Our Boutique-y Bottling plant is cranked up to 11! (Part 2)

Our Boutique-y Bottling plant is cranked up to 11! (Part 2)

As we promised yesterday, here are the rest of our new releases after January’s bottling frenzy. Today we have two new ‘firsts’ and a handful of third batches to tempt to you.

Two new names for you

First up is our Peatside, a peated blended malt Scotch whisky made to a secret recipe that is strictly kept under lock and key. Our first batch of this peaty blended malt has been bottled at 5 years old and has fragrant notes of magnolia and green tea alongside the smoky peat you’d be expecting. Batch 1 is a release of just 331 bottles at 55% abv

Next, is our first ever batch under the Williamson label, a nod to someone special from a famous Islay distillery. You may recognise those LivingRoom Whisky chaps on the label of this heavily peated single malt, we can’t get rid of them, they keep coming back to the future. We’ve bottled this 6 Year Old at 50.2% abv, and alongside that peaty iodine tang there are some fruity BBQ sauce notes too. We’ve filled just 595 bottles.

A whole bunch of Batch 3’s too

We’ve got five new Batch 3’s to shout about today, we’re in that sort of mood. There's a Single Grain alongside four Scottish Single Malts, two hailing from Speyside, and two from the Highland region. (which is a very large region indeed) In fact we could say we’re announcing four Highland Malts as all Speyside Malts are indeed Highland Malts...yawn...we’re such pedants!

The Glenrothes Distillery has long been favoured by blenders, and it wasn’t until 1994 that they decided to start bottling their own single malt. There’s said to be a ghost at the distillery that had been telling them to release their own single malt for so many years. Perhaps that’s why he’s looking so pleased with himself on our label. Our third batch is a 25 Year Old, it’s creamy and rather luxurious with notes of coconut cookies and tinned peaches. It has been bottled at 49.7% abv and we’ve squeezed just 139 bottles of this long aged malt

Our second Speysider hails from the Mortlach Distillery, a favourite of many whisky enthusiasts and affectionately known as the ‘Beast of Dufftown’ due to the ‘meatiness’ this malt often exhibits. Our third batch is an 18 Year Old that reveals its meaty notes alongside layers of vanilla pod sweetness. There are just 363 bottles at 48.9% abv.

Our third batch of Ledaig, the peated expression from the Isle of Mull’s Tobermory Distillery, is an 18 Year Old, and is of course yummy, with notes of steak crisps, cooked apple and crushed pepper. We’ve managed to fill 921 bottles at 51.7% abv

We’ve also bottled a third batch from that adaptable Loch Lomond Distillery too. We managed to sneak this 19 Year Old sumptuous single grain out from under the noses of the wizards. Big waves of vanilla ice cream and coffee liqueur and a hint of chocolate on the nose, mmmm, tempted? There are just 267 bottles at 49.7% abv. of this release.

Our final announcement for this two-part post is an 18 Year Old from the Macduff Distillery, perhaps we should have led with this batch? (lead on Macduff!) This third batch is a limited release of just 372 bottles at 48.6% abv and is packed with vanilla and malt; sweet and cakey and subtly herbal.

These Boutique-y belters will be available from fine retailers real soon. Off-trade/on-trade enquiries should be directed to our UK distributor, Maverick Drinks.

Our Boutique-y Bottling Plant is cranked up to 11! (Part 1)

Our Boutique-y Bottling Plant is cranked up to 11! (Part 1)

After a full service over the festive period the TBWC bottling plant has been hard at work throughout January, and we’ve a bumper batch of releases to announce! So many in fact, we think this will need two posts, so don’t forget to tune in for tomorrow’s news!

Two Teaspoon'd Malts

It’s long been said that a teaspoon of whisky keeps old age away,* and fortunately for us, a teaspoon of whisky has been added to each of these two releases!

Our second batch of Blended Malt #1 is a 23 Year Old, and a release of just 409 bottles at 48.8% abv. Made using whisky from a much loved Speyside distillery, but before laying down for maturation, a drop of whisky from a second distillery is added, thus stopping us releasing at as a single malt under the distillery’s name. With notes of apple pies and cinnamon rolls, our spoon enthusiasts are really digging it.

We’ve also uncovered a new Blended Malt, and we shall call this #3. You could say it’s a photo negative of Blend #1. It’s another Speysider, and from one of the most popular distilleries in the world, has been ‘teaspooned’ with another delicious single malt. Our first batch is a 19 Year Old, and a release of just 270 bottles at 50.2% abv. It’s creamy and aromatic with spiced sultanas and a little cooked banana which our spoon enthusiasts are really rocking out to!

*Disclaimer: We cannot in any way, shape, or form, guarantee that a teaspoon of whisky will prolong life or indeed keep old age away. However the bottle should last longer if you’re only drinking a teaspoon each day rather than a standard single measure unless you’re very careless pouring into your teaspoon.

Our first ever Irish Whiskeys announced!

Irish eyes will be smiling at these latest Boutique-y Whiskey releases after a recent trip to the Emerald Isle proved fruitful with our first two Irish Single Malt Whiskeys

For the springtime of life is the sweetest of all. There is ne'er a real care or regret, and while springtime is ours throughout all of youth's hours, let us smile each chance we get.

Well we’re all smiles at Boutique-y HQ with the release of our first Irish Single Malt Whiskey, and what’s better than one Irish Whiskey? Two Irish Whiskeys of course!

Irish Single Malt #1 has spent the last 24 years quietly maturing until we managed to get it into the bottling plant. We’ve squeezed just 264 bottles at 46.8% abv for this first batch. With notes of ripe juicy nectarines and barley sugar, this classic style has been taken to new heights with this long maturation. The inspiration for this label comes from Craggy Island itself.

Our second Irish Single Malt, appropriately labelled ‘#2’ is a 14 Year Old, and has notes of Brazil nuts, leather, and sherried peels. There’s 357 bottles at 46.8% of this first batch, and our label features Irishman Aeneas Coffey being turned away by the Irish who much preferred their pot stills. I wonder where poor old Anneas ended up afterwards?

These mouth-watering malts will be available from fine retailers soon.
Off-trade/on-trade enquiries should be directed to our UK distributor, Maverick Drinks.

A closer look at...The Glen Keith Distillery

A closer look at...The Glen Keith Distillery

One of our first releases for 2017 is our fourth release from Speyside Distillery, Glen Keith. A spectacular 24 Year Old with notes of fragrant barley, dried grasses and toasted coriander seeds.

The Glen Keith distillery was founded in 1957, with blended whisky in mind in, it’s matured spirit being destined for Chivas Regal, Passport, and 100 Pipers Blended Scotch Whisky, so rarely seen. The first official bottling, a 10 Year Old, was released in 1993-94, more recently a 17 Year Old has been released under the Distillery Reserve Collection, but what else do you know about this distillery?

About the distillery
The distillery was built in 1957 by Seagram, the then owners of Chivas Regal, virtually next door to Strathisla on the banks of the Isla in one of the town’s old textile mills. It was the first new distillery built in the Speyside region since the great whisky crash of 1898 with production coming online in 1958.

Originally designed for triple distillation, a three still ‘Lowland’ setup was installed, which was very unusual for a Speyside distillery. The tall and slender stills, with their upward angled lyne arms, produce a very light style of whisky, which perfectly suited the style of blended Scotch Seagram’s were producing for the American market.

In 1970, two additional stills were installed alongside the original three. These new stills were the first to be gas-fired in Scotland. Now with five stills in operation, changeover to double distillation commenced, although throughout the 1970’s both triple and double distillation was performed.

In 1980 the distillery was updated and was a pioneer of computerised control systems for almost all aspects of the production.

In 1983 a sixth still was added, and triple distillation finally ceased, with all production switched to the double distillation method.

In 1999 the distillery was mothballed, and two years later Chivas Brothers was sold to present owner Pernod Ricard.

It was once thought that the Glen Keith distillery was going to fall into disrepair and remain silent for good, but in 2012 the decision to recommission the distillery was taken, and a major refurbishment commenced. The distillery officially reopened with spirit once again flowing in April 2013

Production Capacity
Up until the distillery was mothballed in 1999 the annual capacity was around 3 million litres of pure alcohol. The reconstruction and refurbishment during 2012 and the old Saladin maltings were ripped out leaving room for a huge full lauter mash tun and an additional six stainless steel washbacks. The stills were refurbished and the original nine wooden washbacks were replaced.

The same three pairs of stills are used, but the improvements made have enabled the distillery to double its capacity to 6 million litres of pure alcohol per year, placing it in the top 15 Scottish single malt distilleries in output volume.

While there is no maturation on site, there is a filling store, and barrels are filled at the distillery before being transported to warehouses not too far away from the distillery.

Did you know?
The distillery experimented with peated versions 1970’s, producing a malt called Glen Isla for filling purposes. Glen Isla was made using peated water tankered across from the Western Isles!

The distillery is considered to be the home of Passport Blended Scotch Whisky, and so its biggest customer is the Master Blender, as almost all its output is reserved for blending.

The Quality Control laboratories for all Pernod Ricard’s Speyside distilleries are located within the Glen Keith Distillery.

About our bottling(s)
We released our first batch back in 2013, it was a release of just 176 bottles, It was very good, Jim Murray gave this a score of 90 Points in his 2014 Whisky Bible.

Batch 2 followed in 2014 but there were just 85 bottles released. We think all of our releases are special, but batch 2 caught the eye, well nose actually, of Jim Murray who awarded it a ‘Liquid Gold’ status in his 2015 Whisky Bible, and we quote "Clean and shimmering with malty clarity: both entices you to taste...but wants to keep you nosing, too... the sugars attached to the barley...oh...my...word!!!"

Batch 3 came along in 2015 and was an even smaller release with just 61 bottles available, but once again it appealed to Jim Murray who awarded this batch 87 points in his 2016 Whisky Bible.

While all three batches sold out quite quickly, there are, if you’re quick, a few ‘Drinks by the Dram’ samples available for batches two and three from the usual suspects.

Let it be known that we don’t go out of our way to please Jim Murray, we simply aim to bottle serious whisky, even if our labels don’t always convey this message. That’s obviously not the case with our Glen Keith label as you will note, it is indeed very serious, just look at how well those Edinburgh Whisky Blog chaps have scrubbed up for the occasion!

And so, to our latest release; Batch 4 has an age statement; twenty four years in the cask, and there are a few more bottles to go round this time, 335 of them to be precise, each numbered from 1 to, you guessed it, 335. They are of course, of natural cask colour, non-chill filtered and at 49.7% abv. Available now from fine retailers now for around £105.

Tasting Notes
Nose: Fragrant barley, dried grasses and toasted coriander seeds. There’s a savoury meatiness too.
Palate: A creamy mouthfeel with vanilla custard and tinned peaches, fresh melon and a grassy note. A hint of mint comes later which turns chocolatey.
Finish: The melon stays long into the finish then leaves that minty chocolate note.

Off-trade/on-trade enquiries should be directed to our UK distributor, Maverick Drinks

Spot the difference? There’s a change with each release

                                2013 - Batch 1 just 176 bottles at 51.2% abv

                                2014 - Batch 2 just 85 bottles at  44% abv

                            2015 - Batch 3 just 61 bottles at 47.8% abv

                     2017 - Batch 4 A 24 Year Old, 335 bottles at 49.7% abv