Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 8, 2019)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 23, 2018)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Inbox > July 29, 2011

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has recently found its way in to our email inbox. Inbox was born as we sadly 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. This week's edition features a couple of items that slipped through the net during our recent two week holiday. Apologies, but better late than never ...
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Annandale > A new Lowland distillery

OK - this is a bit of old news but we have only just discovered it! There is a distillery awakening from a very long sleep in the Lowland area of Scotland. It is called Annandale and is located in the town of Annan in Dumfries & Galloway, which is very close to the English border. Annandale was originally opened in 1830, but fell silent in 1919 and has remained unused ever since. That is until 2007, when the derelict site was purchased by David Thomson and Teresa Church. Now following extensive renovation, news has it that the distillery is almost ready to start producing single malt whisky again. We will bring you further news in the future, but in the mean time you can check out their website www.annandaledistillery.co.uk.

Canadian Club > Hire Aussie cricket legend!
The Canadian whisky brand has launched a new pre-mixed drink on to the Australian market - Canadian Club & Dry.  The 'face' of the advert campaign is former Australian cricketer and well-known drinker David Boon - the man famous for downing 52 cans of beer on an Ashes flight from Sydney to London!  Apparently, Boon's tastes have changed and he now prefers a Canadian Club & Dry to a beer.  Only time will tell if other Aussies follow his lead ... but in the meantime, check out the short advert below.



Dailuaine > Expansion plans announced

Diageo have submitted expansion plans to Moray Council for a significant expansion to their Speyside distillery at Dailuaine.  The distillery, which contributes large amounts of its single malt whisky to the company's popular Johnnie Walker blended range, will undergo a £9.5 million redevelopment to increase its current 3 million litre annual capacity.  The application is still at the consultation phase, which includes canvassing the opinions of local residents. The company's malt distilling director, Brian Higgs, Diageo's Distilling Director says, "Speyside is already at the heart of our malt distilling operations and I am delighted that, beginning with the Dailuaine proposal, we are looking at further enhancing our business in this area."

Glenfiddich > New Vintage released
The famous Speyside distillery, owned by William Grant & Sons, have announced the release of their latest annual Vintage Reserve.  This bottling was distilled in 1974 and the exceptional cask was selected by a panel consisting of Brian Kinsman (Glenfiddich's Malt Master), Ian Millar (Glenfiddich's Global Brand Ambassador) and the 13 Glenfiddich Brand Ambassadors from around the globe. Brian Kinsman comments, “This year’s Vintage Reserve selection is distinctively Glenfiddich, with rich, spicy oak notes and an amazing vibrancy for whisky of this age. The nose of the 1974 Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve is rich and oaky with vibrant vanilla sweetness and an intriguing hint of polished leather and liquorice. To taste, it’s initially very sweet with a vanilla toffee character – it’s a beautiful whisky.” Just 1,000 bottles will go on sale in September of this year.

Have just tried ... Canadian Club

Canadian Club is a blended whisky that is made by the Hiram Walker distillery. This is located in the city of Windsor in the Canadian province of Ontario and lies close to the shores of Lake Erie and the American border. Hiram Walker is named after its founder, who set up Canada's first legal whisky distillery on the same site as the current buildings in 1858.

Walker and his family quickly established a good reputation for their whisky and it became extremely popular among the wealthy classes and in gentlemans clubs in late 19th century Canada and the northern states of America. It became known as 'club whisky' and the current recipe was launched in 1884 and became known as Canadian Club in 1889. It was highly sought after because it was aged, as it is now, for six years which was rare in those days when most whisky or bourbon was aged for a year, if you were lucky.

Canadian Club is a blend of rye, malted barley and corn whiskies that are mixed with a neutral base spirit. It is made in a different way to traditional Scottish or Irish blended whiskies, in which the whiskies are matured and then blended and bottled. Canadian Club is blended when the whiskies are fresh off the still and then matured for six years in a combination of new oak and ex bourbon casks. This process is unique in the whisky industry. The current brand name is owned by giant drinks company Beam Global. Canadian Club is the best selling whisky in Canada and the biggest selling Canadian whisky around the world by some distance. Other Canadian whiskies are extremely hard to find outside of Canada but Canadian Club is available in over 150 countries.

The colour is golden and the nose takes time to reveal itself. Initially there is lots of spirit (reminded us of surgical spirit), then after 2-3 minutes more notes start to come through, although they are still somewhat understated. It becomes fresher and softer than before with some vanilla, sweet cereal grains and a hint of woody spice (think of nutmeg). On the palate, this is light, smooth and slightly creamy with a pleasant combination of caramel (imagine slightly burnt sugar), a hint of something oily (think of linseed oil, maybe?), some nuttiness (imagine walnuts) and the vanilla, grains and nutmeg from the nose. The finish quite long, clean and fresh with a pleasant and gentle dry grainy bitterness.

It is easy to see why Canadian Club is popular around the world as it offers something unique but not obscure or too complex for most palates. It is light, fresh, smooth and very easy to drink. The whisky is commonly used, as indeed are most blends, as a mixer or in cocktail. Canadian Club is available from larger supermarkets and independent spirits retailers in the UK and should cost around £20 a bottle.