Archive for November, 2009

More rules? Wohoo, we’ll drink to that!

… And the voice from heavens struck upon us - All Scotch whisky must now be bottled in Scotland. And no column stills shall be used for making single malt. Oh, I almost forgot, and the phrase ‘pure malt’ is now banned from the labels too. So say we all.
What better way to celebrate the [...]

Extreme Makeovers: Tamdhu Edition

Why do you mothball a distillery? Because of the recession? No. Because you have too much stock? No. Because you can’t predict the demand? No.
You mothball a distillery because the bloody whisky doesn’t sell.
Please notice it is not The Macallan or Highland Park Edrington Group are axing. Those are strong revenue generators, why would you [...]

SMWS: Beer beer beer beer

SMWS Beer Festival (it’s almost over, hurry up!)

Bavarian Beer Day
Your chance to meet the producers and to taste some fantastic beer from some of Scotland’s best independent breweries as the culmination of our ten day beer festival. Your ticket allows entry any time over the course of the fair and will include 6 drink vouchers. [...]

Live WebTV show with Charles MacLean

Webchats.tv people are kindly inviting all of us to watch Whisky Gold, a live WebTV show about whisky featuring Charles MacLean. The synopsis sounds rather basic, but the cool thing is you can submit your question beforehand and there is a chance Charlie will answer it on air.
So set a reminder of some sort (if [...]

A Quick Dram: Pittyvaich 20yo

Pittyvaich 20yo
Filled in 1989, bottled in 2009
Bourbon cask
6000 bottles
57.5% ABV
£127 from here
The Distillery closed its gates in 1993 after only 18 years distilling. It was demolished in 2003.

Nose: Honey, heather, violets, apples. A very light nose.
Palate: Oranges, caramel, leather, earthy. Quite different from the nose. With water gets citrusy and zesty.
Finish: [...]

The Grand Whisky Pub Stay (and crawl home)

What Ho! To those of you who came along and had the best time with us drinking free whisky: danke schön!
To those of you who instead of free whisky chose to go to a musical: really? We waited for you and then waited more and more and instead of a pub crawl ended up doing [...]

The New Famous Grouse Ad: Famous For A Reason

Here it is, the new Famous Grouse advert just in time for Christmas (or a tad too early perhaps). It will be aired from 23rd November. Who do you think the wee dog is? Looks a bit like Paris Hilton.

Are you tough enough to come along?

Today (Tuesday the 17th) is the day boys and girls.
The Grand Edinburgh Whisky Bar Crawl starts in The Albanach at 7.30pm! Attractions include tasting of Arran Peacock, Benromach 10yo, Glengoyne 12yo and Orkney 11yo. There will be a raffle for Movember charity too! Oh, and a Glenfiddich person will be there doing tastings for small [...]

BenRiach PX 1984: The best whisky I have tasted in the last 2 months!

I have remained firmly out of recent discussions about Jim Murray and his Bible of Whisky. The main reason is I think Jim gets a fair few plaudits, so does not need my compliments and has pots of money/success so any criticism I would throw just looks like plain jealousy (which it would be). If [...]

Whisky Picnic In My So-o-oul

I went there. And I drank the place dry. Or very nearly so.
Now, a week later, the hangover is well gone but Nick Ravenhall’s words still ring in my ears: ‘This is Barry the Barrel’ - he points at a cask set up on the stage - ‘and he’s very f***ing empty’. Cheering echoes off [...]