Malt Whisky Yearbook 2016 Competition

It has to be said that there’s no shortage of annual releases and events in the whisky calendar, and in addition to all the committee and special releases, shows and fests, one of the undoubted highlights for me is in book form and the autumn launch of the latest edition of the Malt Whisky Yearbook.

This year’s edition which as ever has been meticulously put together and edited by Mr Whisky Yearbook himself – Ingvar Ronde, includes 250 tasting notes and covers 397 distilleries from around the UK and the rest of the world.

In addition to a wealth of features including articles from such distinguished whisky writers as Charles MacLean, Ian Buxton, Gavin D Smith, Martine Nouet and Jonny McCormick, this year’s edition features a new contemporary layout and new features including Milestones in Scotch Whisky.

Ahead of the release of this year’s edition on October 1st, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve teamed up with the Malt Whisky Yearbook, to offer two of our readers the chance of winning a signed copy of the book.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy all you need to do is Click Here and email us your contact details along with the following phrase that dramming pays:

"Make my whisky year a dramspanking dream of a delight with this right rollicking rollercoaster of a whisky read"

 

*Remember to mark the subject line of your email with: MWYB2016 Comp

If you’re not already doing so follow us on Twitter via @TheWhiskyWire and RT one of our related competition tweets for another chance to win!

#MWYB2016

If you’re too eager (and I can’t blame you) to get hold of this year’s edition you can pre-order now by Click Here

For more info on The Malt Whisky Yearbook visit: maltwhiskyyearbook.com

Competition closes on October 2nd 2015

Crown Royal Deluxe Tweet Tasting

Continuing our hugely successful teaming throng of Tweet Tastings, we’re thrilled to announce that on October 26th, we’ll be hosting our first Canadian whisky event as part of the official UK launch of Crown Royal’s Deluxe expression.

Crown Royal blended Canadian whisky was first created as a gift for the King and Queen of England to celebrate their visit to Canada in 1939. Fifty whiskies are meticulously blended to create the signature smoothness of Crown Royal, including their unique Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel Canadian Whisky.

Distilled to this day in the Coffey Still (named after the man who invented it, Aeneas Coffey), it’s the only known still of its kind in North America. The Coffey Rye whisky brings the signature creaminess to the Crown Royal Deluxe blend.

More details to follow, but if you would like to take part in our first Canadian whisky event, register by emailing your name, postal address and Twitter handle via the contact tab, remembering to mark the subject line #CrownRoyal

The closing date to register is October 3rd 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 tweet tasting dramfotainment, so we look forward to seeing you over on Twitter on October 26th at 7pm GMT via #CrownRoyal

Until then Happy Dramlaxing!

For more information on Crown Royal visit: crownroyal.com

 

Registration open to over 18's only!

Quick Fire Whisky Tasting Notes

Dalwhinnie Winter's Gold

 

 

Nose: An opening ménage à apple trois of crisp granny smiths, spiced roasted bramleys and sweet shop Chewits. Orange zest, grilled pineapple rings, dried apricots, gooseberry crumble drenched in vanilla custard, Waitrose lemon drizzle pudding, coconut ice, sugared almonds, ground ginger, toasted oak and a wisp-ette of poly cement (Airfix) glue.

 

Palate: Cinnamon topped apple pie, fresh ginger, spiced honey, demerara rum soaked sultanas, Sainsbury’s lemon curd, pineapple upside-down cake, McVities Jamaica ginger cake, toasted walnuts and a sassily subtle suggestion of wood smoke.

 

Finish: A comforting and cosy cracker of a finish that lingers and hums harmoniously on the palate.

 

Summary: A deliciously dramspanking new NAS release from one of the most underrated distillery’s imho. The suggested serve for Winters Gold is straight from the freezer, and by jingo it works a treat, but rest assured if frozen frolics aren’t your thing, it’s still a belting beauty served at good old fashioned room temperature.

 

 

Whisky Insiders Interview - Brian Nation

Company:
Irish Distillers / Pernod Ricard

Job:
Master Distiller at the Midleton Distillery

Website:
singlepotstill.com



How long have you been working in the whisky industry?
I joined Irish Distillers in 1997 as an environmental engineer, before I moved to work on various projects for our current Production Director, Tommy Keane. My first role involved assisting with the de-bottlenecking of the existing distillery and helping with the delivery of a mini distillery expansion. In 2002, I then moved into production, where I began to work very closely with our Master Distiller Emeritus, Barry Crockett, who retired in March 2013 after almost 40 years, at which point I became the proud Master Distiller of the Midleton Distillery, County Cork.

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Picking out just one highlight is difficult because I have been fortunate enough to work at a distillery during a time of enormous and exciting change, development and innovation. It has obviously been a huge honour to replace the highly talented Barry Crockett. Involvement in the recent expansion of our distillery in Midleton has been another highlight, particularly with the successful commissioning of our new pot stills that ensure the quality and flavour of our spirits continue to be identical to those crafted in the existing pots. Development of new distillate styles has also been a major highlight for myself. I could go on, but I’ll leave it at that.

Can you remember your first dram, and indeed what it was?
My first whiskey was a Powers Gold label. It was on a night out with friends, when one of them suggested that I try it. It tasted great, and for me it was a real taste experience. However at the time, I really didn’t appreciate the craft, attention to detail and pride that goes into making this whiskey. It was only later on when I joined the distillery I realised this.

What does whisky mean to you?
I feel that whisky is a celebration of heritage, craft and passion. The whiskey from Midleton is the product of each and every person that works at the Midleton Distillery both past and present.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
I hope to see myself continuing as Master Distiller at Midleton, as I am passionate and excited about all that this entails, from the day-to-day production to innovation and new product development.

What was your last dram?
Last night I had a Redbreast 15 Year Old with a group of American bartenders, who were in Ireland and visited the Midleton Distillery. It was great to meet such a knowledgeable group of people who shared the same passion for our products as myself, and are true advocates of our Jameson, Powers, Midleton, Redbreast and Spot whiskey brands.

Do you have a favourite whisky and food pairing combination?
I love to cook and experiment with different flavours and ingredients. There is an endless amount of food pairings that you can have, but it’s ultimately down to the individual and their personal taste preferences. I think that the luscious rich butterscotch and spicy notes in Jameson Black Barrel works very well and compliments the nice flavours in a red meat dish.

What’s your favourite time and place to enjoy a dram?
For me it always depends on the setting, the occasion and the location. What I mean by this is that I have different favourites for different occasions. When I am out with friends, I like nothing better than to enjoy a Jameson Original as a long drink mixed with ice, ginger ale and a wedge of lime, or mixed with ice soda water. When out for dinner, I usually enjoy a Jameson Black Barrel with 2 cubes of ice during the meal and generally finish off the evening with one of our Single Pot Still Irish Whiskeys, usually Powers John’s Lane Release or a Redbreast 12 Year Old.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the whisky horizon?
I think this is fantastic and innovative time to be involved in the whisky business, particularly for the Irish whiskey category. There is great potential for the continued growth of the category, mainly thanks to the popularity of Jameson, which has pioneered this growth. The opening of a number of new distilleries in Ireland over the next few years will see the continued expansion of Irish whiskey, which is very exciting. At the Midleton Distillery, we will continue to craft innovative whiskey to join our comprehensive portfolio, so overall, the horizon for Midleton and indeed Irish whiskey looks very bright indeed.

What’s the one dram you couldn’t live without?
This is a very difficult question to answer as a Master Distiller - it’s like being asked to choose your favourite child! If I was really pushed for an answer there would have to be three! In no particular order, Powers John’s Lane Release 12 Year Old – a distillate driven Single Pot Still Irish whiskey with very spicy and earthy flavours with a fantastic finish. Midleton Very Rare – one bottling a year of whiskey maturing for typically 15 to 22 years in all American Barrels, with subtle differences in each bottling delivering notes of sweet green pepper, garden mint complimented with vanilla sweetness and toasted wood – a real taste experience! Finally Jameson Original – a very versatile whiskey, exceptionally smooth with pot still spices, fruity and fragrant notes coupled with vanilla sweetness and nutty undertones lends itself to experimenting in different long drinks and cocktails, which for me makes it a very exciting whiskey.

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

Littlemill Flash Blog

 

In addition to our teaming throng of Tweet Tastings, we’re thrilled to announce our first ever whisky Flash Blog event, which we’re particularly excited about given the bottling that we’ll be kicking these new events off with.

Next month will see the official launch of the 2015 Littlemill Private Cellar Edition, and our inaugural group of Flash Bloggers will get a rare opportunity to sample and savour this 25 Year Old release, from the iconic Littlemill Lowland distillery, which is limited to just 1500 bottles.

Master blenders John Petersen and Michael Henry have dipped and nosed the remaining casks from 1989 and 1990, and from these they have selected and married together the 10 casks which they believe best represent the quality and style of whisky from the Littlemill Distillery.

The liquid was originally laid down in a mixture of the finest American and European Oak casks and has been married together for a period of finishing in first fill European Oloroso Sherry casks.

More details on the whisky coming soon, but if you would like to be one of our very lucky Flash Bloggers here are all the details you need:

If you’re a blogger, tweeter or facebooker we’d love for you to write a review of the new 2015 Littlemill Private Cellar Edition, then on October 14th post your review on your blog, linking via social media. If you don’t have a blog but are a whisky tweeter or Facebooker we’d for you to tweet or post your tasting notes on the day using hashtag #Littlemill

We will of course get the sample to you 1-2 weeks ahead of the Flash Blog date of October 14th, so you’ll have plenty of time to sip savour and review.

On the day and in the spirit of good whisky Flash Bloggery, we also ask if you could share and re-tweet the reviews and posts from your fellow Flash Bloggers.

We’re looking for tasters from around the world, so for this event there is no geographical restrictions. So to register to take part email your name, postal address and Twitter, Facebook and or blog details via the contact tab, remembering to mark the subject line #Littlemill

The closing date to register is September 11th and if you are registering to take part please make sure that you will actually be free to review and post on October 14th!

Until then Happy Dramlaxing!

For more information on Littlemill visit: lochlomondgroup.com

 

Registration open to over 18's only!

Paul John Tweet Tasting II

More social media based dramfotainment you say? Well allow us to gladly oblige, as we’re delighted to announce that on October 12th we’ll be sipping and savouring a brand new release from our good friends at the multi award winning Indian distillery, Paul John.

Having already taken the UK and indeed the whisky world as a whole by storm, with such bottlings as Edited and Brilliance, along with their Single and Select cask range, we’re thrilled to be part of the launch of Paul John’s latest expression.

Details of the new release are all a bit hush, hush for now, but keep your eyes peeled for more details over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, if you would like to take part in what will be a dramming night to remember and be one of the first to sample Paul John's new release, register by emailing your name, postal address and Twitter handle via the contact tab, remembering to mark the subject line #PaulJohnWhisky

The closing date to register is September 8th 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 tweet tasting dramfotainment, so we look forward to seeing you over on Twitter on October 12th at 7pm BST via #PaulJohnWhisky

Until then Happy Dramlaxing!

For more information on Paul John visit: pauljohnwhisky.com

 

Registration open to over 18's only!