November 6th, 2009

Two rare Highland Park whiskies headline a list of special whiskies at WhiskyFest New York

John Hansell

1964 bottle RGB 72dpi1968 bottle RGB 72dpiThe new Highland Park 1964 vintage and 1968 vintage debuted last night at a special event in London, but they’re already on their way to New York to be featured at a sold-out WhiskyFest New York this coming Tuesday.

I first mentioned these two Highland Park whiskies here on WDJK a few months back. Only the 1968 vintage is being imported to the U.S. and it won’t begin showing up until the end of the year. But both whiskies will be poured at the WhiskyFest Charity Table, where, for a small donation, you will be able to taste a wee dram of either whisky.

 

A $20 donation to charity will buy attendees a half ounce pour of one of these special whiskies, and 100% of the proceeds will go to City-Meals-on-Wheels.

Here is the remainder of the special charity whiskies:

First, there are the six unique whiskies that were poured at WhiskyFest San Francisco. There are small amounts of each remaining, and they will be available at WhiskyFest New York while supplies last:

Isle of Jura – Willie Tait: “I put a hogs head of Jura down on the 23rd Nov 1989, on my daughter’s 13th birthday. This was my legacy for my children, as they have already taken all my money.”

Bruichladdich – Jim McEwan: “The title of my whisky will be “Working on a Dream” it will be a vatting of 46 years of Bruichladdich as that is the time I have been in the business. A single malt made by humble men on the west coast of Islay whereby you can feel and taste their personality, honesty and passion in every sip you take.”

The Dalmore – Richard Paterson: As Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface for the very first time at 02.56 GMT on 21st July 1969, the new spirit of Dalmore down on Earth on this very same day was being transported onto the circular surface of American White Oak to begin its epic journey too.

The Balvenie – David Stewart: David now has an intimate knowledge of where his personal favorites are within the Balvenie warehouses, many of which he has been carefully nurturing for several years. David’s unique bottling will be a single cask sampling drawn directly from one of this highly personal selections.

Glenfiddich – Brian Kinsman: Cask samples are retained long after the cask has been bottled and savored. They form a historical archive of Glenfiddich’s greatest and best. Brian will be selecting from these precious remnants to craft a unique and unrepeatable one-bottle “vatting” of Glenfiddich.

Buffalo Trace: Our charity Buffalo Trace bottle contains the very first sample ever drawn from our “Millennium Barrel.” This barrel was filled on December 31, 1999, that’s why we call it our “Millennium Barrel.” It was the very last barrel that we filled on the last day of the last century.

In addition to the bottles above, we have also received a number of rare and expensive bottles donated by many of our exhibitors. Here they are:

Donated by Moet USA:
Ardbeg Supernova
Glenmorangie Malaga Wood 30 year old
Glenmorangie Fino Sherry finish

Donated by Pernod-Ricard:
The Glenlivet 1969
Scapa 25 year old
Chivas Royal Salute 38 year old “Stone of Destiny”

Donated by Heaven Hill Distilleries
Rittenhouse 25 year old Small Batch rye (A vatting, not a single barrel. This is not being sold to the public.)

Donated by Gordon & MacPhail
Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 1965 (A cask not being sold to the public.)

Donated by Preiss Imports
BenRiach 1976 Port Pipe Cask #4469

Donated by Mackmyra Distillery
Mackmyra Special: 02  – The Anniversary Edition

Donated by Four Roses Distillery
Mariage 2009

Donated by SKYY Spirits
Wild Turkey Tradition
The Glenrothes 1975

Donated by Isle of Arran
Icons of Arran #1 The Peacock 1996 Vintage

Donated by Malt Advocate publisher John Hansell
The Macallan “Era” bottlings:
’20s
’30s
’40s
’50s
Glen Breton “Ice”
Scott’s Selection “North of Scotland” 1964 vintage
Arran “First” 1995 Distillation
Forty Creek John K. Hall Port Wood Reserve
Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection 17 year old Rum Marriage
Santa Theresa Bodega Privada (Barrel #5) Rum
Cadenhead’s 1964 Port Morant Pot Still Demerara Rum

Category: Bourbon,Charity,New Releases,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest Tags: 6 Comments

November 2nd, 2009

Glen Grant debuts in the U.S. next week at WhiskyFest

John Hansell

GG_16_yrs_LoRGood news. Glen Grant is coming to the U.S, but not until 2010.

However, if you have a ticket for Whiskyfest New York on November 10th, you in for a special treat. The whisky will make its debut in the U.S. at WhiskyFest.

 

This is from my contact at Skyy, the U.S. importer:

Whisky Fest is the only event where we will show case the brand before next year’s launch. So, only people at next week’s event will get the chance to taste before anyone else does…! The actual launch will be in January of next year and we will focus resources into the key markets: NY, NY, FL, TX, IL,  and CA.

The whiskies being poured? I’m told it will be the 10 yr. old and the 16 yr. old.

Category: Breaking news,New Releases,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest Tags: 5 Comments

October 17th, 2009

WhiskyFest San Francisco: the day after

John Hansell

Dalmore1951Decanter-LOWA great time last night at WhiskyFest. There were many whiskies: new ones, special ones, “work in progress” samples. Some of the ones I stumbled onto included:

1) A new Wild Turkey 14 year old 101 proof limited edition

2) Next year’s “work in progress” release of Springbank 18 yr. old (in sherry casks)

3) A “work in progress” Ardmore “Triple Wood”, aged in bourbon casks, quarter casks, and PX sherry casks.

Willie's Special bottle4) Six unique whiskies at our charity table (picture at bottom), including the Dalmore 1951 in the globe decanter (picture at top), including Willie Tait’s Jura special bottle of Fortunach (see left).

 

 

 

 

Glaser at WhiskyFest5) John Glaser with the new Compass Box Spice Tree (left).

6) An incredible new Sheep Dip: a 1990 vatting of a 19 year old Dalmore, 21 year old Fettercairn, and a 25 year old Ardbeg that has been maturing in bourbon barrels as a finished whisky for the past 15 years. (Picture below with brand owner Alex Nicol.)

 

 

Alex NicholBut there were many more too, that I wasn’t keeping track of. For those of you who were at the event, feel free to comment on interesting whiskies you tasted.

 

 

 

 

 

Unique whiskies at WhiskyFest SFYou never know what’s going to show up at a WhiskyFest!

Category: WhiskyFest 27 Comments

October 16th, 2009

WhiskyFest San Francisco is tonight: report to follow

John Hansell

We’ll be hosting WhiskyFest San Francisco tonight. The show is sold-out, and I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ll be reporting on the event two ways:

1) live tweets during the event

2) a follow-up blog posting in a couple days here on WDJK.

I know some other WDJK readers are also coming to the event, so be sure to track me down and say “hello.”

Category: WhiskyFest 1 Comment

October 14th, 2009

WhiskyFest San Francisco is this Friday!

John Hansell

I’m heading to San Francisco today to host WhiskyFest San Francisco, which takes place on Friday night. It’s going to be a great event with an incredible selection of whiskies, great whisky seminars, and a wonderful buffet dinner. The event is sold out too!

I’ll be bringing my Blackberry with me during WhiskyFest.  If you are following me on Twitter, you’ll be able to catch my tweets during the event  (and on the right column here at WDJK.)

One of the cool things is the six unique charity whiskies, which I talked about here earlier. One unique creation by some of the best whiskymakers in the industry. This is very special!

If you’re coming to the event, be sure to say “hello.”

Category: Twitter,WhiskyFest 7 Comments

September 19th, 2009

Six incredibly rare whiskies (one bottle produced of each) for WhiskyFest San Francisco

John Hansell

Six different whiskymakers from six different distilleries have agreed to make a unique bottle of whisky (bottle #1 of 1) just for WhiskyFest San Francisco, which takes place on October 16th. Attendees will be able to taste a 1/2 ounce pour for a requested $20 donation to charity (Meals on Wheels).

Here are the six whiskies, along with a description of each, as provided by the whiskymaker.

Isle of Jura- Willie Tait: “I put a hogs head of Jura down on the 23rd Nov 1989, on my daughter’s 13th birthday. This was my legacy for my children, as they have already taken all my money.”

Bruichladdich- Jim McEwan: “The title of my whisky will be “Working on a Dream” it will be a vatting of 46 years of Bruichladdich as that is the time I have been in the business. A single malt made by humble men on the west coast of Islay whereby you can feel and taste their personality, honesty and passion in every sip you take.”

The Dalmore- Richard Paterson: As Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface for the very first time at 02.56 GMT on 21st July 1969, the new spirit of Dalmore down on Earth on this very same day was being transported onto the circular surface of American White Oak to begin its epic journey too.

The Balvenie- David Stewart: David now has an intimate knowledge of where his personal favorites are within the Balvenie warehouses, many of which he has been carefully nurturing for several years. David’s unique bottling will be a single cask sampling drawn directly from one of this highly personal selections.

Glenfiddich- Brian Kinsman: Cask samples are retained long after the cask has long been bottled and savored. They form a historical archive of Glenfiddich’s greatest and best. Brian will be selecting from these precious remnants to craft a unique and unrepeatable one-bottle “vatting” of Glenfiddich.

Buffalo Trace- Our charity Buffalo Trace bottle contains the very first sample ever drawn from our “Millennium Barrel.” This barrel was filled on December 31, 1999, that’s why we call it our “Millennium Barrel.” It was the very last barrel that we filled on the last day of the last century.

This is about as rare as whisky gets. And you can be sure they are going to taste great. Come to WhiskyFest San Francisco, try one of these rare treats, and help support a good cause.

Category: Bourbon,Charity,Events,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

August 19th, 2009

Wemyss single cask edition malts will debut in U.S. at WhiskyFest San Francisco

John Hansell

Details here on the WhiskyFest blog.

Category: New Releases,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest Tags: 5 Comments

August 12th, 2009

Two rare Highland Park vintages slated for WhiskyFest San Francisco

John Hansell

Highland Park is donating two rare vintage whiskies for our charity table at WhiskyFest San Francisco on October 16th.

The distillery will be releasing two new vintage Highland Park whiskies later this year: a 1964 vintage and a 1968 vintage. They have agreed to donate one bottle of each to our charity table, where lucky whisky enthusiasts will have the opportunity to taste these whiskies for a donation to charity.

I will be providing details on these two rare whiskies in the very near future on this blog.

These two rare Highland Park whiskies will accompany six other rare whiskies at the charity table, which I discussed earlier here.

Thank you Highland Park for your generous donation!

Category: Charity,Events,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest Tags: Comments Off

August 4th, 2009

Unique WhiskyFest SF whisky #6: Bruichladdich

John Hansell

This is just in, all the way from Islay. It’s our sixth and final unique whisky which you can sample at WhiskyFest San Francisco for a donation to charity. Details on the previous five are here.

From Jim McEwan, Production Director at Bruichladdich:

Good afternoon John , the title of my whisky will be “Working on a Dream” it will be a vatting of 46years of Bruichladdich as that is the time I have been in the business, the description will be ” A single malt made by humble men on the west coast of Islay whereby you can feel and taste their personality, honesty and passion in every sip you take. Completely natural as all Single Malts should be.

So there you have it, six unique bottles from six different distilleries. Maybe the six rarest whiskies in the world. And with a story associated with each of them. And you can only find them at one place: WhiskyFest San Francisco on October 16th.

Category: Charity,Events,Scotch whisky,WhiskyFest Tags: 7 Comments

August 1st, 2009

Unique WhiskyFest SF Whisky #5: Buffalo Trace

John Hansell

As I mentioned in previous postings, a handful of distillery managers and master blenders have each agreed to make one unique bottle of whisky (bottle #1 of 1) for WhiskyFest San Francisco this October 16th. These whiskies will, naturally, be rarer than any other bottle of whisky the ever produced, because there is only one bottle. For a small donation to charity, you will have the opportunity to taste one of these whiskies.

You can read about our first four whiskies here. This is our first bourbon participating. It’s from Buffalo Trace. Here are the details, as described to me by my friends at the distillery.

Our charity Buffalo Trace bottle contains the very first sample ever drawn from our “Millennium Barrel”. This barrel was filled on December 31, 1999, that’s why we call it our “Millennium Barrel”. It was the very last barrel that we filled on the last day of the last century.

This barrel was aged in our one-of-a-kind single barrel warehouse for nearly 10 years. The single barrel warehouse is a very tight warehouse which tends to age bourbon gracefully, so the flavors are nicely balanced. The bourbon has a traditional bourbon flavor with some nice wood flavors, strong, but not overpowering. Hints of caramel are present and the complexity is well balanced.  As an added bonus, we’ll fill the charity bottle at barrel proof, uncut and unfiltered.

Very cool! Thanks guys!

Category: Bourbon,Charity,Events,WhiskyFest Tags: 6 Comments

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