NOTEBOOK – JANUARY 2019 – BURNS’ NIGHT SPECIAL

With The Bard’s birthday just around the corner, Peter Ranscombe raids his notebook to recommend some very special whiskies from recent tastings. WHISPER it, but you don’t need haggis to enjoy Burns’ night. Raising a dram in memory of Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s national bard, is an equally-fitting tribute to the poet who gave us the…

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Good things come in small packages

Peter Ranscombe explores Cask 88’s new quarter cask series of whiskies finished in tiny barrels. WANDER around enough distillery warehouses and the different sizes of wooden vessels used to age whisky will start to become familiar, from the standard 200-litre bourbon barrels through to the 250-litre hogsheads or “hoggies” and the giant 500-litre sherry butts.…

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Collection expands with limited edition

Tullibardine has unveiled a new limited-edition single malt to join its award-winning Marquess Collection – The Murray Marsala Finish. The expression was distilled in 2006 and bottled this year at 46 per cent volume, building on the growing range of wood finishes to be crafted at the Highland Perthshire distillery. Inspired by cask experimentation, Tullibardine’s…

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He wants to produce a 20 year old whisky in days

No distiller in the world is redefining whisky like Bryan Davis. Part showman, wacky scientist and razor-sharp businessman, the larger-than-life Californian is in the process of changing the world of distilling forever. Davis founded The Lost Spirits Company in 2010 and since then it has become famous for its radical and innovative approach to distillation. An inventor…

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A new Scotch whisky gets an American slant

A Scotch whisky has been given an American twist ahead of the Christmas market. The Glen Moray Fired Oak Cask 10-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky is released this month, as the Glen Moray team continue to develop their ‘Gateway to Flavour’ by adding a new expression which is intensely sweet and smooth. Master Distiller, Graham Coull…

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Whisky firm set to grow its global travel range

A Scotch whisky company is set to boost its Global Travel Retail range with the launch of a range of new products, expected in stores next year. The Loch Lomond Group’s new expressions were unveiled at the 2018 TFWA World Exhibition and Conference, which took place in Cannes from September 30 until October 5. The…

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Distillery celebrates first (and 525th) birthday

Regarded as ‘the spiritual home of Scotch whisky,’ Lindores Abbey Distillery celebrates its first anniversary since it opened to the public on 5 October last year. The team at the distillery brought whisky production back on the historical site of Lindores Abbey in Newburgh in Fife. It was here that, according to the Exchequers Roll,…

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Glen Scotia brings Campbeltown to the Fringe

If visitors won’t come to the distillery then the distillery will come to them, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. IT’S safe to say that only the most hardcore whisky fans will have visited Campbeltown. While many Scotch nuts will make the pilgrimage to Speyside or catch a plane or a ferry to Islay, the three-hour drive…

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Glengoyne toasts its history at the Fringe

Peter Ranscombe raises a glass to Glengoyne’s Fringe show and food pairings at Contini’s Cannonball restaurant. “SLOW” isn’t a word you’d normally associate with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. During August, 56,796 performers will stage 3,548 shows in 317 venues across Scotland’s capital city, from the biggest theatres all the way through to the tiniest church…

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Hyde Irish Whiskey and Scottish Field

Clarification – With reference to our piece dated 22 June 2018, titled ‘The Irish Whiskey Market Faces Tough Challenges’, we would like to confirm that: 1. Hyde Whiskey do not source whiskey from the Cooley distillery; 2. Hyde Whiskey operate from a warehouse in Little Island, County Cork as a whiskey ‘Bonder’ and independent whiskey bottler;  3. Mr…

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