Quick Fire Whisky Tasting Notes

The GlenAllachie 15 Year Old

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV

Nose: A symphony of sherry soaked sultanas and raisins, tea stewed prunes, spiced baked apples, mixed candied peel, glacé cherries, James Martin’s sticky toffee pudding and Jamaican spiced bun. Followed by aniseed twists, smoked walnuts, charred oak and the subtlest suggestion of Cafe Creme cigarillos.

Palate: An afternoon tea tease of banana and walnut cake, Jamaica ginger cake, millionaire’s shortbread and mince pies steeped in sherry Along with notes of orange peel, aniseed twists, Starbucks iced caffè mocha, salted caramel and wave upon wave of wood spice.

Finish: A sassily sweet and spiced, long lingering finish, that gives this sensory dram of a story its happy ever after!

Summary: Sweet, spiced and all things nice! Another gargantuanly glorious core range expression from GlenAllachie. A distillery which since being taken over by Billy Walker and his team in 2017, continues to be all about killer and no filler bottlings!

Goslings Rum Tweet Tasting

Continuing our teeming throng of industry leading, Twitter trending Tweet Tastings, we’re thrilled to announce that on October 9th, we’ll be pouring and exploring a bounty of Bermuda belters from Goslings Rum.

 

Full details to follow in due course, but if you fancy sharing, sipping and savouring some truly outstanding drops of rummage click here to register your interest by emailing your name, address, date of birth and Twitter handle, remembering to mark the subject line: #GoslingsRum

 

Not only will the night provide an amazing opportunity for existing rum lovers to get up, close and personal with some of Bermuda’s finest, it will also provide the perfect bridging opportunity for those yet to discover the deep depths and delights of this other sensational spirit!

 

The closing date to register is September 17th, and if you are registering to take part please make sure that you will actually be free on the evening of October 9th to take part!

 

Even if you're not one of the selected Tweet Tasters, it'd be great to have you following all the evenings rumfotainment. So we look forward to seeing you over on Twitter on October 9th at 19:00 BST via #GoslingsRum

 

Registration open to over 21's only!

 

For more info on Goslings Rum, visit: goslingsrum.com

 

@TheWhiskyWire

@TheBlackSeal

@Love_Drinks

 

Be part of the rumfotainment!

Whisky Insiders Interview No. 98 - Ben Ellefsen

Company:
Atom Brands

Job:
Managing Director at Atom Labs

Website:
atombrands.com


How long have you been working in the whisky industry?
Full time for 11 years, but I'd been dabbling for a couple of years before that. If I'm honest with myself it started as an excuse to visit trade shows, but well - look where it led. Good old whisky live!

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Ugh, that's unfair. It's like asking someone what their favourite food is.

If I have to pick just one, then I guess the only answer can be winning the Queen's Award for Export in 2019. The level of pride that inspired in everyone throughout the whole business was truly moving. There're others too though - taking home the Spirits Masters Grand Champion Trophy 2 years in a row, not to mention the (literally thousands of) individual product awards we've racked up. World's best blended whisky for the Lost Distilleries Blend back in 2014 when we were really only just starting out in the blending game in any big way was memorable.

Can you remember your first dram, and indeed what it was?
Yup. I can vividly recall trying a tiny sip of my Grandad's Laphroaig 10 Year Old when it was probably older than I was. I can't say that necessarily kicked off a love affair with whisky, but the olfactory memory that's evoked by East Coast Islay still takes me back there.

If you're after something a little more drinkaware-friendly, a group of us resolved to 'get into whisky' aged 18 or so courtesy of a collection of Master of Malt miniatures. There're two drams that really stand out from that epoch - a 21 Year Old Scapa which was truly terrible (with the benefit of hindsight I think it was probably a combination of a bad cask and TCA), and a 10 Year Old Braes of Glenlivet which had an absolutely beguiling but very simple toasted barley breakfast-cereal sort of thing going on. That's the one that did it, I think.

What does whisky mean to you?
I'm meant to say something here about it bringing people together, being a social glue, etc, but to be honest for me personally I'm so much more fascinated by the olfactory chemistry of the stuff. There's no other drink in the entire world which has the same breadth, complexity and variation in flavour profile. It's arguable that there's objectively more to discover in the world of wine, and that it's easier (and cheaper!) to discover with beer, but when it comes down to simple complexity (if you'll pardon the phrase) whisky is the most extraordinary liquid in the world - especially when we get to play and blend and 'make' all day.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
I'd like us to be distilling. We've launched some very successful brands, have literally dozens more in the pipeline, and are now in the position to launch brands which have continuous liquid availability (this is a departure from the stuff we've done previously which has tended to be very small batch / limited edition). Working with extant liquid stock - even when you have control over wood - has its limitations. You can liken it to cooking with only the ingredients that are available in the supermarket, as opposed to being given license to grow and rear literally whatever you want. 

What was your last dram?
I had a Caol Ila 25 Year Old as a treat last night, after slightly too many ribs and buffalo wings. 

The Dublin Liberties Distillery Tweet Tasting

More social media based dramfotainment you say? Well allow us to very gladly oblige!

Following on from their recent Gold medal wins at this years Irish Whiskey Masters, we absolutely thrilled to announce that on September 30th, we’ll be teaming up with the mighty Dublin Liberties Distillery, to pour and explore some of their winning whiskey wares.

On the night we’ll be sharing, sipping and savouring their Gold standard Copper Alley, Murder Lane, Keeper’s Coin and Oak Devil expressions. Full details to follow, but if you fancy taking part in an epic evening of Irish whisk(e)y discovery click here to register your interest by emailing your name, address, date of birth and Twitter handle. Please also remember to mark the subject line of your email: #DublinLibertiesWhiskey

The closing date to register is September 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 the evening’s dramfotainment. So we look forward to seeing you over on Twitter on September 30th at 7pm GMT via #DublinLibertiesWhiskey

For more info on The Dublin Liberties, visit: thedublinlibertiesdistillery.com

@TheWhiskyWire

@DublinLiberties

@WeAreTheDLD

Registration open to over 21's only!

Be part of the dramfotainment!