Quick Fire Whisky Tasting Notes #45

Benromach 100° Proof

 

 

Nose: Waves of peat smoke infused sherry, vanilla poached pears, baked bramley apples stuffed with honey and pecans, Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread, Waitrose banoffee pie, rum raisin ice cream, orange zest, McVitie's Jamaica ginger cake, sweet musk, struck match, crispy grilled slices of pepperoni and a defining damp oaky earthiness.

 

Palate: Gutsy grounds of white and black pepper, wood spice, coal smoke, dried banana chips, stewed prunes, sherry soaked cherries, Cadbury Bournville chocolate, warm treacle tart, pralines, Bonne Maman damson plum conserve, linseed oil, clove studded Seville orange, freshly chopped parsley and more of that damp oaky earthiness.

 

Finish: A full-on and feisty, right rollicking rollercoaster of a long, lush, lingering finish.

Summary: I could quite happily wax lyrical all night about this bountiful, belting and beautifully balanced Benromach, but if I had to keep my thoughts short and sweet, I’d have to say “it’s a thing of pure dramming beauty!”

 

 

Douglas Laing & Co Rock Oyster Tweet Tasting

As we continue our teaming throng of Tweet Tastings into the New Year, we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that on February 25th, we’ll be teaming up yet again with our good friends at Douglas Laing & Co, to help celebrate the launch of their brand new island inspired blended malt; Rock Oyster.

In addition to the new bountiful belting bottling itself, tasters will be in for a real treat as they will get to sample all island distillery component parts that make up this latest sea inspired, small batch release from one of the UK’s leading Scotch whisky specialists.

Full details to follow, but if you would like to take part in what promises to be a dramspanker of a night, register your interest by emailing your name, postal address and Twitter handle via the contact tab, remembering to mark the subject line: #RockOyster

The closing date to register is February 6th, and if you are registering to take part please make sure that you will actually be free on the night!!!

Even if you're not one of the selected Tweet Tasters, it'd be great to have you following all the night’s dramfotainment, so we look forward to seeing you over on Twitter on February 25th at 7pm GMT via hashtag #RockOyster

Until then Happy Dramlaxing!

For more information on Douglas Laing & Co visit: douglaslaing.com

Quick Fire Whisky Tasting Notes #44

Cutty Sark 33 Year Old

Art Deco Limited Edition

 

 

Nose: All the freshly polished oak and leather wares of a stately home study, sherry soaked sultanas, Luxardo maraschino cherries, vanilla infused poached pears, grilled peaches, toffee apples, coconut ice, Cadbury’s Crunchie, Parma violets, espresso coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, wood smoke and the subtlest suggestion of alpine freshness.

 

Palate: Grilled pineapple rings, pink grapefruit, stewed prunes, clove studded Seville orange, coconut rum, toasted walnuts, sugared almonds, chocolate covered coffee beans, cherries jubilee, Green and Black's vanilla ice cream, burnt caramel, white pepper and a wave-ette of wood smoke.

 

Finish: An affluently alluring, decadently delicious and opulent oozing, long, lush, lingering finish.

 

Summary: When it comes to the consistency and quality of their blends, it has to be said that Cutty Sark are always bang on the money. From their £20 standard bottling to this premium £650 offering, there really is a bountiful blended belter in the range to suit every budget. But by jiminy if you get the opportunity to sample this particular Art Deco inspired release, grasp and grab it with both hands, as you’ll be in for one heck of a dramspanking treat!

 

Win Tickets To Whisky Live London 2015

Hootendrammy! It’s very nearly that time of the year again, when Whisky Live rolls into London.  After selling out in 2014, the world’s premier whisky tasting event returns to the stunning surroundings of the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City on the 20th and 21st of March.

In addition to the multitude of exhibiting whisky brands from all over the world, there will also be a whole host of other whisky based dramanagins including masterclasses, food pairings, cocktails and live entertainment.

This year we’re thrilled to be teaming up again with Whisky Live London to give away two pairs of tickets to this year’s dramstravaganza. To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is Click Here and email us your contact details along with the following phrase that dramming pays:

"Whisk me away to Whisky Live London to discover and enjoy a dramspanking wealth of whisky wares”

*Remember to mark the subject line of your email with either: Whisky Live Friday or Whisky Live Saturday depending on which day you would like to attend.

If you’re just too eager to secure your tickets before they sell out, and why wouldn’t you, we’d like to offer all our readers a 10% ticket discount to this year’s event. Click Here to buy your tickets remembering to add discount code: WW10 when checking out.

We'll be there on the Friday evening, and it'd be great to share a dram or two on what promises to be a great weekend of whisky in London!

 

For full details and updates visit: whiskylive.com

Competition closes at 6pm GMT on Monday March 16th 2015. You have to be aged 18 years or over to enter. No cash alternative available. Competition winners will have to provide own transport/accommodation.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We’re now taking some time out to enjoy Christmas and New Year, but before we do we’d like to say thanks and raise a glass of something suitably festive to all those who have followed and supported us over the last year.

We’ll be back in 2015, with a feisty flurry of new whisky reviews, more Whisky Insiders interviews, even more Tweet Tastings and a whole load of passion fuelled dramspankery. We’ll also have a few exciting announcements, so keep your eyes peeled!

So in the meantime we’d like to wish each and every one of you a Merry Dramlaxing Christmas and Happy Dramspanking New Year!

12 Drams of Christmas 2014

For the last four years we’ve brought you our ’12 Drams of Christmas’ as chosen by you! So we thought it would only be rude not to do the same again this year, and use it as a great excuse to start getting into the festive spirit.

Since November 24th you’ve been nominating your top three favourite festive drams in abundance, and after trawling through all the entries and tallying up all the nominations here are our '12 Drams of Christmas' in ranking order as chosen by you!

Just in case you're thinking of picking up any of the aforementioned drops of dramspanking festive drammage as a gift or indeed for yourself, we've done the hard work and have also included the most current and competitive retail details. Hootendrammy!

A huge thanks to all those who took part and entered, the response was absolutely phenomenal. In return for your nominations we added the names of everyone who entered into our virtual Santa hat for a chance to win a bottle of Glenlivet 18 Year Old.

We’re delighted to announce that Peter Lane from Exeter had his name drawn from the hat and is our winner, congratulations! Your bottle will be winging its way to you this week.

Whisky Insiders Interview - Mark Reynier

Company:
Renegade Spirits

Job:
CEO

Website:
Coming Soon




What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Resurrecting Bruichladdich; and now Waterford in Southern Ireland, albeit on a somewhat different scale, budget - and time. It's very, very exciting to have such a modern distillery with an exceptional opportunity to try different things with very fancy kit.

Can you remember your first dram, and indeed what it was?
Bruichladdich some-thing-or-other from the sixties with Jack Milroy in Soho Street. The first dram I am aware of was nosing a glass of my father's Laphroaig on Kintyre in the seventies when I was about twelve.

What does whisky mean to you?
A living. A chance to be a producer rather than a mere re-seller; to put in to practice ideas and concepts that challenge common held perceptions.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years time?
I don't know about five years time, but I have distilled on one remote west coast island; now on another, further west; ultimately I would like to be even further west still, for a twilight hat trick.

What was your last dram?
Bruichladdich Islay Barley. I love its purity, honesty and integrity. It genuinely thrills me.

Do you have a favourite whisky and food pairing combination?
No. I'm not a great believer in whisky and food combos; it smacks a bit of desperation to me. Wine is clearly so much better for that.

What’s your favourite time and place to enjoy a dram?
Outside, sharing with a mate. I spent a glorious afternoon on a beach with a neighbour and a youthful, vibrant bottling - Around the kitchen with a lighter, fresher dram as an aperitif - A bolder, heartier dram in a fishing hut, by a river or at a lunchtime picnic - Something deep and moody in my study late at night. Thinking about it, either on my own or with one other.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the whisky horizon?
Unfortunately, flavoured whisky.

What’s the one dram you couldn’t live without?
I could give you some facile marketing department answer - but I won't. There isn't one.

Many thanks to Mark Reynier. Who will be the next Whisky Insider? Click back soon to find out!