Inbox > October 28, 2011

Welcome to Inbox - our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has recently found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information if you want to. Here we go with the whisky news ... there's quite a bit this week!

Auchentoshan > Switch contest reaches finale

Martin stirs it up

A few weeks ago, we wrote in Inbox about an initiative being run by the Scottish Lowland distillery of Auchentoshan.  The Switch is a contest that sees a bartender from either side of the Atlantic swap countries to work in a top bar for one week.  We attended the UK final which was held in London earlier this week, which saw 18 top mixologists go head-to-head for the chance to work in the famous Apotheke bar in New York. The winner was Martin Ball from Corridor in Manchester, who created the Tight Corner Fizz using Auchentoshan Three Wood whisky and then had to present an Auchentoshan Master Class in the final.  The US winner was Charles Joly from The Drawing Room in Chicago. He will work at the legendary 69 Colebrooke Row in London for a week.

Ballantine's > Christmas Reserve 2011 launched

Christmas comes early

The popular blended Scotch whisky has announced the release a new product for Christmas.  The Ballantine's Christmas Reserve has been created by Ballantine's Master Blender Sandy Hyslop and has been designed to have a seasonal profile of dried fruits, cinnamon, spiced orange, pears and apples.  It will appear between now and Christmas in limited quantities and in limited markets including France, Spain, Taiwan and the UK. To support the the 2011 launch, Ballantine’s Brand Ambassador Fredrik Olsson has created a series of seasonal cocktails using the Christmas Reserve - the Golden Saffron Martini, the Spiced Hot Chocolate and Hot Christmas Punch - which we hope to have a go at making! Check out www.chivasbrothers.com for more info.

Bowmore > Tempest Batch No.3 released

A stormy dram?

The famous Islay distillery of Bowmore, which is the oldest on the island (founded 1779), has released Batch No.3 of its popular Tempest bottling.  The Tempest batches are released at cask strength and are matured for 10 years in ex-bourbon casks - 55.6% ABV and first filled casks respectively in this case.  Batch No.3 follows the two previous batches, which hauled in the prizes at various prestigious whisky awards and built up a cult following of fans.

Bowmore's Brand Manager Cara Laing comments, “We’ve released a small batch of Bowmore Tempest annually to great response. Every batch is slightly different but always reflects Bowmore’s raw spirit – it’s like tasting a dram straight out of a first fill bourbon cask in our famous No.1 Vaults." There are 11,000 bottles and they are available now worldwide with a suggested price of £50.

Buffalo Trace > Antique Collection 2011

The famous five

The popular Buffalo Trace distillery from Kentucky has announced that this year's Antique Collection will get a limited release in the UK, following the full release in the USA back in September.  The distillery makes numerous brands and they have been releasing some special editions of these on an annual basis since 2000. This year's highly anticipated bottlings are - Eagle Rare 17 years old, George T. Stagg 71.3% ABV, Sazerac 18 years old Rye, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye and W. L. Weller Wheated Rye.  Previous bottlings have been highly awarded at various shows and also in past editions of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.  The bourbons will be distributed in the UK by Hi-Spirits. For further info, check out this article on the must read www.bourbonblog.com.

Chivas > Employ Oscar winning director for project

The Chivas Regal blended Scotch has teamed up with Oscar winning director Joachim Back to produce two films about friendship.  The films, entitled Big Bear and Twinkle, centre around a group of four friends and follows them through the trials and tribulations of life. The films form part of Chivas Regal’s ongoing Live with Chivalry campaign which launched in 2008 and encourages men to aspire to not just to have more, but to be more. Film and Chivas Regal lovers can raise a glass to Big Bear or Twinkle and discover the full story online at www.chivas.com from 31 October 2011.  In the meantime, below is a short trailer ...



Drinkaware > New interactive video

The UK Drinkaware initiative, of which we are proud to be part, have released a new interactive video to help parents explain to their children about the effects of alcohol on their bodies and behaviour.  Drinkaware are an independent charity that aims to change the UK's drinking habits for the better by promoting responsible drinking of alcohol.  They do this by spreading knowledge and setting up initiatives to change the nation's drinking culture and help to reduce alcohol misuse. This new video, which you can take part with below, tackles the tricky subject of how to communicate with children and break down some of the 'myths' about alcohol by talking with them. Have a go and see where your conversation leads ... it's good fun and cleverly done, but with a serious message.