Inbox > March 18, 2011

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! 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. There is plenty to get through this week, so grab a dram and enjoy ...
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Albannach > Women only event
The Albannach bar, located on London’s Trafalgar Square, is holding their first ever women only whisky tasting event on Tuesday 29 March. It is part of a series of events at the venue to celebrate Women’s History Month. The women only whisky tasting will be hosted by guest speaker Gillian McDonald the Head Distiller at Penderyn, the Welsh whisky distillery in the Brecon Beacons. Tickets are still available at £35 a head and can be booked by going to www.albannach.co.uk.

Arran > The ‘Westie’ is released
The Isle of Arran Distillers have announced the third edition to their award winning Icons of Arran series of limited edition single malts – the Westie. This follows on from the Peacock and Rowan Tree releases. The Westie is inspired by Master Distiller James MacTaggart’s dog – a west Highland terrier (or ‘westie’) named Ruaraidh, who is a popular character around the Arran distillery. This limited edition contains 6,000 bottles and is constructed from just 22 specially selected ex-sherry casks, hand picked by MacTaggart. These casks were distilled and laid down to mature in 1998. The Westie is bottled at 46% ABV and should cost around £40 – it is available from specialist whisky retailers or www.arranwhisky.com.

Bushmills > Make It 2 Bushmills competition
Bushmills, the famous Irish whiskey distillery, have launched a new competition yesterday on St. Patrick’s Day. Make It 2 Bushmills is easy to enter and can be done so via their Facebook page. The prize is a two week crash course in whiskey making at the Bushmills distillery on the north County Antrim coast, close to the famous Giant’s Causeway. This includes tutoring by Master Distiller Colum Egan, £5,000 spending money, staying in a plush penthouse apartment overlooking the sea and creating your own unique version of Bushmills whiskey. Colum will then take Bushmills back to the winner’s home country and hold a large party, featuring the unveiling of their unique bottling of Bushmills. The short film below explains more ... Good luck!

Glencairn > Wins another award
The last month or so has seen a number of major whisky awards and our email inbox has been bombarded with press releases and news reporting on the award winning whiskies or distilleries. We chose not to report about these, as the results are widely available and it would be too time consuming to give each winner the attention it deserves. However, one such press release did catch our attention – Glencairn, the innovative whisky glassware manufacturer and primary supplier to the Scottish whisky industry, has won the prestigious Industry Leader of the Year as awarded by top American whisky magazine Malt Advocate.

The company, owned by the Davidson family has already won numerous awards – founder Raymond Davidson said, “To be named Industry Leader of the Year in an environment dominated by international whisky and blending companies is a tremendous accolade. Our Glencairn Whisky Glass has been a huge success as a product, with sales of over one million glasses a year worldwide. The company has grown through a truly innovative approach to the market that has led us to the forefront of premium packaging for some of the world’s rarest and most expensive whiskies.”

VisitScotland > New advert
This is nothing to do with whisky really, but we received notification about the new advert campaign for VisitScotland – the country’s tourism operator. Entitled ‘Surprise Yourself’, the advert shows different locations and scenes from around Scotland and offers ideas for alternative activities for visits or holidays. We think that it is well shot, shows some lovely scenes and just thought that we would share it with you. You can also read more information and watch other clips about each location in the advert by visiting the ‘Surprise Yourself’ page on www.visitscotland.com. Enjoy!

Inbox > March 4, 2011

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! 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 are this week's findings ...
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Collingwood Canadian Whisky launched
Brown-Forman, the Kentucky based bourbon whiskey producer, has announced the launch of a new Canadian whisky in its portfolio. Collingwood is made in small batches from Canadian cereals, uses water from Georgian Bay in Ontario and is triple distilled. It is then matured in white oak casks, before undergoing a unique process called Maplewood mellowing (we are still trying to find out exactly what this means! - Matt). Collingwood is packaged in an extraordinary looking bottle (pictured, left) and will initially only be available in the states of Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas. More markets will be introduced through 2011 and the recommended price point is $26.99.

English Whisky Company > Royal Wedding whisky on its way!
The Norfolk based distillery, which is the only whisky distillery in England, has announced a new release to celebrate the forthcoming Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April. The whisky is a marriage of their peated and unpeated expressions, which have both been aged in first fill ex-bourbon casks from the famous Jim Beam distillery. In addition, there is also some whisky that has been matured in ex-red wine casks in the marriage. The Royal Wedding whisky will be bottled at 46% ABV in mid March and will be available from the English Whisky Company’s online shop from the end of the month … just in time for the wedding!! To pre-order a bottle (cost £65 each plus postage), go to www.englishwhisky.co.uk.

Lagavulin > meet the new Distillery Manager
The iconic distillery on the famous whisky island of Islay has a new Distillery Manager. Lagavulin have announced the appointment of Georgie Crawford, who is an Ileach (a person born on Islay) in to the role and she replaces the out-going Peter Crawford. Both are featured in the short film below, where they explain how they became interested in whisky, what their influences are, their favourite stories from their time in the industry and what it means to them to work at Lagavulin.

Inbox > February 25, 2011

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! 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 are this week's findings ...
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Chivas Regal & Vivienne Westwood
A new bespoke packaging design has been unveiled to celebrate London Fashion Week, which is now on. It celebrates the collaboration between the world famous Chivas Regal blended whisky, owned by Pernod Ricard, and iconic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. The whisky in question is the Chivas Regal 18 years old and it is encased in a cloak of Westwood’s Union Jack print – this is to celebrate the year 1801, when both the current design of the Union Jack and the Chivas blends first appeared. The exclusive and limited release will consist of just 2,500 bottles and will be available globally for a retail price of $495.

Knob Creek > new bottling released
The American bourbon brand, owned by Beam Global, has announced a new bottling in its range – Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve. This is the first ever single barrel release of Knob Creek and each barrel has been hand selected for its supreme quality. It has been matured in charred new American oak barrels for nine years and is bottled at an alcoholic strength of 60% ABV (120 proof). The Single Barrel Reserve will initially only be available in the USA and will have a retail price of $40. Fred Noe, Beam’s seventh generation distiller and son of Booker Noe (the man who introduced the Knob Creek brand to the market) says, “we pay close attention to the barrels we select as we want to ensure that we’re bottling an extraordinary bourbon with a complex balance of aroma and taste.” For further information, go to www.knobcreek.com.

William Grant & Sons > new shop at airport
The famous owners of the Grant’s blended whisky range and top selling single malts such as Glenfiddich and Balvenie, have opened a designated Grant’s whisky store in Terminal 2F at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. The shop features all of the Grant’s range, including the 25 years old and Distillery Edition expressions which are only available through Duty Free/Travel Retail channels. William Grant & Sons have decided to temporarily showcase their whiskies at the airport, which accommodates three million travellers each year, to celebrate the company’s incredible sales in France in recent years.

Inbox > February 11, 2011

Inbox is back after its festive break and is ready to bring you more news! Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! 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 are this week's findings ...
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Glenmorangie > Finealta's official European launch
This week has seen the official European launch of Glenmorangie's latest single malt - the Finealta (pronounced fin-alta). The whisky is the first Glenmorangie to be made in the peaty, smoky style for nearly a century and it is a recreation of a recipe found amongst some old documents from the early 1900s. Finealta is already available, having been given soft launches to certain travel retail/Duty Free markets last autumn and then to the UK retail market last month.

The European launch was held at the famous (and recently renovated) Savoy Hotel in London. To mark the occasion, the Savoy's American Bar has created a Finealta based whisky cocktail named 'Smoke & Mirrors'. This is served in a Martini glass and is made with Finealta, aromatic bitters, Benedictine and a French aperitif called Byrrh with a garnish of orange twist. To read our recent review of Glenmorangie Finealta - click here.

Lagavulin > Sponsors Islay Jazz Festival
Diageo, the owners of the iconic and smoky Lagavulin single malt whisky from the western island of Islay, have announced that they are to continue sponsoring the Islay Jazz Festival in 2011. Lagavulin sponsored the event last year and this year's event takes place on 16-18 September. The festival attracts hundreds of jazz lovers and musicians to Islay each year and it takes place at various locations around the famous whisky island. Fiona Alexander from promoters Jazz Scotland welcomed the second year of sponsorship by commenting, ”With its distinctive and rich programme and undeniable sense of place, the Festival shares the values of its sponsor: Lagavulin. Both are fine Islay products with world-class appeal”. Highlights of last year's festival can be viewed at www.islayjazzfestival.co.uk.

Inbox > January 21, 2011

Inbox is back after its festive break and is ready to bring you more news! Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. There is quite a lot to get through this week, so grab a decent dram, sit back and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Arran > Machrie Moor released
The award winning Isle of Arran Distillers have released their first ever peaty, smoky whisky on to the market. It is called Machrie Moor and is named after the moorland on the west of the island where the peat for the whisky was dug up. The whisky will be released annually and this first release contains just 9,000 bottles. It is being sold in Arran’s key worldwide markets – France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK and the USA. The release is also in new packaging with the bottle made from dark green glass with gold lettering. Machrie Moor is bottled at 46% ABV and will retail at around £40 from specialist whisky retailers and Arran’s website. Isle of Arran Distillery Managing Director Euan Mitchell says “we’re very proud of our first peated whisky and thought it merited a new look to separate it from the regular un-peated Arran malt. This peated expression of the Arran single salt perfectly captures the rugged beauty and lore of the landscape”.

Maker’s Mark > President steps down
The President of Maker’s Mark distillery in Loretto, Kentucky is stepping down this April. Bill Samuels Jnr. has been the head of the famous American bourbon distillery for 35 years and has announced that he will retire shortly. He has overseen the growth of the brand from cult bourbon into a best seller. Bill Samuels Jnr. is the son of the founder of the modern Maker’s Mark, Bill Samuels Snr, and the seventh generation to continue the family’s tradition of bourbon making which was first started in Kentucky by Robert Samuels in 1784. His role will be taken over by his son, Rob Samuels. You can hear an interview with Bill Samuels Jnr. about the announcement, his time at Maker’s Mark and his thoughts for the future by downloading last week’s WhiskyCast podcast (episode no.298 16/1/11).

Midleton > new releases announced
The Irish distillery of Midleton have released two new limited edition whiskies under the Midleton name. The first is exclusive to the new Irish Whiskey Collection in Dublin Airport Terminal 2 – this is a 19 year old pot still whiskey matured in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at a cask strength of 53.7% ABV. There are only 200 bottles and each will cost €260. The second is exclusive to The Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dawson Street, Dublin. It is 14 years of age, has been matured in ex-bourbon casks and is bottled at 46% ABV. There are just 270 bottles released and each will cost €225. The brand’s owners Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard CEO Alex Ricard said, “we are giving consumers more opportunities to experience the wonderful whiskey complexities of Midleton with these new single cask, single pot still expressions”.

Rabbie’s Trail Burners > two new tours for 2011
Luxury tour company Rabbie’s Trail Burners have announced two new whisky based tours for their 2011 portfolio. Both are eight days long and take in some of the most spectacular landscape and distilleries that the whisky world has to offer. The first is the Whisky Coast Explorer Tour, which will take in visits to the isles of Mull, Skye and Islay and Scotland’s west coast. It includes visits to Bruichladdich, Bowmore, Kilchoman, Laphroaig and Oban distilleries. The second is the Islay, Edinburgh & Speyside Tour which will take in many of the distilleries on the first tour, before moving on to Dalwhinnie, Benromach and Glenlivet plus the Speyside Cooperage. To book or get further information, go to www.rabbies.com.

Whyte & Mackay > Shackleton whisky returns home
The whisky that was recently found preserved under the Antarctic ice has been flown back to Scotland by private jet. The bottles of Whyte & Mackay whisky, which accompanied polar explorer Eric Shackleton on his failed expedition to the South Pole in 1907, have been temporarily returned by The Antarctic Heritage Trust to Whyte & Mackay for analysis. Three bottles have been removed and will undergo the analysis by Whyte & Mackay’s legendary master blender Richard Paterson, before being returned to Antarctica to be placed back where they were discovered. For further information, go to www.whyteandmackay.co.uk or watch the short video below.

The Glenrothes Whisky Makers competition

Fancy making some single malt whisky next year? Now you can, as Glenrothes are offering the chance to spend a week at the Speyside distillery in Scotland and to learn about all aspects of whisky production. Four lucky winners of the Glenrothes Whisky Makers competition will be selected to take part in the week long 'once in a lifetime' experience next Spring - all you have to do to enter is visit www.theglenrothes.com/whiskymaker and write why you deserve to be selected. The competition was launched back in October and the closing date is January 31 2011.

Glenrothes is one of the largest Scotch whisky distilleries in the Speyside region of Scotland. It is located within the town of Rothes and has a capacity of approximately 5.5 million litres per year. The distillery was founded in 1878 by Stuart & Co. and since the early 1990s has been owned by Berry Brothers & Rudd, the famous London wine and spirits merchants. They signed up to distribute Glenrothes as a single malt whisky, in return for the use of the whisky in their popular Cutty Sark blended whisky range. They introduced the current vintage system for Glenrothes single malt whisky and in 1999 were joined by the Edrington Group in partnership. The range and popularity of the Glenrothes single malts continues to grow under this ownership and the distillery still provides the signature whisky for the Cutty Sark range.

The prize for the Glenrothes Whisky Makers competition offers a fantastic opportunity for the four lucky winners. Each winner will stay for the week at Rothes House, a former parish residence belonging to the church, where they will be hosted by the legendary Ronnie Cox, the Global Brand Director of Glenrothes, and Gordon Motion, the Glenrothes Malt Master. The whisky making experience will cover everything from testing the local water quality, through to the milling, mashing, fermentation and distillation processes, before finally trying their arm at cask making in the on site cooperage and studying maturing casks and selecting some for bottling. In addition, other activities will be undertaken such as fishing, dining and walking in the beautiful local area.

This competition offers a real 'dream come true' experience and entering is simple, so why not have a go before the end of January? We wish you good luck.

Inbox > December 17, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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.

However, with most PR and marketing departments winding down for the Christmas and New Year festive season, news and information have been in short supply this week. As a result, we have decided put Inbox in to hibernation for a couple of weeks until things pick up again. We are planning the next Inbox for Friday January 14 2010 (news permitting!).

We would also like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate two friends and supporters of Whisky for Everyone since our early days - Keith Wood and Oliver Klimek - who this week became members of the elite group of Malt Maniacs. The Maniacs are a small group comprising members, who are all whisky fans and/or journalists, from all around the globe and their website is a 'must read' for all whisky drinkers - visit www.maltmaniacs.org for more details. We eagerly await the first contributions of Keith (who runs the incredibly detailed Whisky Emporium website) and Oliver (who writes the excellent dramming.com whisky website) to the Malt Maniacs. Check out both of their great sites if you haven't already.

Inbox > December 10, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Alex James and Athenaeum – new cheese and whisky menu
A new whisky and cheese menu has been created at a central London hotel. It has been created by former Blur guitarist and now cheese maker Alex James (pictured, in centre) and two staff at the Anthenaeum hotel in Piccadilly, London – David Marshall, the hotel’s Head Chef (pictured, on left) and Angelo Gobbi (pictured, on right), the hotel’s Whisky Sommelier (yes, they have a whisky sommelier!). The Athenaeum ‘s whisky bar contains a range of over 270 whiskies and the menu can be sampled either there or in the comfort of your room.

The menu includes such combinations as Chivas Regal 12 years old served with Westcombe Cheddar and Gentleman Jack from Jack Daniel’s with Suffolk Gold. Alex James comments, “the range of flavours spanned by first class cheese and whisky is so vast that matching them can be quite a tricky business. Sometimes it's the most unlikely combinations that produce the most spectacular results”. In addition, James has created a whisky infused cheese, named Athenaeum, which will be exclusively sold at the hotel.

Glendronach – best score in the Malt Maniac Awards
The results for the annual Malt Maniac Awards have been published earlier this week and the whisky industry has been taking in the results. The Malt Maniacs are a group of whisky connoisseurs that are spread around the world and 11 of the ‘Maniacs’ took part in this year’s judging process, which included a whopping 262 whiskies entered! The highest scoring whisky was the Gold Medal winning Glendronach 1972, which is matured in an ex-Oloroso sherry cask (cask number 700, to be exact!). Regional Sales Director Alistair Walker was delighted: “To be awarded first place ahead of another 261 fine whiskies is a wonderful achievement". Glendronach also celebrated a Silver Medal for their Grandeur 31 years old bottling and a Bronze for the 18 years old Allardice from their core range. The full list of medal winners can be found on the Malt Maniacs website - click here for the results page.

Jameson – tops 3 million for sales
The owners of the famous Irish whiskey brand has announced that it has just broken through the three million bottles barrier for annual sales for the first time ever. These figures are for the year between November 2009 and October 2010 and consolidate Jameson’s standing as the world’s best selling Irish whiskey, by far. Jameson is made at the Midleton distillery in County Cork and the brand is owned by multi-national drinks giant Pernod Ricard. The published figures represent a total 9% growth in world sales with certain markets showing particularly decent increases – the USA was +24%, Russia +8% and both France and South Africa were +7%. Alex Ricard, the Irish CEO of Pernod Ricard, comments “we are delighted with the progress of Jameson globally. Almost 230 years since the Jameson Distillery was founded, this is a huge achievement for the brand. It is the passion of the people behind the Jameson brand that is one of the greatest reasons for our success”.

Inbox > December 3, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Glenfiddich - iPhone app launched
The famous Speyside distillery owned by William Grant & Sons has announced the launch of the Glenfiddich application (or app for short) for the iPhone. The app attempts to bring the Glenfiddich whisky experience to beginners and connoisseurs alike and contains a number of interesting features. These include the Dram Directory (a list of selected bars and pubs in the UK that serve Glenfiddich - it tells you the closest one to your current location), Glenfiddich Distilled (lists of facts about all aspects of Glenfiddich, including history, production, products, Glenfiddich Explorers and video clips) and Malt Mastermind (a multiple choice quiz that helps brush up your Glenfiddich knowledge). The app can be downloaded for free from the App Store. We have downloaded it - it looks good and is very informative (plus the quiz is fun, if not annoyingly tricky in places!)

Jura - new photographic competition
The Jura distillery, owned by Whyte & Mackay, have announced the launch of Wish You Were Here - an online photographic competition in which they ask for your images of the world's most inspiring places. They have teamed up with VisitScotland as part of a new initiative to get people to visit Scotland and sample some of its speciality foods and drink. The prize is for three lucky winners (one from the UK, one from Europe and one from the USA) and includes a week long stay on the isle of Jura with all travel arrangement paid, a VIP tour of the Jura distillery, an Olympus digital camera and a two day photography masterclass by Jim Richardson from The National Geographic. The competition runs until 21 January 2011 and for details of how to enter, go to www.isleofjura.com/wishyouwerehere.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society - hotel partnership expanded
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society and hotel chain Hotel du Vin have announced an expansion of their collaboration to a further nine hotels. The collaboration was originally started in January of this year and involved three hotels with the chain. This initial trial meant that the Society's members and whisky enthusiasts could enjoy a range of their whiskies in these three hotels and it has proved so popular amongst guests that they are rolling it out to the whole hotel chain. In addition to the SMWS whiskies being behind the bar, guests will get the chance to match whiskies with their restaurant meals and there will also be bespoke whisky tastings at each venue. For further information, go to www.smws.com or www.hotelduvin.com.

Inbox > November 26, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Glengoyne - wins a top prize
The distillery, owned by Ian MacLeod Distillers, has won the gold medal in the Scottish Field Whisky Challenge for its 21 years old release. The Challenge was launched in 2001 and has quickly become one of the most prestigious and highly anticipated awards in the whisky industry. This year's judges included Darren Leitch of The Whisky Shop chain, Richard Joynson of Loch Fyne Whiskies, Keir Sword of Royal Mile Whiskies and Tatsuya Minagawa of The Highland Inn. The Glengoyne 21 years old is 100% matured in ex-sherry casks and Alan Wardrop, UK sales manager at Ian Macleod Distillers, commented: "It is a real honour to be so highly commended by a team of such well-respected judges. It really is testimony to Glengoyne’s craftsmanship and heritage passed down over the generations".

Masters of Malt - win a year's supply of whisky
The online retailer has launched their new 'Golden Dram' competition in which five lucky winners will each receive a year's supply of whisky. The competition celebrates the release of Master of Malt's new dram sets - these consist of 24 different tasting sample sets, with each including five labeled samples. Sets available include the 'Super Peaty', 'Regions of Scotland' and 'Old and Rare Malts'. The 'Golden Dram' tickets have been hidden in five random tasting sets and if you find one before the end of November then you will win a free Gold Membership, worth £499.95. Gold members receive a year's supply of whisky, with 10 drams every month. For further information and to order your tasting sets, visit www.mastersofmalt.com.

Inbox > November 19, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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International Wine & Spirits Competition awards
A number of distilleries and whisky companies are celebrating following the prestigious International Wine & Spirits Competition (or IWSC) awards night, which was held in London this week. Here are a few of the notable winners from the press releases that we have received.

Independent Irish distillery Cooley have won the European Distillery of the Year for the third year running, with Managing Director Jack Teeling commenting, “our success is based on innovation, a range of world class whiskies and a lot of hard work!” Elsewhere, the family owned William Grant & Sons were awarded two top prizes – Distiller of the Year and International Distiller of the Year. Brian Kinsman, Grants’ Master Blender, commented, “We’re absolutely delighted – it is truly testament to the hard work that the whole team put in to produce the very best drams”.

Macallan – 64 years old sells for $460,000!
This bottle of Macallan single malt was sold earlier this week by auction house Sotherby’s in New York. An unidentified female buyer paid a whopping $460,00 (£288,000) for it, making it by far the most expensive whisky ever sold. The money from the sale, plus other money raised from a 12 city world tour where consumers could pay for 10cl samples, will go to charity:water – an organisation that helps provide safe drinking water in under privileged areas of the world. The whisky is so expensive as it is the oldest Macallan single malt whisky ever released (64 years of age) and is housed in a bespoke and unique handmade crystal decanter from the famous Lalique company.

The Whisky Shop – New TV advert
The UK’s largest whisky retail chain has launched its new innovative TV advert. The Whisky Shop chain currently has 16 stores in Scotland and England – for store locations, check out their website www.whiskyshop.com - and the advert will be screened over the next two weeks on Scottish TV. The advert attempts to make buying whisky easier by demystify the tasting notes associated with whisky. This is shown by physically mixing two key descriptors together, next to the whisky for which these descriptors are commonly used. To view the advert, click the link below.

News > Penderyn launch Welsh Whisky Wednesdays

We are delighted to announce that Penderyn, the only Welsh single malt whisky, are today launching a new initiative - Welsh Whisky Wednesday. The aim of this new initiative is to raise awareness of Penderyn whisky and get more people to sample it, especially those who may not previously tried it or considered trying it. Each wednesday the Welsh distillery will be placing sampling bottles of Penderyn behind some of London's best bars and these venues will change each week. The venues will be announced each wednesday morning and the first two venues are the iconic whisky bar Albannach on Trafalgar Square and the Mint Leaf Lounge in The City.

So, how does it work? Firstly, you have to be over 18 years of age but otherwise it sounds easy! The sample of Penderyn is free to every consumer who comes to one of the venues between 5-7pm and mentions 'Welsh Whisky Wednesday' to the bar staff. They will then give you a complimentary dram of Aur Cymru ('Welsh Gold' in English) Penderyn whisky. This is limited to one dram per person. You don't need to book ahead, pay or buy anything else, join or sign up for a club - just turn up and ask for your free Penderyn dram!

As mentioned, Penderyn will be announcing the new promotional venues for Welsh Whisky Wednesday each wednesday morning. You can find these out via Penderyn's Facebook page or @PenderynWhisky on Twitter. For further information on the Penderyn distillery, go to their website www.welsh-whisky.co.uk or check out our distillery visit review and notes. Enjoy!

Inbox > November 12, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Azerbaijan starts making whisky
The former Soviet state is starting to produce its own whisky in December. It will be made by the Tovuz-Baltiya Company, which was founded in 1989, who already make a range of fruit wines, brandies and vodka. Tovuz-Baltiya's general director, Naig Mammadhasanov, has said that their new whisky will be exported to the local market plus new expanding markets such as China, Eastern Europe and India. Watch this space!

EliteMarket.com - new 3D whisky shopping experience
EliteMarket.com, an innovative and revolutionary luxury brand website, has launched their new Fine Malt Whisky Cellar. This offers the world's first ever virtual 3D platform to offer a fully immersive shopping environment in which users can access information and purchase some of the finest malt whisky brands on the market. The brands used in the launch are Balblair, Dalmore, Fettercairn and Old Pulteney, with more to join soon. We tried it out and it is great fun and very easy to use! To take your own tour of the EliteMarket Fine Malt Whisky Cellar and to make any purchases - click here. For further information on the EliteMarket and the other facets of luxury lifestyle that they cater for, please visit www.elitemarket.com.

Yamazaki - 1984 bottling wins highest accolade
A whisky from Japan's oldest whisky distillery has won the top prize at the International Spirits Challenge awards, held in London this week. Yamazaki, the Suntory owned distillery that was formed in 1923, entered their 1984 vintage whisky against 300 other whiskies from around the globe and walked off with first prize. The whisky then went on to win the Supreme Spirit Champion prize, which is awarded to the best spirit from across all the spirit categories. This makes it the first Japanese product to win either of the prestigious awards.

Inbox > November 5, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Deanston – new whisky launched
The Highland distillery, currently owned by Burn Stewart Distillers, has announced a new whisky to sit alongside the existing Deanston 12 years old. This is called Deanston Virgin Oak and is finished in new American oak casks from Kentucky USA and is bottled at 46.3% ABV. The packaging will be closer to the other recently re-launched Burn Stewart single malts – the Bunnahabhain 12 years old, Ledaig and Tobermory 10 years old – than the current Deanston.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society - chance of a lifetime!
The famous whisky society has announced a once in a lifetime chance to win the contents of one of their single casks. It is open to UK members only. The whisky in question is a cask of 48.21 (number 48 in their numerical system is rumoured to be Balmenach distillery), that has developed a leak. In a bid to save some of the precious whisky they have bottled the remaining liquid, giving just 37 bottles in total. For the chance to win all 37 bottles, members only have to buy a 70cl bottle from their collection before 13 December - they will then be entered autromatically in to the prize draw! For further information, check out this article from the great Whisky Intelligence site or by going direct to The Society's website at www.smws.com.

Whisky For Movember
It’s November, so that means it is again time for Whisky For Movember - the official UK charity that raises money during the course of November by growing moustaches (or a 'mo' - get it?) for the whole month. The group is made up of people from across the whisky industry - writers, bloggers and drinkers. For more details or to donate can be found at www.whisky4movember.com or on Twitter @whisky4movember. Whisky For Movember is part of the larger Movember charity group, which was started in Australia. Movember aims to raise awareness and money for a series of male health issues, primarily The Prostate Cancer Charity. For further details or to donate to Movember, then check out www.movember.com.

Inbox > October 29, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Glenfiddich – ‘One Day You Will …’ campaign launched
The famous Speyside distillery have announced a new advertising campaign that they believe is a departure from traditional single malt marketing and will strengthen the brand’s position as the world’s number one single malt whisky. The campaign is called One Day You Will … and encourages consumers to meet life’s exciting challenges. It will involve printed and filmed advertisements, including new cinema promos, and ties in with the recent Glenfiddich Explorers launch. More information will shortly be available on www.glenfiddich.co.uk.

Glenglassaugh - Manager's Legacy bottlings
The reborn Speyside distillery has proudly announced a new range of single cask bottlings named the Manager's Legacy. Four bottlings are being released to commemorate the work of the distillery's four managers between 1960 and 1986, when Glenglassaugh was closed. Each will be named after one of the four - Walter Grant, Bert Forsyth, Jim Cryle and Dod Cameron - and will be selected from the corresponding years of their tenures. The Jim Cryle and Dod Cameron are released in early November, with the other two following in early 2011. Check out www.glenglassaugh.com for more details.

Jura – Anniversary bottling announced
The island distillery was founded in 1810 and celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. To celebrate this, they are releasing a special limited edition 21 years old whisky to sit alongside their current award winning range. The whisky has been matured in vintage Oloroso sherry casks and will be available from the distillery and selected retail partners. Jura are also offering 21 free trips to the island and distillery as part of the release. For further info, go to www.isleofjura.com.

The World’s Best Whiskies – new book launched
In this new book, Dominic Roskrow the eminent whisky writer, journalist and author of the excellent blog The Whisky Tasting Club, has selected 750 of what he considers to be the best whiskies in the world. In conjunction with this, he is undertaking a mini book signing tour of the UK calling at Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrew’s, Norwich, Guildford and Abingdon. Dominic has also recorded a number of clips for YouTube about whisky and whisky tasting. We have included one below. Enjoy!

Inbox > October 22, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Amrut – Limited release announced
Amrut, the innovative Indian single malt whisky distiller from Bangalore, has released another limited edition – Amrut 100. This whisky has been matured in handmade 100 litre casks, bottled at 100 proof (57.1% ABV) and is presented in 100cl bottles. There will only be 100 numbered bottles rleased in to five specific markets (Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK). The 100 is a peaty expression of the award winning Amrut single malt.

Classic Malts – Claim Your Share promotion
The range of single malt whiskies promoted under the Classic Malts banner are offering Friends of the Classic Malts the opportunity to sample a free dram. The whiskies in the promotion are Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Singleton of Dufftown and Talisker. If you are not a Friend of the Classic Malts already, then you can join up at www.malts.com and take part. Being a Friend gets you various benefits such as regular product updates, offers and similar promotions. Hurry though as they only have 125,000 drams to give away!

Laphroaig – Triple Wood is back!
The famous Islay distillery has announced that a batch of 400 bottles of their limited edition Triple Wood expression has arrived at the distillery. Further stock has been distributed to various Duty Free/travel retail markets around the world. The Triple Wood is so named as it has been matured in three different types of casks – firstly in regular ex-bourbon, then in small quarter ex-bourbon casks and then in Oloroso sherry casks. All bottles are in the one litre size and can be ordered through the www.laphroaig.com website for £49.50. Duty Free prices around the world may vary.

Whyte & Mackay – Special promotion
Next time that you buy a regular bottle of Whyte & Mackay Special blended whisky, you may get more than you bargained for. The famous whisky company has filled 250 bottles, labeled as Special, with their award winning 30 years old blend to celebrate the launch of their new website. These 250 bottles have been randomly placed in cases of regular Special and have their true identity revealed inside the cap. The regular Special retails at around £15 a bottle, while the 30 years old is worth £150! The bottles could be anywhere in the UK, so good luck. Visit www.whyteandmackay.co.uk for further details.

Inbox > October 15, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Benriach Distillery Co – new executive member
The independent company that own the Speyside distilleries of Benriach and Glendronach have announced the appointment of Donald MacLellan as International Market Development Executive. He joins the innovative Benriach Distilling Co from another independent distillery – Bruichladdich on Islay. He will be responsible for developing business in new markets such as Central and South America and Eastern Europe, as well as raising Benriach and Glendronach’s profile on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Danny Boy – new product launched
There will shortly be an Irish cream liqueur added to the range of Danny Boy Irish whiskies. The range currently consists of a premium blend and a 15 years old single malt, both of which are made under license at the Cooley distillery and both of which have recently started to pick up industry awards. Danny Boy is owned by Peter Lavery, a former bus driver who won £10 million on the UK’s National Lottery in 1996. For further information, go to www.dannyboywhiskey.com.

Jim Murray Whisky Bible 2011 – results released
The new version of the iconic whisky book has now been released and the whisky world has the answers to what he has rated as the ‘best whiskies in the world’. This year influential whisky writer Murray has voted the Ballantine’s 17 years old blend as his number one, commenting that it is “one of the most beautiful, complex and stunningly structured whiskies ever created”. He gave Thomas H. Handy Sazarac Rye second spot and W. L. Weller 134.8 Proof third - both of which are American whiskies made at the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky. For more results and whisky info, go to www.whiskybible.com.

The Whisky Show 2010 – taste Dalmore Trinitas 64
Dalmore Trinitas 64 has captured the whisky headlines this week for becoming the most expensive whisky ever sold. There are only three bottles in existence, with each worth £100,000 and two have been sold already! The third will be sold at the forthcoming Whisky Show 2010, held in London at the end of the month. The organisers have announced that one lucky ticket holder will also get the chance to taste this rare whisky. For further information about this or to buy tickets for the show, go to www.thewhiskyshow.com.

News > Dalmore Trinitas 64 released as world's most expensive whisky EVER!!

Dalmore, the highly awarded Highland distillery, has today announced the release of the world's most expensive whisky ever - the Dalmore Trinitas 64. There are only three bottles and each has a retail price of £100,000! Yes, you read that correctly - £100,000! Amazingly, two of the bottles have already been sold to private collectors and the third will be on sale at The Whisky Show, the forthcoming luxury whisky event which will be showcasing some of the world's finest examples of whisky and will take place in London on the 29th and 30th October.

A Highland distillery
Dalmore is located in the northern Highland town of Alness. It is one of two whisky distilleries in the town, with the lesser known Teaninich being the other. Dalmore was founded in 1839 by Alexander Matheson and is currently owned by the famous whisky name of Whyte & Mackay, which is now a subsidiary of the Indian owned company United Spirits. United Spirits took over in 2007 and have since re-branded the Dalmore whisky range and packaging. They have also recently done this to the two other Whyte & Mackay single malts – Jura and Fettercairn - and sales of all have increased significantly. Dalmore has an annual production capacity of around four million litres and is particularly renowned for their use of quality sherry casks to mature their whiskies.

Why so expensive?
The Dalmore Trinitas 64 contains some of the rarest and oldest single malt whiskies in the world and some of them have been maturing in the Dalmore distillery warehouses for over 140 years! The youngest whisky included is 64 years of age and was distilled in the mid 1940s, hence the reference to that age in the name. Richard Paterson, the world renowned Master Blender for Whyte & Mackay, has used his expertise to fuse together a range of these exclusive malts and produce the Trinitas. They have been placed in one boutique, hand crafted American white oak cask for the last two years to create a unique spirit which will never or can ever be replicated. Richard describes the Trinitas as "the pinnacle of my career - it's the best whisky that I have ever created".

Bespoke packaging
The Dalmore Trinitas 64 is presented in three specially commissioned hand crafted and hand blown crystal decanters and feature the distillery's iconic stag's head, an engraved neck foil and Richard Paterson's signature, both of which were hand made in silver by award winning jewellers. Each bottle comes with a hand made English oak and ebony veneer casket and each one took over 100 man hours to manufacture. Features include a hidden drawer which holds the certificate of authenticity signed by Richard Paterson and a unique lock and key created by Brahma, London's oldest locksmiths. We have been given this short video about the Trinitas 64 where various people from the whisky industry, including Richard Paterson, talk about the new release. Enjoy ...



Tasting notes
As there are only three bottles of this whisky and they cost £100,000 each, there are only a select few that will ever get to sample this rare whisky. Therefore, we are going to have to use Richard Paterson's tasting notes and dream of a Lottery win!

"The initial bouquet is highly complex. Powerful notes of sweet raisins, rich Colombian coffee, crushed walnuts and bitter orange casts its magical spell over you. Another glorious fusion of grapefruit, sandalwood, white musk and Indonesian patchouli completes this bouquet of exuberance. The spirit must be nurtured and cherished long in the mouth to tease out every hidden flavour. Sweet sultanas, figs, and a caramelised topping of Seville oranges, apples, mangos and dates roll over the tongue. This is quickly followed by a wave of lingering sensations of vino dulce muscatel, marzipan, treacle toffee, soft liquorice and roasted coffee. A soft caress of truffles, walnuts and muscovado sugar on your palate brings this unforgettable fanfare to a flawless finish".

London Cocktail Week 2010 > Fitzrovia bars

Now, both of us at Whisky for Everyone love a good cocktail so when the London Cocktail Week was launched yesterday, we decided to join in and see what we could learn and which nice bars we could find! The event runs until Sunday 17 October, culminating in the annual RumFest show which is this year being held at Kensington Olympia.

London Cocktail Week seems to have something for everyone who is interested in cocktails and spirits - branded seminars and tastings covering all genres of spirits, the chance to meet some of the producers and top mixologists, evening social events, tutored classes for beginners and professionals alike and the chance to savour special cocktails in some of London's finest bars, some of which are opening their doors to non-members for the first time. Approximately 75 of the capital's bars are producing special themed cocktails and these are being charged at £4 each for the duration of the Cocktail Week. However, to qualify for this price, you must have one of the event's special pre-ordered wristbands. So, last night we went off and collected our wristbands and went in search of some good cocktails ... as we did so, we said to each other "this is going to be a long week!"

We decided to begin the week by trying some previously unvisited bars in the Fitzrovia area to the north of Oxford Street - we limited ourselves to three bars, as it was a Monday night after all! First up was Market Place which is a stone's throw from Oxford Circus. This is a compact bar with wooden planks on the walls and plenty of outside space. They also have a basement bar that has DJs on most nights. Their regular cocktail list is concise and interesting, but we were there for their £4 London Cocktail Week special - the Louisiana Jam. This was made with an intriguing mix of Southern Comfort whiskey liqueur, lemon and apple juice, apricot jam and mint leaves, mixed with crushed ice in a mojito style. After initially thinking that this would be too sweet, it turned out to be delicious and refreshing with the jam adding great fruitiness.

Next, we moved on to La Perla, a Mexican style tequila bar and restaurant in Charlotte Street. The ground floor houses the main restaurant area and the main bar is in the basement. La Perla has won many awards for their large tequila selection and cocktails, so we were looking forward to this one having previously been to the Covent Garden branch. They had two tequila based cocktails, created for London Cocktail Week - the Puro Mexico and the Mexican Passion Mojito. The Puro Mexico was made using Ocho blanco 2010 vintage tequila, lime juice, agave nectar and topped up with a sparkling white Mexican wine, served in a champagne style flute. The Mexican Passion Mojito contained Tapatio blanco tequila, fresh passion fruit, mint and agave nectar and was served over crushed ice in a tumbler. Our preference was the mojito, with the sharpness of the passion fruit really working well with the other ingredients.

Finally, we moved on to Bam-Bou - a south east Asian restaurant and bar set across four floors of a splendid looking Georgian townhouse on Percy Street. We made our way up the winding flights of stairs to The Red Bar on the top floor and made ourselves comfortable on the leather chairs. Out of the window, we saw the famous BT Tower lit up and we thought "we have saved the best until last haven't we?" The three £4 cocktails on offer were the most original of the night by far, had been created especially for London Cocktail Week and all had an Oriental theme.

The three cocktails were the Rose of the Orient (an inventive combination of Grey Goose vodka, green tea, flower petals and agave syrup), the Naughty Kaffir (Bombay Sapphire gin, coconut water, lemon, kaffir lime and a maraschino cherry) and the Birdy (Grey Goose vodka, smoked Rooibos red tea and fresh black cherries). We opted for one Naughty Kaffir (pictured in the foreground) and one Birdy (pictured in the background). They were served in a chilled martini glass. Both were divine. Both were expertly made. Both were unlike any other cocktail we had ever tried. The combinations of flavours were so unusual but worked superbly well in both cases.

We then spotted an interesting whisky cocktail on their innovative cocktail list - the Tiramisu Martini. It combined two of our favourite words in one glass, so we just had to try it! It was made using Whyte & Mackay blended whisky, Maker's Mark bourbon, Baileys, a shot of espresso coffee, cream and a dusting of cocoa and cinnamon. This cocktail was rich but very good, although we both preferred the two lighter, fresher original choices. We thank Alberto, the Restaurant Manager and Pawel, the maker of these excellent cocktails, for taking the time to talk with us and for giving us such an enjoyable experience. We will definitely be visiting Bam-Bou again.

Inbox - October 8, 2010

Inbox is a weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has found its way in to our email inbox. Sadly, we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive, so Inbox has been born! It will feature items from around the world of whisky and will be published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a couple of lines about 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. So grab a dram and we hope that you enjoy ...
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Bruichladdich – Organic whisky released
The self proclaimed 'Progressive Hebridean Distillers' have announced a full scale release of an organic single malt. This follows on from a limited edition organic release last year. This new version will retail at £35.99, has an alcohol strength of 46% ABV, contains organic barley from three different Scottish farms and is certified as 'organic' by the Biodynamic Agricultural Association. Bruichladdich's Managing Director Mark Reynier describes it as "one of a kind". For more details and to buy, go to www.bruichladdich.com.

Johnnie Walker - Double Black gets full launch
Diageo, the multi national drinks company that own the Johnnie walker brand, have announced plans to launch the Double Black worldwide. Previously, it was only available in selected travel retail/Duty Free markets. The Double Black is a smokier version of the best selling regular Black Label that also contains some older whiskies than the regular version. A Diageo spokesman said that the launch was "to counter some of the growing interest in smoky Islay single malts such as Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin".

London Cocktail Week – starts next week
The 2010 version kicks off on Monday 11 October and runs until Sunday 17 October. There are a multitude of events and masterclasses being offered, covering most genre of spirits, as well as a wristband scheme which allows you cocktails for £4 each at participating venues! Whisky names involved include Diageo, who are holding various Johnnie walker based events, Pernod Ricard, who are doing likewise with Chivas Regal, and Four Roses. For further information, go to www.londoncocktailweek.com.

Monkey Shoulder - The Legend of the Blind Monkey
Those innovative, creative types that do the marketing for the Monkey Shoulder vatted whisky have come up trumps again! They have launched 'The Legend of the Blind Monkey' - an interactive game that allows you to win prizes along the way and to ultimately be entered in to a prize draw for the chance to win tickets to the 'Mobster's Ball'. This event is the culmination of the campaign and 400 players will be guests of honour at a secret London location on 4 December. The 'Ball' offers a night of music, Monkey Shoulder based cocktails and the chance to win further prizes. To start play, go to www.blindmonkey.co.uk.