• It’s a very entertaining and informative show that I think will appeal to both the novice and seasoned whisky enthusiast.
• I’m interviewed several times during the show. (Let that be a warning to you…)

If you still haven’t had a chance to see it, or if you would like to watch it again, you can now catch it on Hulu. I’m including the link here. They excluded most of the commercials (thankfully), so the show is only about 45 minutes.

Check it out.  One bit of advice: having a whisky in your hand while watching it only enhances the pleasure!

So, I thought it would be cool if we could have a drink together outside of WhiskyFest, when I’m not working. if you’re going to be in town the night before, please join me for a drink at Elixir. I’ll be there from 5:00-6:30pm, before I take the Malt Advocate team out to dinner.

I hope to see you then. Slainte!

I actually started this policy effective January 1st of this year (I have turned down several invites already to Kentucky and to Scotland), but I haven’t told anyone about it publicly until now.

I think it goes without saying, if a whisky company invites a journalist on an all expense paid press trip to their distillery, they’re hoping the journalist will write about them. In the past, they way I dealt with this was that I would only accept an invite from a company if I truly felt there was something noteworthy to write about. And I always made it clear that I wasn’t promising editorial exposure in exchange for the free trip.

I decided at the beginning of the year to take this one step further and eliminate any gray area. This is my ”coming out” blog post.

In actuality, I haven’t accepted any press trip invitations “across the pond” (which are the expensive ones) for almost two years. My only trips last year were to nearby Kentucky for special occasions.

I think that I might be the first professional whisky writer to take this position, so maybe I am setting some sort of precedence here? I don’t know, and it’s not important.

What is important is that paying my own way will ensure that I only visit distilleries where there is a legitimate reason for doing so for Malt Advocate–and with no expectations by the whisky companies.

It makes me want to hop on a plane and fly to Islay. (Not to mention pour myself a dram or two.)

Next up: John Glaser from Compass Box Whiskies.

Here’s Willie:

Hi all

John has asked me to contribute my thoughts to his ever growing blog.

So after much thought, and a few glasses of my favourite whisky Jura, I am now ready to venture in to the strange and wonderful world of blogging!

Scotland, like the rest of the world, is going through a wee recession. I use the word wee, the way I would say a wee dram. But in true Scots fashion, we are doing our best to ignore it and continue to enjoy life and of course our whisky.

I am sitting writing this “blog thing” whilst trapped in the house by the snow which is wonderful to look at, but less wonderful to live with when trying to get from A to B (wherever that may be).

But the snow and forced entrapment is providing wonderful inspiration for me as I try and emulate the success of our country’s most famous wordsmiths, that of Robert Burns.

Here in Scotland we are celebrating 250 years of his life with a massive year long party called the Homecoming. It’s basically an open invitation for all to come to our beautiful country and enjoy the best hospitality and events in the world. Visit www.homecomingscotland.com  for full details.

Rabbie (as he is known to close personal friends like me!) and his words are as appropriate today as they were all those years ago. “I’m truly sorry man’s dominion, Has broken Nature’s social union” could be a rally call for the green movement and is more than just a message to a mouse written more than 200 years ago!
 
Talking about works and readings, a great new book [Goodness Nose] is just out written by Whyte and Mackay’s very own Master Blender Richard Paterson. The book gives the reader a wonderful insight into the world of whisky, and also details his own colourful and entertaining life. More importantly he says nice things about me in the book – that’s worth a read all on its own.

I am pleased to say that Jura Single Malt continues to delight scotch whisky drinkers around the world And it is wonderful for me to see new Jura expressions being released. However, what is also very important to me, being a distiller, is that Jura retains its true identity. More and more brands are turning out so many new expressions that there is a growing chance that they may loose there identity.  Please be assured that any new expression of my beloved Jura will continue with its rich heritage, building on the success of our core products – the 10yr, 16yr old and of course Superstition.
 
At the Islay whisky festival – or as I prefer to call it, the Jura whisky festival – we always bring out a very special whisky to mark the occasion. Last year we crafted the Jura Elements which proved to be another great Jura success.

This year we will be launching a new Jura collection which promises to be majestic and take the brand to new heights. I am giving you the exclusive chance to win the entire collection worth approx US$500. All you have to do is guess the name given to the new collection. I have given you a wee clue in this blog, and go to www.isleofjura.com for further inspiration.

So, after you have given some thought as to what the new collection might be called, post your guess in the comment section below. I’ll be checking this blog posting and the comments. (I might even comment myself!) I will announce the winner at the end of May this year. If more than one person guesses the name of the collection, I’ll pick a name out of a hat. I also have two signed copies of Richard’s book for the two runners up.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Malt Advocate for my 2008 lifetime achievement award. Although warmly received, it’s a pity we are always too old when we receive such awards to truly enjoy and make the most of the actual awards ceremony! But I am also pleased that I am the youngest person ever to receive this award, and I am still alive to blog about the privilege (my wee joke).

Aye Willie

PS Thank you to John for the invitation to acquaint myself with your readers and share my simple but I hope entertaining thoughts.

Okay everyone. Anyone have a clue what the Isle of Jura distillery would call their new collection? If you have an idea, post it below. Willie will be lurking.

Hi all

The website (www.whiskytrailbars.com) has the potential of being a good resource during your next visit to Scotland. You might want to bookmark it. 

I’m not advocating breaking any laws, but I know some of you have found ways to have your whisky shipped to you faster and with less red tape. You comments are anonymous, so does anyone want to offer some advice to those of us less enlightened?

(I’m not referring to shipping whisky with you when you are traveling but rather having whisky shipped to you from overseas.)

WhiskyFest San Francisco was this past Friday night. If you’ve been following my blog (and all our WhiskyFest promotions) over the past several months, you know that we brought out of retirement the past Macallan Distillery Managers and Managing Directors for each one of them to create a unique bottle of Macallan to be tasted at WhiskyFest San Francisco for a small charitable donation.

These whiskies are very precious and rare. So how did Macallan safely transport their whisky  from Scotland all the way to San Fransisco? They used Wine Cruzer. It’s a black padded container of varying configurations and prices designed to ship wine, but it works for whisky too. The Macallan guys gave me the whisky (inside the Wine Cruzer) the morning of WhiskyFest for safe keeping and I also shipped the bottles (and what’s left of the whisky) back to our office in the Wine Cruiser to be used at our charity table at WhiskyFest New York on November 11th.

I had plenty of time to inspect and use the Wine Cruzer and, I like it so much, I’m going to get one for myself. They’re fairly expensive (the one I want is going to run me about $300) but, considering the value of whisky these days, It’s a great feeling to know that I will be transporting my whisky knowing that they will not break. They also are designed for travel (wheels, telescoping handle, etc.) and look pretty cool too!

You might not ship that much whisky to warrant to cost. With three WhiskyFests each year and overseas trips Scotland and Ireland, I know that I’ll use it.

Some whisky bottles are much wider in shape than standard wine bottles, but there are models of the Wine Cruzer that will accommodate champagne bottles and magnum bottles, so there is some “wiggle room” there.

Anyway, I thought you might like to know about this.

I’ll get the discussion started by telling you what I do. Next week I am traveling to San Francisco for WhiskyFest. I’m taking one of those cardboard shipping containers with the Styrofoam insert that has the built-in holes where you put the bottles. It holds six bottles, and I’m shipping it empty with the anticipation that I might fill it while in San Francisco. I’ll either bring it with me and check it as carry-on luggage or send it to my hotel ahead of time via UPS. Then, when I am leaving to come back home, I’ll either ship it back via FedEx or UPS, or I’ll bring it with me and check it as luggage. I’ve never had a problem either way (so far).

The downside to using a carrier like UPS is that it costs money to ship. But now that airlines are starting to charge for extra luggage, the costs might be comparable.

Sometimes the retailer where we buy whisky can ship it directly to our house.  But, if we are bringing whisky back from overseas or live in a location that doesn’t allow alcohol to be shipped, we have fewer options.

What do you do?

How about more than twice that amount for a new 1964 Balvenie?

I just read this in AnTara News — Indonesia:

On 1st September, the family-owned Speyside distillery will release The Balvenie 1964 Single Malt Scotch Whisky — perfect for the more discerning malt connoisseur. Bottled exclusively for duty free retailer Sky Connection and available only at Hong Kong International Airport, each bottle is priced at HK$108,000 [7,100 GBP / $14,200 USD]. This unique cask, Number 10378 from 1964, has matured to perfection at The Balvenie Distillery, and is extremely rare, offering connoisseurs a whisky of a lifetime.

The 1964 cask, personally selected by The Balvenie Malt Master, rested in a single oak cask for over 40 years at The Balvenie Distillery in Speyside, Scotland. With only 151 bottles forthcoming, The Balvenie 1964 is a beautifully crafted rarity.

Looks like the sky is the limit right now. Wasn’t real estate like this three years ago? And tech stocks about eight years ago?

KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL ROLLS OUT NEWEST MEMBER

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The historic Tom Moore Distillery, home of 1792 Ridgemont Reserve, has joined the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and will begin offering tours on Oct. 1, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association announced.

The Bardstown landmark is owned and operated by Constellation Spirits, the former Barton Brands, Ltd., which was founded by Tom Moore in 1879. Its super premium 1792 brand bourbon is named for the year when Kentucky gained statehood.

“We’re excited and proud that visitors will be able to get a behind-the-scenes look at what our employees do best – make excellent Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey,” said Johnnie Colwell, Vice President and Plant Manager of Constellation Spirits.

Plans also are underway for a visitor’s center to open in 2010.

We’re going to average about two a day. Stops will include BenRiach, Benromach, Glenrothes, Macallan, Cragganmore, Ardmore and Glenfarclas.

So many Speyside distilleries, so little time! Obviously, a return visit will be necessary at a later date.

Some of the highlights that stood out for me included some very rare and old whiskies from the independent bottlers. I also was intrigued by some experimental whiskeys from Stranahan’s (they called ‘em “snowflakes”, because no two Colorado snowflakes are alike). For their seminar, Heaven Hill brought out some of their bourbons that they only sell to the export market, which was pretty cool. And John Hall from Forty Creek hosted a seminar that included tasting the individual components of his Barrel Select.

There were also plenty of new whiskies to taste. Here’s just a small sampling that was being poured:

Aberlour 12yr. “Double Matured”
Benromach Organic
Bowmore 18 yr.
Several new Bruichladdichs
The New Buffalo Trace 2007 Antique Collection
Compass Box Flaming Heart
New release of Evan Williams Single Barrel
New Glenmorangie expressions
Hazelburn
Lagavulin and Oban Distillers Edition
New 2007 release of Old Forester Birthday bourbon

And not to be outdone by all the whisky companies, Anchor Brewing Company was pouring this year’s “Our Special Ale” which will not be released to the public until November. It came off the bottling line the day before! How cool is that?

On top of all this, we had San Francisco’s best mixologists making signature whiskey cocktails. They rocked!

Many whisky legends were there, like Jimmy Russell of Wild Turkey, Jimmy Bedford of Jack Daniels, Parker Beam from Heaven Hill, Lincoln Henderson (Woodford Reserve and now Suntory), Richard Paterson of The Dalmore, and Willie Tait from Jura.

WhiskyFest New York is in six days. I have six days to recover and do it all over again. Cool…