June 27th, 2008

Springbank, Glengyle shutting down?

John Hansell

I just received this official press release from Springbank which, while somewhat vague, confirms that they will be cutting back production.

As a consequence of the continuing instability of basic raw material prices, which have doubled within the last year, the management of J & A Mitchell and Company Ltd. have decided to cut back the production of new spirit at their Springbank and Glengyle Distilleries until prices settle. The state of the materials market will be kept under continuous review.

The opportunity will be taken to carry out necessary maintenance work and create the increased warehousing accommodation required for future development. In the short term there will however, regrettably, be a few staff redundancies. There will be no impact on the availability of bottled Springbank whisky or the Kilkerran whisky from its Glengyle Distillery as the Company has ample stocks of young maturing whisky which will enable it to continue supplying its home and export markets as normal.

The press release doesn’t say how much production will be cut back or for how long. Of course, this kind of retraction, or whatever you want to call it, is nothing new for Springbank, as it has been quite frequent throughout its life span, being a “boutique” distillery. As long as any cutback isn’t for an extended time period, I don’t think it will have a significant impact on the releases in the future.

Now, back to my vacation…

Category: Breaking news,Scotch whisky 8 Comments

June 23rd, 2008

On vacation

John Hansell

I’m on vacation. That’s why I have been absent the past few days. I haven’t deserted you. It will continue for a little while longer. The next issue of our magazine just went to the printer and  the next two WhiskyFests are not until the fall, so it’s a good time to take time to recharge the batteries.

I’ll post if something comes up worth posting and I have a free moment.

Category: Administrative No Comments

June 17th, 2008

Some very, very big Macallan news!

John Hansell

The Macallan and Malt Advocate magazine (creators of WhiskyFest) have teamed up for an unbelievable experience at WhiskyFest San Francisco this October 10th.

Current and past Master Distillers and Managing Directors will each create one unique bottle of Macallan. The contents inside each bottling will be offered one dram at a time to lucky attendees who provide a donation to charity.

Current Master Distiller Bob Dalgarno, past Master Distillers Frank Newlands and Sandy Curle, along with former Managing Director Willie Phillips all will be participating. They will each use their talents to create one bottle of Macallan whisky to their liking and specification. Each will be bottle #1 of only 1, never to be reproduced or replicated ever again.

As Ken Grier, Marketing Director for Macallan described, “This is like Led Zeppelin reforming for one concert. We have never done anything like this before.”

Details are still being worked out, but one thing is for certain: you will want to find a way to get to San Francisco on October 10th for Malt Advocate magazine’s Second Annual WhiskyFest San Francisco. (Go to Malt Advocate magazine’s website, www.maltadvocate.com for more information.)

And there’s one other benefit to attending WhiskyFest San Francisco. Given that it’s only our second event in San Francisco, there will be fewer attendees than WhiskyFest New York or WhiskyFest Chicago. You will have more elbow room. And, of course, there will still be the same amount of great whiskies to sample, as you have come to expect at a Whiskyfest.

Category: Breaking news,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest 9 Comments

June 16th, 2008

Review: Canadian Club 30 yr. old

John Hansell

This whisky will be released later this Fall. I was sent a pre-release sample to review. This one is a good one!

Canadian Club, 30 year old, 40%, $150-$199
Bottled to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Canadian Club whisky. An amazingly fresh and vibrant whisky giving its age and delicateness. I feared that, given how light in body traditional Canadian whiskies are, this whisky would be old, tired, and show too much oak (which was true for Crown Royal’s ultra-premium offering, “XR”). But this isn’t the case. There’s an excellent balance of silky caramel, vanilla icing, dried spice (cinnamon, spearmint) and berried fruit, along with more subtle notes of toffee apple, corn oil and soft dried oak on the finish. Not as luxurious as Crown Royal’s Cask No. 16 (last year’s Malt Advocate magazine Canadian Whisky of the Year), but it shines with its polish and purity.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 93

Category: Canadian whisky,New Releases,Reviews 8 Comments

June 14th, 2008

Review: Kilbeggan 15 year old

John Hansell

The new Kilbeggan 15 yr. old blend will also be getting in its way to circulation in August in the U.S. I have a review sample and have already tasted it. My review is below, which will appear in the next issue of Malt Advocate, due out in a few weeks. In short: a decent whiskey, but the extra oak on the finish takes away from what would have been a really good Irish blend.

79 Kilbeggan, 15 year old, 40%, $100
Cooley distillery’s oldest blend to date. Packaged in what looks like a very large perfume bottle. Elegant and creamy on the nose, with vanilla, coconut, grass, and suggestions of bourbon. Similar on the palate, but more reserved. Becoming dry on the finish with lingering charred oak. I think the slightly austere oaky finish detracts from what otherwise would be a very nice blend. The best part of this whiskey is the nose.

Category: Irish whiskey,New Releases,Reviews 2 Comments

June 12th, 2008

Review: New Tullamore Dew 10 year old

John Hansell

I’m on a roll reviewing new Irish whiskeys, so I might as well keep it going. Here’s my review of the new Tullamore Dew 10 year old which will be working its way into circulation. This review will appear in the 4th Quarter issue of Malt Advocate magazine.

81Tullamore Dew, 10 year old, 40%, $35
This whisky is in between the “Original” Tullamore and Tullamore Dew 12 year old in age and price range, and it also fits in between the two in flavor and quality. I thought that maybe this whiskey would have a more distinctive character to it (sherry cask aging, different proof, etc.) compared to the other two, given that it is a limited edition of only 900 cases and so close in age to the others two, but it doesn’t. It’s not that this is a bad thing, but rather just “more of the same”. I’m told that the other two will remain in the portfolio, so I am missing the point of why this whiskey was introduced.

It certainly is a pleasant enough whiskey—well balanced, not aggressive, yet with enough maturity and pot still content to make it “sip worthy” if one chooses to do so. So maybe that’s the benefit I see here. Rather than buy the standard Tullamore Dew for mixing (or drinking on the rocks) and also buy the 12 year old for sipping, you can reasonably cover your bases with just this one bottle of 10 year old.

Category: Irish whiskey,New Releases,Reviews No Comments

June 10th, 2008

Greenore Single Grain 8 yr. vs. Greenore Single Grain 15 yr.

John Hansell

There aren’t too many Irish grain whiskeys around and, if you want one, you’ll want to seek out the Cooley distillery releases. The new limited edition Greenore 15 yr. old grain whiskey will go into circulation in the U.S. in August. How does it compare to its younger sibling, the 8 year old? I have a bottle of each and just tasted the two side-by-side.

Below are my reviews of the 8 and 15 yr. old that will be published in the 3rd and 4th Quarter 2008 issues of Malt Advocate, respectively. (It was too late to sneak the 15 in the 3rd quarter issue, which just went to the printer.) Regarding the two whiskeys, it really comes down to what you’re looking for. Both are nice.

84 Greenore Single Grain, 15 year old, 40%, $100
Cooley distillery’s oldest grain whiskey to date, and marketed as a limited edition. Similar in personality to Greenore 8 yr. old—rather light and gently sweet—but deeper, more oily in texture, not as crisp, with enhanced spice notes. You’ll also find soft creamy vanilla, lemon meringue, cut hay, orange rock candy, teasingly subtle bitter chocolate, and a dry, spicy finish. Whether you like the 8 or 15 year old depends on mood and time of day. I find them equally pleasant in personality.

82 Greenore Single Grain, 8 year old, 1997 vintage, 40%, $50
Light, crisp, and gently sweet. Notes of vanilla, cut hay, honey, and lemon, with a grainy, dry bourbon-oak finish. A warm weather whisky, or as an aperitif. Perhaps a way to introduce a vodka drinker to whiskey?

Category: Irish whiskey,New Releases,Reviews No Comments

June 9th, 2008

New Canadian Club 30 yr. “150th Anniversary”

John Hansell

A package showed up unexpectedly at the Malt Advocate office today from Beam Global. It turns out to be a sample of a 30 year old Canadian Club which will be released later this year.  As far as I know, this is the oldest Canadian whisky ever released.

The purpose of this special release is to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Canadian Club. I see that it’s bottled at a standard 80 proof, but other than that I don’t know any more about the whisky. Until I try it, that is, which I hope to do this sometime this week. I’ll post up my thoughts afterwards.

Category: Canadian whisky,New Releases 3 Comments

June 9th, 2008

Review: Cutty Sark 25 yr. old

John Hansell

I don’t usually write about a whisky that’s not sold in the U.S. It’s gotta be really good or really bad. This one is really good, and am I hoping that if I rave about it enough they’ll actually start importing it to the U.S.  So here goes. (Note: It sells for around 85 Pounds Sterling in the UK.)

Cutty Sark, 25 year old, 45.7%, $n/a
Well structured and masculine with its rich malty backbone and mouthcoating fruit. Yet, there’s a silky, seductive underbelly that’s very compelling. Notes of sultana, honey-drenched mandarin, ripe peach, thick toffee and anise, with a peppering of spice throughout, especially towards the finish where a hint of smoke emerges. The grain whisky enhances the blend’s allure by cutting through the whisky’s viscosity, making it very more-ish. I love the combination of drinkability, flavor, complexity and balance to this whisky. It’s one of the best blended scotches I have ever tasted. Single malt drinkers will thoroughly enjoy this whisky.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 93

Category: Reviews,Scotch whisky No Comments

June 7th, 2008

New Balvenie 1976 Vintage

John Hansell

William Grant announced a few days ago the release of the the new Balvenie vintage. I just realized that I didn’t post any info on it. This one’s from 1976. Here’s the details from the press release I received:

I’m very pleased to tell you that The Balvenie Vintage 2008 has now been released. Selected by Malt Master David Stewart, together with a team of our very own Balvenie craftsmen, The Balvenie Vintage Cask 1976 is a bottling of two oak casks that had lain undisturbed for over 30 years. With a yield of just 433 bottles, which are expected to be quickly snapped up, don’t delay if you fancy a bottle.

Cask numbers 6568 and 6570 were singled out for their characteristic Balvenie honey notes and rich, fruity, vanilla sweetness; and together yielded just 433 bottles.

The Balvenie 1976 vintage is a limited annual release bottled at full cask strength (53.8% and 52.75% ABV respectively). Available from specialist whisky retailers as well as our online shop.

 The Balvenie on-line shop lists the whisky at 400 Pounds Sterling.( http://www.balvenie.com/shop/vintage1976.html)  These vintage releases are often quite extrordinary. However, the prices have also shot up over the years. (But then again, all whiskies have.)

I’m hoping to get a review sample and will offer my thoughts at that time.

Category: New Releases,Scotch whisky No Comments

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