Mossburn Whisky Competition

Be it for one of our industry leading Tweet Tastings or monthly bottle competitions, we love nothing more than being able to share and giveaway some of our favourite drops of dramspankage. Talking of which, on the run up to Christmas we’re giving one our followers the chance of winning a bottle of Mossburn 12 Year Old Speyside Blended Malt Finished in Foursquare Rum Casks; one of our dramming highlights of the year!

Combining our two favourite worlds of whisky and rum, Mossburn 12 Year Old Speyside Blended Malt Finished in Foursquare Rum Casks (57.7% ABV) was initially matured in ex- Bourbon casks, before being finished in American oak casks that previously contained mature Foursquare rums from Barbados.

This release represents the start of a new annual Cask Collaboration Series for Mossburn Distillers & Blenders, that will see Mossburn blend and finish a different Scotch each year in a special cask finish using barrels sourced from a distinctive world-renowned distillery across different spirit categories.

The collaboration between R. L. Seale Co Ltd – owners of the Foursquare rum distillery - and Mossburn Distillers & Blenders is a natural one. R.L Seale were independent bottlers and blenders before becoming distillers and while Mossburn is younger it is following a similar trajectory - blending and bottling whiskies before it opened its first single malt distillery, Torabhaig on the Isle of Skye, in 2017.

For your chance to win a bottle of Mossburn 12 Year Old Speyside Blended Malt Finished in Foursquare Rum Casks click here to email us with your contact details and date of birth, along with the following phrase that dramming pays:

“I’d love to pour and explore all the Speyside 

splendour and all the Foursquare finished

fabulousness of this latest malty

marvel from Mossburn”

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

If you’re on Twitter / X, you can also follow us via @TheWhiskyWire and RT one of our related competition tweets for another chance to win!

Mossburn 12 Year Old Speyside Blended Malt Finished in Foursquare Rum Casks, is now available from specialist retailers, for a RRP of £65.00

#MossburnBottleComp

@TheWhiskyWire

@MossburnWhisky

For more information on Mossburn, visit: mossburnwhisky.com

Competition closes at 23:59 on December 17th 2023. You have to be aged 21 years or over to enter!

Good Luck!

Glen Moray Tweet Tasting

For our last Tweet Tasting of the year on December 13th, we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that we’ll be teaming up again with our very good friends at Glen Moray, to pour and explore a gaggle of their glorious whisky wares.

The dramming line-up for the night is under wraps for now, but if you’ve followed our previous events from this absolute gem of a distillery, you know you’ll be in for treat on the sensory story front!

So if you fancy taking part in an evening that’s all about the Speyside splendour and gargantuan glory of Glen Moray Click Here to register your interest by emailing your name, address, phone number, date of birth and Twitter / X handle. Please remember to mark the subject line of your email: #GlenMoray

The closing date to register is November 30th, and if you are registering, please make sure that you will actually be free on the night of December 13th to take part!

As ever, 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 / X on December 13th from 19:00 GMT via #GlenMoray

Registrations open to over 21's only!

For more info on Glen Moray, visit: glenmoray.com

@TheWhiskyWire

@GlenMorayDist

#GlenMoray

#BePartOfTheDramfotainment

#TheHomeOfTheTweetTasting

#TheOriginalSeriesOfVirtualTastings

Rum Insiders Interview - Maggie Campbell

Company:

Mount Gay Distillery

Job:

Estate Rum Manager

Website:

mountgayrum.com

Socials:

@mountgayrum

How long have you been working in the rum industry?

I have held a spirits distiller position since 2009 and joined the rum industry in 2012, where I’ve grown my career far beyond just production work.

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?

Very few people can understand the immense undertaking building our own molasses mill was. It was more technical and challenging than any distillery construction project I have been a part of. 

It took nearly two years of construction and is an incredibly intricate flowing system that requires all operations of our 30-person mill team to work in concert, not to mention the 13-person Agricultural Team who is coordinating harvest with the whims of Mother Nature after taking nearly a decade to rehabilitate the Estate with regenerative practices and grow the highest possible quality heirloom cane.

We worked with the designer-builder over those two years in construction and were steadfast that quality molasses, not sugar crystal yield was the goal. This is truly turning the concept of modern sugar on its head; it was a constant paradigm shift for our partners. The facility is three stories tall and houses three powerful grinding mills, four vacuum steam powered evaporators, two vacuum pan boilers, three crystallizers, a pug mill, high velocity centrifugal machine, a sugar dryer, silo, and packaging system. It required every type of engineering and installation possible, and each item had to be tested and vetted with our small crop and short seasons.

Can you remember your first rum, and indeed what it was?

Funny enough it was Oronoco, nothing wild or fancy, no magical religious experience. My career started in whiskey and brandy, and I came to love rum later. And yes, I certainly remember it.

What does rum mean to you?

Rum is community. Rum is global and made in so many different cultures that no one is going to say that there is only one true and best way to make rum the same way. A bartender needs to have a number of rums on their shelf, and they will often mix different rums in a cocktail. In that way many brands share customers rather than seek 100% customer loyalty. This means we share and connect a lot more than other categories I have experience in. We share culture, stories, respect, and true friendship. The community is amazing. After a big rum show you will find a number of rum icons not just sharing dinner but also finding a bar playing Soca or Dancehall and all of us dancing together.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years time?

Spirits take a long time to bring to life so five years doesn’t necessarily mean that what a distiller is working on will even go out to the world yet. I do hope in five years we see culinary folks recognizing Barbados as the iconic and finest sugar in the world. We have 5 jars of salt for cooking why not care about the origin of your sugar? I hope that Barbados sugar cane community can generate economic growth while keeping spaces green and honouring high-skill craftsmanship, like molasses pan boiling, alive.

What was your last rum?

I just tried a sample that was handed off to me via an extremely long rum road! It was from my good friends at Luisita in the Philippines and now I want to visit very badly! They passed it to someone at a overseas rum fest who passed it to someone who passed it to me. I am deeply grateful. Very cool folks!

Do you have a favourite rum and food pairing combination?

Rum and steak. Especially a rum boulevardier, especially at La Cabane 

What’s your favourite rum-based cocktail?

It depends, but I enjoy a tall Collins glass of Mount Gay Eclipse, ginger ale, a dash of bitters, and a grapefruit twist after work. It’s like an Eclipse Horse Neck so I call it Garrison Savannah in honour of Bridgetown’s historic horse track.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the rum horizon? 

I think as folks drink less and drink better, I feel like customers will be looking past the gimmicks of ‘premiumization’ quick fixes and seeking out truly authentic rums. I also think non-pretentious broad appeal rums will be key as folks look for fun and welcoming energy from the spirits world.

What’s the one rum you couldn’t live without?

Because rum is so broad and diverse it’s hard to pick just one! Mount Gay XO is an icon and so classic I feel like I could do almost anything with that rum. A close second would be Worthy Park 109 as no other rum does what that rum does when you add a ½ oz to a cocktail. But if I had to live on one rum alone it would be XO.

Many thanks to Maggie Campbell. Who will be our next Rum Insider? Click back soon to find out!