scotch

Holiday Shopping Guide: Small-Batch Whiskeys

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

There really isn't any way you can go wrong with gifting whiskey. There are, however, several ways to elevate the act from the merely perfunctory to the thoroughly distinguished. One of our favorites is by going with a small-batch whiskey, those limited stocks that are the result of special releases, forgotten styles or craft producers. These are our selections, sure to win you "most favored" status.

Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Manhattan Rye

Gardiner, NY's Tuthilltown Spirits has a lot going for it: the first whiskey distillery to open in New York State since Prohibition, Tuthilltown has become a critical darling due to their local, hand-crafted appeal and "little distillery that could" backstory. Also, the whiskey is fantastic. Their Hudson Manhattan Rye ($40) celebrates the state's longstanding relationship with this spirit, the foundation of a Manhattan cocktail, with a whole grain rye bite that's rounded off with sweet fruit and floral notes. Each bottle is hand-numbered and dated, which adds just the extra bit of artisan allure.

Tags: holiday gift guide, scotch, spirits, whiskey, whisky

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Ltd. Edition Glenfiddich Decanter by Steuben

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Spirits

In search of the ideal present for the Scotch lover on your list? Famed single malt distillery Glenfiddich has partnered with renowned luxury glassmaker Steuben to create an exclusive hand crafted whisky decanter (above) in a limited edition. Priced at $690 and available exclusively at the Steuben flagship store in New York, the bespoke decanter is a collaboration between Steuben's master craftsmen and Glenfiddich master distiller Brian Kinsman, representing more than a century's worth of artisanship, tradition and expertise. The Steuben hallmarks of flawless design and attention to detail are combined with filigreed decorative elements inspired by some of the rarest and most precious Glenfiddich expressions.

The elegant piece also features subtle design cues that reflect the storied history of the Glenfiddich distillery, est. 1876, including the famous stag head design and the signature of its founder William Grant. "Both Glenfiddich and Steuben share a dedication to craftsmanship that stretches back more than a hundred years," notes David Bitran, Glenfiddich Senior Brand Manager. "In that time, while the successes of both our companies have grown, the dedication to craftsmanship and quality has endured." "Much like Glenfiddich, this beautiful decanter is the result of hard work, the best materials and the finest craftsmanship," adds Robert Nachman, Vice President of Design and Marketing for Steuben.

Tags: bar, barware, decanter, distillery, gifts, glass, Glenfiddich, Holiday 2010, Scotch, Scotland, spirits, Steuben, whisky

Glenfiddich Launches the Snow Phoenix Single Malt

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Glenfiddich Launches the Snow Phoenix Single Malt

The legendary Phoenix rose from the ashes. This particular Phoenix, however, rose from the snow.

Last winter record snowfalls in Scotland blanketed much of the Highland region along the river Spey. The snow covered many of the warehouses where scotch whisky is aged, and even brought down the roofs on several. Distillery workers were left clamoring to dig out the barrles and find alternative housing for them on short notice, but Glenfiddich took advantage of the conditions to create a unique single malt.

Called the Snow Phoenix, the special bottling marries cask-strength, non-chillfiltered casks of various ages and finishes to create a unique malt with tasting notes of apples, pears and honey. A strictly limited quantity of bottles will hit select markets and duty-free shops around the world at $89.99 per 75cl bottle.

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Tags: glenfiddich, glenfiddich snow phoenix, phoenix, scotch, single malt, single malt scotch whisky, snow phoenix, whisky

Rarest Macallan Bottle Fetches Record $460,000 At Sotheby's Auction

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

A bottle of Macallan 64-year-old scotch, housed within a Lalique crystal decanter, far exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $100,000-with a winning bid of $460,000-at Sotheby's in New York, this week.

With all proceeds of the sale going to benefit charity: water, the one-of-a-kind bottle, made by Lalique using the cire perdue ("lost wax") method, did a multi-city charity tour before the final event in New York. Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, spoke before the auction of the idealism behind his organization and the impact that the evening's sale would have on helping to bring clean water to communities in developing countries. He then handed the microphone off to Sotheby's Head of Wine in the US and Asia, Jamie Ritchie, to perform the auctioneer duties.

A gentleman in the crowd eagerly placed the opening bid, sparking a cascading ping-pong of responses from around the room. Bidding quickly passed the $300,000 mark, with phone bidders setting the tone, outpacing most on-hand. Ritchie kept the mood light, cracking an "Only $5?!" joke when a Sotheby's rep asked if he would accept an increase of $5,000 from a potential buyer on the phone. Reminding everyone that the evening's sale would support a good cause, Ritchie broke the $400,000 barrier to a delighted response of the crowd. With everyone's mind wondering if the lot would reach the half-million mark, bidding slowed around $450,000 before finally settling on $460,000. Giving everyone one last chance, Ritchie brought the gavel down to mark the record sale, which went to an anonymous US bidder.

Tags: auctions, charity water, lalique, macallan, new york city, scotch, sothebys, whisky

Bowmore Announces the Exclusive Tempest Single Malt

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Arguably more so than any other region in Scotland, Islay has long since established itself as a favorite among scotch whisky drinkers. The windswept isle is home to an inordinate number of distilleries, but Bowmore wants us to remember that it was there first. And to that end they've released an exclusive new small-batch bottling called Tempest.

Named after the beating waves of Loch Indaal that have slapped against the Bowmore distillery since its establishment in 1779, Tempest has been aged for ten years, embracing the peaty and smokey flavor while balancing it intricately. It's the second small batch bottling released recently by Bowmore, but the first being made available in North America. Arriving on shelves in December – right on time for the holiday season to the potential delight of the scotch connoisseur among your loved ones – the Bowmore Tempest carries a suggested retail price of $100.

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Tags: bowmore, bowmore tempest, islay, scotch, scotch whisky, single malt, small batch, tempest, whisky

Jura Celebrates 200th Anniversary with Special 21-Year Old Single Malt

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

The only distillery on the Hebridean island that serves as a stepping-stone between Islay and mainland Scotland. Jura always stands out from other single malts. But this year stands out more than others, as the distillery celebrates its 200th anniversary.

To commemorate the bicentennial, Jura has released a special-edition 21-year old bottling, which joins its core range of 10, 16, Superstition and Prophecy single malts. It will be offered only in strictly limited quantities, direct from the distillery and from select retailers worldwide.

Sweetening the deal even further, buyers lucky enough to get their hands on the 200th anniversary bottling are also invited to visit the distillery and taste some of their even rarer malts on site.

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Tags: 200th anniversary, 21, bicentennial, isle of jura, jura, jura 21, jura 21-year old, scotch, single malt, single malt scotch, whisky

Bunnahabhain Launches 30-Year Old 1980 Vintage

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Single malts from Islay – like Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Bowmore – are known for their heavily peated, smokey flavor. Bunnahabhain stands apart with a gentler taste, and now the island distillery has launched an exclusive new edition.

The Bunnahabhain 1980 Vintage has been aged at the distillery's seaside warehouses on the North East side of Islay for the past three decades, imparting it with a creamy, silky taste. It's been bottled after 30 years at a cask strength of 45.4%, non-chill-filtered, with no color added (many distilleries add caramel) and otherwise completely unadulturated.

Only 357 individually-numbered bottles have been filled. Each comes with unique gold-foil labeling in an un-dyed leather case that promises to age with time, accompanied by a branded quaich (a traditional Scottish serving dish) and special parchment in a glass tube.

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Tags: bunnahabhain, Bunnahabhain 1980 Vintage, Bunnahabhain 30, islay, scotch, single malt, whiskey, whisky

The Dalmore Trinitas Sells for Record £100,000

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Ten thousand seemed like an awful lot for a bottle of whisky back last December, when we tasted The Dalmore's 58-year old Sirius malt. But the truth of the matter is that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg for one of Scotland's most exclusive distilleries. As our own Jonathon Ramsey pointed out in sampling the Mackenzie malt, The Dalmore has sold some bottles that have absolutely eclipsed every other when it comes to the prices they fetch. In 2003 they sold a bottle of 62-year old Dalmore sold at auction for over £25k, setting a world record. Three years later another bottle of the same went for £32k. But even those astronomical prices pale in comparison to Dalmore's latest.

For the first time in history, a bottle of whisky has sold for over six figures. And guess who sold it. The kicker? Dalmore didn't just sell one of them. They sold two: one in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. The bottle in question contains 64-year old whisky from the distillery's unsurpassed old stock. It's called Trinitas, and is so named because only three bottles were produced. That's right: there's another out there, and it'll be going up for sale at London' Whisky Show later this month. So if you've got an extra hundred grand in pounds sterling lying around and want to get the most expensive scotch on the market, there's your chance. (Follow the jump for video footage documenting the historic occasion.)

Tags: dalmore, dalmore trinitas, scotch, single malt, single malt scotch, the dalmore, the dalmore trinitas, whisky

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Ballantine's Christmas Reserve

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Hunting a gift for a whisky lover never presents the challenge it does for any other recipient, and the holiday season makes for a great time to bring your friends and family a bottle of the good stuff. Ballantine's, however, is taking it a step further with its new Christmas Reserve.

The special blend packs yuletide aromas such as sweet wood, dried fruit and cinnamon, and comes in a special bottle and white box with a snowflake motif. Ballantine's Christmas Reserve hits European markets this month, and is slated to become a seasonal offering for years to come.

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Tags: ballantine, ballantines, ballantines christmas reserve, blended scotch, bottles to bring, christmas, christmas reserve, scotch, whisky

Wild Scotsman 15-Year Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Anyone who's anyone knows that scotch whisky comes from Scotland. But does that mean every company offering it needs to be Scottish as well? Not according to Jeffrey Topping, the mind behind Wild Scotsman Whisky. While all the whisky used in Wild Scotsman comes from Scotland, it's vatted and sold in Ohio.

The latest expression, Wild Scotsman 15-year Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is, let's be clear, a blend. But unlike labels like Johnnie Walker or Dewar's, its contents are exclusively single malts, blended together. In other words, Wild Scotsman (like other vatted or blended malts) doesn't include any inferior mass-produced grain alcohol. Those who've had with the likes of Compass Box, Monkey Shoulder or Big Peat will be familiar with the oft-misunderstood category.

For the Wild Scotsman 15, Topping and company selected ten casks, each from a different distillery across the six distilling regions of Scotland: Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Campeltown, Islay and the Islands. Each has been aged exclusively in bourbon barrels (no wine casks) for between 15 and 20 years. This final release will be available in limited quantities of 80 cases from 40 retailers in Ohio, each bottled suggested to retail at $59.99.

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Tags: blended malt, scotch, scotch whisky, vatted malt, vatted malt whisky, vatted whisky, whisky, wild scotsman

Diageo Inaugurates £40 Million Roseisle Mega-Distillery

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Some will lament it as the industrialization of scotch whisky production. Others will hail it as the answer to growing demand for scotch around the world. But whichever way you look at it, Diageo's enormous Roseisle distillery is now up and running.

Culling expertise from the 27 distilleries currently owned by the drinks consortium, Roseisle is the product of three years of construction. It cost Diageo £40 million to build, employs 25 workers and encompasses 3,000 square meters of space. On the premises Diageo expects to produce 10 million liters of whisky each year through fourteen new stills crafted by the coppersmiths at Abercrombie, Alloa.

The Speyside facility was built not to replace the individual distilleries under the Diageo umbrella, but to supplement them, in response to increased market demand which those distilleries have been struggling to meet. The spirits produced there will be used in Diageo's profile of blended whiskies, which include Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bell's and Black & White. No plans have been announced to ever bottle a single malt from Roseisle, but you never know what time may bring.

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Tags: bells, black white, diageo, distillery, jb, johnnie walker, roseisle, roseisle distillery, scotch, speyside, whisky

Highland Park Announces the World's Oldest Island Single Malt

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Just what we needed: another reason to love Highland Park, and another way to spend our children's college funds on the much-lauded Orcadian single malt. This time Scotland's most northerly distillery has released what is being billed as the oldest island single malt ever produced. And at 50 years old, we have no reason to doubt it.

Distilled in 1960, Highland Park 50 is vatted from five refill oak casks and bottled at 44.8% ABV. The result is a rich mahogany color, with a tobacco nose and a rich and spicy flavor. The distillery contracted Scottish jeweler Maeve Gillies to design the bottle, which features an Orkney sandstone amulet set into the intricate sterling silver laid out in a design evocative of the famous rose window of the St Magnus Cathedral.

Sadly only 275 bottles will be produced, available initially exclusively at Harrods department store in London, after which it will be offered through other retailers. But don't go looking for a bottle at your local retailer, as the £10,000 MSRP is sure to keep out the riff-raff.

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Tags: harrods, highland park, highland park 50, maeve gillies, scotch, single malt, whisky

The New Black Grouse Whisky from Famous Grouse

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Just in time for the fall season, The Famous Grouse is coming out with a great new blended Scotch whisky with plenty of peat smoke in it, a welcome antidote to those weedy, watery blends we're usually beset with.

Deriving its name from the rare bird, Black Grouse is meant to be "the darker side of The Famous Grouse," the well-loved whisky that holds a Royal Warrant from the Queen of England.

The new bottling is a blend of Famous Grouse, which contains Macallan and Highland Park, married with some peaty, smoky Islay malts in oak casks, making for a rich, smooth spirit with plenty of character.

To celebrate the launch, Tinika Green and Andrew Duncan of New York's gourmet barbecue joint Blue Smoke have created a special cocktail dubbed the Black and Blue, which has been added to the eatery's drink menu for the season.

"The Black Grouse's flavor profile pairs well with the hints of sweetness in different barbecue rubs and sauces," notes Jason Krantz, Blue Smoke's Chef de Cuisine. "As we head into the fall, the smoky flavor combination of The Black Grouse and succulent barbecue will really warm the soul."

Check out the drink recipe and image after the jump, but be sure to try the whisky, which is priced at $28.99 for a 750ml bottle, with just a little ice or water as well for the full effect.

Tags: Blue Smoke, cocktails, Famous Grouse, Highland Park, Macallan, Queen of England, Royal Warrant, Scotch, whisky

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World's Most Expensive Whisky to be Auctioned in November

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Auctions, Charity

The world's most expensive bottle of whisky, a one-of-a-kind crystal Lalique decanter holding the oldest and rarest Macallan single malt ever (above), will be auctioned off by Sotheby's in New York on November 15 for an estimated $150,000 or more. The Macallan in Lalique Cire Perdue, which we previewed back in April, is filled with 64 years and older Macallan single malt Scotch, vatted together from three sherry seasoned Spanish oak casks. The famed Speyside distillery commissioned the legendary crystal artisan to create the decanter using the ancient "cire perdue" or "lost wax" method. Painstakingly hand crafted by Lalique exclusively for The Macallan, and inspired by the beauty of The Macallan's 150 hectare estate in north-eastern Scotland, it's based upon a ship's decanter of the 1820s. Proceeds from the historic sale will be donated to charity: water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: auction, charity, charity: water, crystal, decanter, Lalique, Macallan, Scotch, Scotland, single malt, Sothebys, The Macallan, whisky, worlds most expensive

Glenmorangie Opens New Bottling Facility

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

What does it matter where a single malt scotch is bottled? Unless it's being bottled at cask strength, it matters a whole lot. Because a central bottling line removed from the distillery site means that the water being added, in all likelihood, isn't coming from the same source as that which was used in the malt's production. Add a touch of water to your dram, as many connoisseurs do to "open up" the flavor, and suddenly you've got three different types of water in your scotch.

Only a handful of distilleries have their own bottling line, and one of them is Glenmorangie. Now the top-shelf distillery has opened a new bottling facility in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland. The new plant replaces the old one at Broxburn, but is located nearby, enabling better access to transportation routes while retaining its proximity to the distillery itself as well as the same skilled workforce.

The move follows the company's headquarter relocation to central Edinburgh, from which the premier drinks concern controls both its namesake distillery as well as that of Ardbeg on the famously peaty island of Islay.

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Tags: ardbeg, bottling, bottling facility, bottling line, bottling plant, edinburgh, glenmorangie, scotch, scotland, single malt, whisky