recreating dents
in the new stills that match dents in
the old ones. It’s all about consistency
and craftsmanship. A great water supply
also doesn’t hurt. I think that’s part
of what makes Single Malt whisky so
special, you can almost touch the
history when you open a new bottle.
Nothing tops the anticipation and
experience of trying a new dram for the
first time. Even if you don’t like it,
pause to appreciate the skill and time
that went into making it.
Most distilleries are now owned by huge
corporations but for the most part
they’ve stayed out of the whisky making
process. Thankfully, these giant
conglomerates have stuck to the
marketing end of things and let’s hope
they continue to do so. Just please stop
asking me to mix my malt with ginger ale
or some other awful concoction. I don’t
want to mask the smell and taste that
I’m paying a premium for. I know it’s
important to market and attract the
young hip vodka crowd but make sure you
remember the folks who brought you to
the dance.
We pay a premium for the drams we love.
Many of us wouldn’t think twice about
spending $50 to $100 on a good single
malt but would never dream of spending
that much on a bottle of Vodka. We’re
paying for the craftsmanship and the
time it takes to properly age a good
dram. We’re also paying for the
expensive specialty and rare casks that
are used in the maturation process and
of coarse the hefty taxes the government
requires (on both sides of the pond).
But in the end it’s still worth it,
after all, you’re not buying something
you’re going to mix with fruit juice but
a work of art that should be slowly
savored during those quite and special
moments in life.
Cheers,
Jeff , The Whisky Guild
Jeff turning the malt at The Balvenie
Distillery
Remember to always
drink responsibly and like what YOU like
& how YOU like it.
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