From the category archives:

Speyside

BenRiach is issuing its latest batch of single cask bottlings this week. Available worldwide, Batch 7 maintains BenRiach’s reputation for encapsulating both perfection and rarity in a glass.

The 1976, a classic Speyside

The new release celebrates the sixth anniversary of the first bottling of BenRiach under its new independent owners. Back in August 2004, its ‘Heart of Speyside’ core range of 12, 16 and 20 yo malts became available for the first time. Fast forward six years, and Master Distiller Billy Walker has selected ten highly distinctive casks from 1976 to 1993 for BenRiach aficionados.

These vintage malts are immense and full of character – from pineapple, coconut, honey, and spicy vanilla to treacle toffee, cloves and chocolate coated fruits. And the range of exceptional vintages is enhanced by their prolonged maturation in different casks – from a Virgin American Oak and a Gaja Barolo Finish to a Tokaji and a Peated Tawny Port Finish.

The ten, in ascending chronological order, are:

Year Number Strenght Age Cask Type Style
1976 8795 53.2% 33yo Hogshead Classic Speyside
1977 1033 52.2% 33yo Pedro Ximinez Hogshead Pedro Ximenez Sherry Finish
1978 4417 50.4% 32yo Tokaji Hogshead Tokaji Finish
1979 7511 47.9% 30yo Bourbon Barrel Classic Speyside
1980 2532 51.1% 30yo New Wood Oak Barrel Virgin American Oak
1981 2589 51.6% 28yo Bourbon Barrel Classic Speyside
1984 493 54.1% 25yo Hogshead Classic Speyside
1984 4052 51.7% 25yo Tawny Port Hogshead Peated/Tawny Port Finish
1991 4389 54.9% 19yo Virgin Oak Hogshead Virgin American Oak Finish
1993 7420 56.7% 17yo Gaja Barolo Hogshead Gaja Barolo Finish

Bottled in July 2010, the ten are all bottled at cask strength, with natural color and non chill-filtered. They are individually numbered by hand and presented in a gift tube.

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If you’re into the re-born Glendronach distillery then you’ll indeed be delighted by the launch of a sublime new thirty-one year-old expression selected personally by Master Distiller Mr Billy Walker – the GlenDronach Grandeur.

Op top of the fact that this 31 year old beauty probably tastes like candy it comes in this boxy box.

Billy Walker’s tasting notes reveal the subtleties of the Glendronach Grandeur.

(ps. I had to edit the press release since I’m kinda tired of Suberb, Fantastic, Amazing, Wonderful, Tremendous and so on. Part from that it’s a nice read)

Nose - A concentration of fruits, nuts and berries enveloped in a coffee and mocha glaze. Subtle sweet sherry notes interact with sticky date pudding aromas.

Palate – Very big and gusty flavours adorn each mouthful, yet with balance and refinement. Initial spiced orange flavours and rich old Oloroso sherry are met mid-palate with roasted almonds, coffee and treacle. The dry concentrated flavours from the almonds and the oloroso sherry are balanced in harmony with sultanas, chocolate and honey.

Conclusions – This is a memorable and captivating GlenDronach expression for a very special occasion.

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“Our grandfather joined the firm within a year of its foundation and it is now owned by the third and fourth generations of his descendants. Each generation has passed on a lifetime’s experience in maturing malt whisky, guided by a simple principle: The future is shaped by what we do today, while today reveals what we did in the past”

gordon-macphail-mortlach-70-generations

Obviously there’s lots of tradition poured into this wonderful bottle of whisky produced by Gordon & MacPhail. I’d sure like to taste a glass!

Found through the excellent packaging blog The Dieline

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A couple of posts back I had the honor of presenting a guest post. Now its time to present guest post number 2, this time written by Martin who usually writes on his own blog – the Whisky Critic. Here we go:

Greetings to WhiskyGrotto.com readers. As soon as I saw the first guest post published here, I immediately opened my e-mail client. Johan agreed to have a look at what I have to say and here we come with a guest whisky review.

I choose a really good one for that matter, the Cragganmore 1993 Distillers Edition, double-matured and finished in port wood pipes. Enjoy.

Whisky-Review-Cragganmore-1993-Distillers-Edition

Like fellow Speyside distillery Speyburn choose a locally-influenced name for their single malt (Bradan Orach or Golden Salmon, inspired by the local tradition of salmon fishing), Cragganmore takes its name from the local stone quarry Craggan Mor, meaning Big Rock, the source of the stone used to build the distillery.

While far from the oldest distillery in the Speyside region, Cragganmore is not one of the youngest players either. It’s a well known and respected distillery with a lot of history and awards behind (and more likely than not ahead) of it.

It is not unusual that Distillers Edition bottles are made from lower quality ingredients than the distilleries standard products, with the classy-sounding name being code for ‘not good enough for our usual label’, but such is not the case here. Much like the Speyburn Bradan Orach, this is an excellent whisky for novice single malt drinkers. The port cask finish gives it a sweetness which makes it quite palatable indeed, and it goes down a charm.

Serve at room temperature in glass of your liking. As I often do with single malts, I would recommend skipping the ice for this one (regardless of how suave bond-like characters sound when they order Scotch, on the rocks).

Eye: Light, golden-brown.

Nose: Initial fruitiness and hints of smoke, followed sublimely by notes of orange, nougat, herbs and sweet floral honey.

Taste: Ever so slight smokiness, followed by a hint of nut. This whisky is all about the finish though, which packs a punch of plums, raisins and honey – much thanks to the port finish.

Overall a very smooth, easy to drink whisky – one of my top recommendations for beginners, but also anyone who enjoys a sweet and well balanced single malt; bonus points are given due to the fact that you can pick it up for a rough £35/$55.

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benriach_wins_competition

Sales director Alistair Walker pulls of a big smile as the BenRiach Distillery Company is celebrating their win of ten top awards in the prestigious 2009 International Wine and Spirits Competition this week.

In results published today this Thursday, the company entered 10 whiskies from both its BenRiach and GlenDronach brands, and won 10 medals – 1 Gold, 8 Silver and 1 Bronze.

GlenDronach has four expressions and all four won medals including a Gold and Best in Class for its 15 year-old ‘Revival’ while BenRiach won a further six awards including two Silver and Best in Class.

BenRiach and GlenDronach scotch single malts awards were:

GlenDronach Medals

Gold   Best in Class                GlenDronach 15YO ‘Revival’
Silver  Best in Class                GlenDronach 33YO
Silver                                      GlenDronach 12YO Original (new 2009 version)
Silver                                      GlenDronach 18YO Allardice

BenRiach Medals

Silver  Best in Class                 BenRiach ‘Maderensis Fumosus’ 13YO Peated / Madeira Finish
Silver  Best in Class                 BenRiach 16YO
Silver                                      BenRiach 12YO
Silver                                      BenRiach ‘Curiositas’ 10YO Peated
Silver                                      BenRiach ‘Authenticus’ 21YO Peated
Bronze                                   BenRiach 15YO Dark Rum Finish

The judges’ Tasting Notes for the GlenDronach 15 year old “Revival” commented: “Great concentration of complex aromas on the nose including treacle toffee, chocolate, orange, toasted nuts and vanilla. Great depth in the mouth, with all the nose promised, plus some Demerara sugar, sweet malt and lots of toast. Great balance with firm tightness which is offset to a degree by lots of mellow notes. Long finish has distinct gingery note.”

Managing Director Billy Walker said: “We are absolutely delighted that ten of our expressions have been recognised at such a prestigious competition. The award reflects the incredibly hard work of our team and underscores the outstanding quality of our two brands.”

The company has won a number of awards in recent years. In February this year the BenRiach Distillery beat off competition from around the world to win the coveted “Icons of Whisky” award in London.

BenRiach was also “Distillery of the Year” in the 2007 Malt Advocate Magazine Whisky Awards.

Whisky Magazine named it the “Best Rare Speyside” (for BenRiach Authenticus 21 Year Old) at its World Whisky Awards, also in 2007.

And it won Gold Medal (for BenRiach 16 year old) at the 2006 International Wines and Spirits Competition.

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Glenlivet XXV launches in the US this autumn

August 12, 2008

Last week, Pernod Ricard, owners of the Glenlivet scotch whisky brand, unveiled an addition to The Glenlivet portfolio in the US. Named The Glenlivet XXV, it represents the oldest permanent release in the brand’s range, and will be available in the country in a limited quantity. It’s made from hand-selected vintage that has been finished [...]

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Robin Tucek selects Royal Brackla and St Magdalene for the Blackadder Raw Casks

August 5, 2008

Clydesdale, probably Sweden’s most interesting distributor of whisky released news about two new bottlings under the Blackadder Raw Casks brand – Royal Brackla and St Magdalene. Blackadder does not believe in chill-filtering or in colouring whisky. They believe that the purest is the best. Quite simply, Blackadder RAW CASK is every bit a Blackadder whisky [...]

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The latest BenRiach addition has spent 2 1/2 years in Chateau D’Yquem Premier Cru Superior Sauternes wine barrels

July 30, 2008

The BenRiach distillery are adding a number of new expressions to their whisky range. The first one to see the light is the BenRiach 16 years old Sauternes Finish. Matured in the traditional style in American bourbon barrels, this Single Malt whisky is then finished in Chateau D’Yquem Premier Cru Superior Sauternes wine barrels (sourced [...]

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Balvenie ads a twist that would have turned Bob Marley into a single malt lover

July 8, 2008

In September, get ready to taste some Jamaican tones performed by Balvenie. It’s the speyside distillers latest limited edition, the Balvenie RumCask 17 Year Old that has spend it’s second period of maturation in rum casks shipped all the way from Jamaica. This ‘Rastafari’ brew has been matured in traditional oak whisky casks before spending a second [...]

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Fellow blogger Dr Whisky appointed new brand ambassador for The Balvenie

July 2, 2008

It gives me great pleasure to announce that William William Grant & Sons USA has announced the appointment of Sam Simmons a.k.a “Dr Whisky” as the first-ever Balvenie Brand Ambassador. I personally have gotten to know Sam through his excellent blog Dr Whisky where he posts all his tasting notes. And by God does he [...]

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Glenfarclas launches their new website

April 30, 2008

Glenfarclas has launched a new website to promote Glenfarclas Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky. As well as giving a history of the family owned and managed distillery, and a virtual tour of the distillery, the new site includes tasting notes for the full range of Glenfarclas, and the distillery’s new collection of single cask whiskies, [...]

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Glenglassaugh distillery woken up from 22 years of sleep

March 5, 2008

Glenglassaugh distillery – which has been mothballed since 1986 – has been sold by The Edrington Group to a new company, Glenglassaugh Distillery Co Ltd. The new owners have bought the distillery and warehouses and various trademarks. It is their intention to re-open the plant as a working distillery, after a major refurbishment programme, and [...]

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