It would be fair to say that £100,000 is a lot of money for anything, particularly so for a bottle of whisky, yet Johnnie Walker Diamond Jubilee justifies its stratospheric price tag. Why? Because all the profits from the 60 decanters which have been made of this ultra-rare blend are going to charity.

The concept was initiated by Richard Watling, ex-Diageo director and now chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust [QEST] which provides grants to British craftspeople and in doing so, keeps many highly specialized trades alive. He approached David Gates, who holds the Royal Warrant for Johnnie Walker at Diageo, to see whether the firm would create a blend to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The result is a blend not just of whiskies – all distilled in 1952 the year Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne – but of a host of different crafts. The crystal diamond-shaped decanter is from Baccarat, its silver collar and stopper has been hand-crafted by Hamilton & Inches in Edinburgh and it resides inside a cabinet which has been made with wood from two of the Queen’s estates – ok from Sandringham and pine from Balmoral. There are two hand-etched Cumbrian crystal glasses and the presentation is completed with a white leather hand-bound book personalized by the Queen’s calligrapher (and former QEST scholar) Sally Mangum.

But what of the liquid? I was invited to Royal Lochnagar, next door to Balmoral, to watch the decanters being filled, have a chat with master blender Jim Beveridge and his assistant Matthew Crow and, more importantly, taste the liquid.

“The brief was a blank sheet,” says Beveridge prior to the tasting. “but there had to be some connection with 60 years, so we looked to see what whiskies we had from 1952 [the year the Queen acceded the throne]. Not surprisingly, there were only a handful and we even rejected some as they were too woody.”

After vatting the components together, the blend was rested in two small marrying casks made by Diageo’s apprentice coopers under the watchful guidance of master cooper David Taylor.  The oak – Quercus Petraea for the geeks among you – came from Sandringham.

“That marrying made a big difference,” says Beveridge, “because it allowed the key component to do its work.” That key element? “Old grain. It softened those crusty old malts and allowed new flavours to sing out. The surprise for me is the freshness, the softness. Old whiskies can be one dimensional, but this has layers.”

He raises the glass and takes a sip. “Aye,” he smiles, “that’s all right.”

93   Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons, 42.5%, £100,000

The bright gold hue is maybe a shock for those who equate age with darkness. The surprises continue as a first sniff immediately reveals amazing freshness. Fruits lead the way, starting with quince, slowly evolving into mango, blueberry and an almost jammy blackberry note. At the same time, spices begin to build, particularly when the surface is broken with a drop of water – exotic spices at that: Javanese long pepper, cardamom. Vanilla pod notes then develop. Complex in other words. In the mouth you can see how that grain is smoothing all the elements, giving an unctuous feel, calmly revealing the blend’s secrets. There’s just sufficient oakiness to give structure and while there’s smoke it’s far in the distance. Its different facets weave around each other: velvet texture, the refreshing bitter perfume of spices, pools of soft fruits as it flows down the throat. It is a triumph of the blender’s art.  — Dave Broom

Two outstanding contenders battled it out for this award this year: The Mackinlays ‘Shackleton’ whisky and The Compass Box Great King Street blend. Both tasted great, both took the category into new territory, and both showed what can be achieved through clever and thoughtful blending.

The Mackinlays ‘Shackleton’ whisky is a blended malt whisky — a mix of malt whiskies with no grain — and recreated the whisky found in the Antarctic camp abandoned by Ernest Shackleton. It was well packaged, was relatively well priced, and tasted great.

But the Mackinlays is all about history and the past. Compass Box Great King Street, a sweet citrusy and vanilla-doused blend, is all about the future. John Glaser and team don’t make bad whiskies, but often they have been esoteric, small batch, and all but unavailable to many of us. This blend is different, and is an attempt by Compass Box to introduce quality blends to a new generation. It had a relatively modest price point and brought the artisan skills of Compass Box to a new audience. It’s that rarity: a blend that drinks well on its own but tastes great when mixed. More than that, it’s perfectly placed to bring blends back into vogue. Anyone for a highball?  —Dominic Roskrow

Tomorrow, the Speyside Single Malt of the Year will be announced.

It’s been a great year for whiskies from less traditional whisky territories, both in terms of new distilleries coming on line, and for distilleries bottling quality spirit for the first time. Choosing one winner has been a challenge, and honorable mentions should go to Glann ar Mor in France, Mackmyra in Sweden, Kavalan in Taiwan, and St. George’s in England for each releasing more than one outstanding whisky this year, and to Lark for continuing to produce stunning and impressively different single malt whisky.

But the award goes to Amrut for its second batch of Two Continents.  In fact, Amrut released four whiskies that could have lifted the crown, but two were very small scale and were all but gone before they were released. This one, which was first released a couple of years back to widespread acclaim, reappears in a slightly different format, and is even better than the original.  It’s an absolute peach of a malt and combines spirit made with Indian malt matured in Scotland with Scottish malt matured in India. The innovative approach to whisky making across the portfolio, the diversity of flavors, and in this case, the rich, complex, unique, and exciting oral explosion would impress anyone. Honorable mentions, too, for Amrut Portonova and Amrut Fusion, which would feature in any New World top ten for 2011. That’s some achievement for the distillery. Can’t wait to see what they come up with next. —Dominic Roskrow

Whisky Advocate’s Blended/Blended Malt Whisky of the Year will be announced here, tomorrow.

It has been a quiet year on the Japanese front. Stocks at the larger distillers are under pressure, the result of short-term production twelve to eighteen years ago, and while this is being managed capably by producers, it also means that they aren’t exactly embarking on a program of multiple new expressions. With Mars only just reopened, Gotemba extremely quiet, and Karuizawa silent, there was one distillery that rose above all of this. It’s Japan’s newest, and the smallest.

2011 was the year when Chichibu came of age. Owner Ichiro Akuto built the distillery after the enforced closure and demolition of his family’s previous plant, Hanyu, and did so in the same town where his ancestors started making sake 500 years ago.

He and his young team are crafting a new presence, or rather, by exploring all parameters of whisky making, are allowing a new being to come into existence. Three styles are made, light, heavy, and peated, and there are plans to malt on-site (using local barley and peat) and build a cooperage.

This first official release of whisky (rather than maturing new make) is of the quicker-maturing light style and shows typical Japanese clarity along with genuinely ‘Eastern’ aromas of citrus and fragrant spices, and a soft, unctuous feel. It shows enormous promise and demonstrates that there is hope for smaller distillers in Japan. Important in so many ways. —Dave Broom

Be sure to visit here tomorrow. We’ll be announcing our New World Whisky of the Year Award.

In a normal year, any one of the six Irish whiskeys released in 2011 could have staked a claim as Irish whiskey of the year. But 2011 wasn’t normal, not least because in a normal year it’s not likely there would have been six releases in total, let alone six potential award-winning contenders. Unsurprisingly, given the last decade or so, Cooley was never far from the headlines, and the company bookended the year with Kilbeggan 18 year old and Greenore 18 year old at the beginning of it, and Connemara Bog Oak toward the end.

But it was the stunning triple whammy of single pot still whiskeys from Irish Distillers in between that provided the greatest surprise in a generation for the Irish whiskey category. All three were wonderful, but it was the last of them, the cask strength version of the much-loved 12 year old Redbreast, that carried off the honors.

A rich, bittersweet plummy, red berry, oaky-spiced delight, the increased strength gives an already great whiskey a richer, fuller, fruitier dimension, and makes an already complex whiskey…even more complex. For me that makes it not just the best Irish whiskey of this year, but of any. An utter joy. —Dominic Roskrow

The recipient of Whisky Advocate’s Japanese Whisky of the Year will be announced here, tomorrow.

Some folks always suspect that food or drink exporters keep the best stuff for themselves. I’ve heard it about cheese, beer, fruit…but when I’ve looked into it, the export markets are indeed getting “the good stuff.” Why not? You’d want to send the best to get the highest price, given that shipping costs are the same for great or mediocre products.

But after enjoying this bottle of Wiser’s Very Old (also sold as Wiser’s 18 Year Old), I’m starting to think that the Canadians really are keeping the good stuff up north. There are small amounts for sale in the U.S. (though that’s slowly increasing), but almost all of it stays home.

That’s a hardship for us non-Canadians, because this is a very nice whisky. After years of thinking of Canadian whisky simply as fuel for highballs and sweet Manhattans we’re looking for something else, something that can stand on its own and intrigue us, or something that could make a more robustly Canadian cocktail, and this Wiser’s would very much fit the bill. You can really taste rye and oak, without a lot of gloppy sweetness, and there’s a finish to reward sipping contemplation.

We’ve seen innovation in this category from John Hall’s Forty Creek whiskies, and rare elegance from limited bottlings like Canadian Club 30 Year Old. Wiser’s Very Old delivers classic Canadian smoothness with a rich extra helping of well-integrated flavor and complexity. Keep it coming, Canada; we’re ready for more.—Lew Bryson

Tomorrow’s announcement will be the Irish Whiskey of theYear.

If there is one thing Heaven Hill has proven on numerous occasions, it’s that they know how to cherry-pick great whiskeys for their single barrel bottlings. They’ve been doing it for seventeen years now with their vintage-dated Evan Williams Single Barrel releases, many of which we’ve rated very highly. They also proved they can do it with rye whiskey, when they released their 25 year old single barrel Rittenhouse rye a couple years back (which we rated a 96).

In 2011, they did it again with a new bourbon. This time, it was a single cask, 20 year old Elijah Craig bottling, released to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Since it is a single barrel bottling, very few bottles were made available to the public, and they were only sold at Heaven Hill’s Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown, Ky. However, those of you who read the Whisky Advocate blog (whiskyadvocateblog.com) on a regular basis had a chance to procure a bottle of this special whiskey when we published our review of it back in early November.

What makes this whisky so great? It’s seamless, richly textured, and impeccably balanced. It’s complex too, with nutty toffee, pecan pie, apricot, berried jam, and nougat, peppered with cinnamon, mint, cocoa, and tobacco. It’s warming, with polished leather and dried spice on the finish.

This is an outstanding whiskey from a distilling company that continues to prove that they know how to make a wide range of excellent products, from great value whiskeys all the way to some of the finest whiskeys America has to offer. —John Hansell

Join us tomorrow for the Canadian Whisky of the Year announcement.

There are an increasing number of whiskeys coming from small distillers. At first, a small number of distillers bottled unaged distillate as a somewhat hokey packaging of moonshine-like white lightning; some were flavored, some were spiced, but almost all of them were meant for mixing (maybe a more accurate description would be ‘spiking’). But over the past eighteen months, a new interest in white whiskey has led to a batch of more carefully made, more flavorful bottlings — or maybe it was the other way around, it’s hard to tell which caused which. Even the big distillers like Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace got into the act, and some folks were buying white whiskey to custom age in small barrels. 2011 was the Year of White Whiskey.

That’s why a whiskey I gave an 80 rating is walking away with this award. Of all the white whiskeys that came across my tasting table in 2011, Low Gap was the solid winner, and this is recognition that there are some white whiskeys out there that are worth drinking on their own for more than the once-or-twice novelty of it.

Low Gap, distilled from malted Bavarian hard wheat, is a round, fruity spirit that smells like fresh flour and crisp crackers, but drinks like brandy — aromatic and vaporous — with a real grain-laced finish, not just an alcohol wick-up. That’s hardly a surprise coming from Craft Distillers, who make Germain-Robin brandy; they know their way around a still, particularly the 16 hectoliter cognac still they use to make Low Gap.

There were aged whiskeys from small distillers this year that I liked better, but this was exceptional in its niche…and I can’t wait to see what it’s like when it has had a chance to age. —Lew Bryson

Tomorrow, the recipient of Whisky Advocate’s American Whiskey of the Year Award will be announced.

In response to the continually evolving world of whisky — the industry, the consumers, the worldwide market — we have updated our awards. First, we’ve expanded the number of awards for Scotch whisky in recognition that there are so many different expressions available from so many different distillers and blenders. We’ve made an award for each of the regions regularly featured in our Buying Guide. We also have more closely defined the Artisan Whiskey award (now for North American whiskeys) and the New World Whisky award (for whiskies made outside North America, Scotland, Ireland, and Japan).

But perhaps the two biggest changes in this year’s awards reflect the widening scope of Whisky Advocate. Previously, products had to be available for sale in the U.S., but we have thrown the doors open wide; eligibility has been expanded to the world markets, and a whisky need only have been offered for sale to the public during 2011.

The other change is in who is involved. As we expanded the number of tasters writing reviews in our Buying Guide — magazine founder John Hansell was joined by Dave Broom, Lew Bryson, Dominic Roskrow, and Gavin Smith — we included the new reviewers in the awards selection process, and they have written the awards narratives for their respective areas.

What hasn’t changed is that these awards are not simply awarded to the whiskies that get the highest ratings in our reviews. The winners might be the highest-reviewed, but they might also be the most significant, the most important, or represent a new direction for a category or niche. The awards process is not, in short, a mere numbers-based formula.

These awards are the oldest and longest-running annual whisky awards program. We taste and sample over the course of the year, at year’s end we consider and confer, and then we make our decisions based solely on the merits of the whiskies…as we have done for eighteen years. We give you our word: that’s how it will continue to be. Enjoy!

I approached John Glaser of Compass Box Whisky if he would debut a whisky for us at WhiskyFest during the seminar program, and he agreed. A few days later he came to me with this idea:

For our New York WhiskyFest slot on Saturday at 9:15 am, I would like to unveil a special, limited release Great King Street blend, inspired by and made just for New York City.

To help me present it, Dave Wondrich (world renowned mixologist, cocktail historian and Whisky Advocate columnist) will join me. I’ll introduce the whisky and we’ll taste it with the attendees.  Then, Dave will present the new blend used to make a classic morning cocktail from the 1890s, Harry Johnson’s Morning Glory cocktail.  According to Dave, this is one of the earliest known Scotch-based cocktails.

This is why the 9:15 am Saturday slot is perfect for us!

John, since the beginning of the development of Great King Street, I’ve been thinking about creating Great King Street blends over time for different places, different cities or regions or countries (inspired by Scotch blenders of old, and a passage in Whisky by Aeneas MacDonald).  In particular, I’ve been thinking for a while now about creating a blend for New York City.

And as I believe you know, a key part of the mission behind Great King Street is to enlighten whisky enthusiasts to new ways to enjoy their favourite drink.  An historical and arguably intellectual approach to enjoying Scotch whisky in cocktails (in morning cocktails!) as part of the new WhiskyFest format is ideal!

And this is just the first 15 minutes of the program! Wait until you see what we’ve got lined up the rest of the day. Details to follow.

Cocktail for breakfast anyone? Here’s how you can join us.

Another ‘country’ joins the whisky diaspora

By Dominic Roskrow

The oldest whisky ever released in ‘England’ has been snapped up after a huge public demand. The whiskey is actually from Cornwall and was the result of a unique partnership of two Cornish drinks producers.

Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt 7 Year Old Whiskey, which adopts the Irish/American spelling of the world ‘whiskey,’ is the first new whiskey to be bottled in Cornwall for 300 years, and is three years older than the whisky from St. George’s in Norfolk. It is the result of a partnership between St. Austell Brewery and Healey’s Cyder Farm, and was only available in limited quantities from August.

Cornwall, which has its own language and culture, and which to a great extent has closer ties to the Celts of Brittany and Wales than to England, maintains a degree of independence, and the new whiskey is being promoted distinctly as a Cornish rather than English whisky. But because it is highly unlikely that whiskey from Cornwall or England would have been matured for any length of time 300 years ago, when it was last made, Hicks & Healey can plausibly claim to be the oldest single malt whisky ever produced by either country.

The new malt is the brainchild of highly respected St. Austell Brewery head brewer Roger Ryman, who knew that the humid peninsula air and mild Cornish climate would provide optimum maturing conditions. The partnership brings expertise in brewing and distillation together for the first time in Cornwall.

Healey’s Cyder Farm near Truro makes apple brandy in a unique, traditional copper pot still which was made by Rothes coppersmiths Forsyths, where most Scottish stills are made. At only 1,200 liters, it’s one of the smallest legal stills in the country.

The Cornish whiskey is made with Maris Otter barley grown in Trerulefoot, south-east Cornwall. The wash is mixed at St. Austell Brewery’s traditional Victorian brew-house, before being transferred to Healey’s Farm.

Although the new release will be seven years old, the partnership has been making batches of whiskey for much longer. Six years ago, I tasted malt spirit and whiskey aged from new make to 4 years old, but felt some of them were too flabby and appley. But the new make and the year old spirit — the latter the source for this particular whiskey — were very good indeed.

A new batch of Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt Whiskey will be released again next year, and will be available from Healey’s Cyder Farm and the St. Austell Brewery Visitor Center, and online at www.thecornishcyderfarm.co.uk  and www.staustellbreweryshop.co.uk

That’s the end of vat…

By Dominic Roskrow

Few companies have done more to further the cause of vatted malt whisky than London-based producer Compass Box. So it was fitting that when the term was consigned to the dustbin of history by the British Government, whisky maker John Glaser and supporters were on hand to mark the occasion.

Assorted Compass Box staff, bloggers, and retailers marched to the British Parliament buildings at Westminster on a warm winter evening to watch Glaser mix the last ever vatted malt on Westminster Bridge as the chimes of midnight rang out from Big Ben, marking the official last time that a whisky can be described as a “vatted malt.”

Vatted malts are a mixture of malts from different distilleries; they are distinct from blended whisky because they contain no grain whisky. But a few years ago the Scotch Whisky Association moved to have the term outlawed, and to have it replaced with the term “blended malt whisky.” Critics of the change, including Glaser and Compass Box, were vociferous in their opposition because they argue that the new term is far too similar to the term ‘blended whisky,’ and it is very difficult to explain to people, particularly in languages other than English.

Many of Compass Box’s most successful whiskies are vatted malts, so John Glaser felt it right to mark the occasion in style. “It was in the Houses of Parliament that a term that was almost as old as whisky itself was outlawed,” he said. “So it was only fitting that it was there that we went to mark the end of vatted malts.”

It says much about how trendy quality whisky is today that the protest began with a party at one of Soho’s most fashionable style bars. Cocktails made with Compass Box whisky were served before Glaser appeared, coincidentally arriving as the DJ put on Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.”

From there about 20 supporters walked down to the River Thames and on to the bridge at Westminster. As Big Ben rang out the chimes of midnight Glaser mixed and bottled the last-ever “vatted whisky.”  Both vatted malt and vatted grain whiskies were put on sale by Compass Box, but sold out quickly due to huge demand.

Dave Broom, Lew Bryson, Jonny McCormick, Dominic Roskrow, and Gavin Smith will be joining us for this exceptional whisky weekend. Whether you are in the trade (retailers, brand ambassadors, distillers, restaurant owners, etc.), a whisky aficionado, or new to the world of whisky, these are personalities you do not want to miss. You can find them all in one place this entire weekend.  Read more about them here and get all the details on WhiskyFest New York 2012 weekend here.

Coming soon: details on the seminar topics during the day-long program on October 27th.

It’s no small project. This first year of the course is a series of 50 lessons, each featuring Broom describing an aspect of whisky production, backed up by video clips of distillers giving their own personal perspectives on that facet.  That’s perhaps the most appealing part of this package; learning about malting from Eddie MacAffer (Bowmore), milling from Georgie Crawford (Lagavulin), distillation from Mickey Heads (Ardbeg), finishing from Jim McEwan (Bruichladdich)…this is no surface-skim of whisky education, it’s as geeky as you want to get.

“It’s all very well having the theory laid out,” says Broom, “but the only way in which you can understand whisky is by seeing the places in which it is made: the landscape, the weather — and it was pretty wild when we were there — and, most importantly, the phenomenal people who make the spirit.”

You can’t have a whisky masterclass without tasting, of course. While you can’t actually taste whisky coming through the screen, there are 100 three-to-five minute sessions of tasting readily available major whisky brands with Broom, featuring full descriptions of the flavors and positioning them in one of five “flavor camps.”

It’s a serious undertaking, and you’ll have to take it seriously to get everything out of it; each lesson presents a multiple-choice test at the end. You have to pass the test to unlock the next level (whisky education as video game progression?). There are other rewards: once enrolled, you get offers for whisky specials, events, and further filmed specials. Year 2 will add Irish whisky and blended Scotch whisky, as well as more in-depth focuses on specific Scottish distilleries.

The price for the online/5-DVD course is $150. Enrollment and more information is available at theworldmasterclass.com.  –Lew Bryson

If you’re like me, you were somewhat stunned by the 2007 discovery of intact cases of Mackinlay’s Highland Malt Whisky, buried in the ice for 100 years under Ernest Shackleton’s long-abandoned Antarctic base camp at Cape Royds. And, if you’re like me, you might have been somewhat stunned by the stream of stories that came out of that discovery. One crate was flown to New Zealand, slowly thawed; three bottles then flown to Scotland (on Dr. Vijay Mallya’s private jet), there to be analyzed by a crew led by Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson; the project to replicate the character of that whisky… Well, to tell the truth, except for a wee tinge of envy when fellow writer Dominic Roskrow got a tiny sip of the original back in July (lucky bastard!), I somewhat lost interest along the way.

Until, that is, the whisky was announced as “Ready!” Really? I’m all excited again, especially since reports were that the whisky was quite worth the effort. The U.S. launch was set for November 10^th, at — appropriately — the Explorers Club in New York City. I made the trek uptown, and entered the hallowed halls, somewhat awestruck. The first glass of champagne cooled that a bit!

I fell in with Richard Paterson quickly, warmly congratulated him on the accomplishment, and let him continue to be celebrated, very much the man of the hour. Then I fell to chatting with David Robertson, who I hadn’t seen in some years, and who is now Rare Whisky Director for Whyte & Mackay. He provided me with some fascinating bits and pieces about the whisky, such as the analysis having revealed that the light peat in it derived from peat from Orkney — will chemical wonders never cease? — and the wood used to age the whisky having been American white oak in sherry casks. He also told me that the cask of Glen Mhor Richard nosed and selected to recreate the Mackinlay’s was, eerily, cask number 1907.

He also told me that the whisky was a huge success and was selling quite rapidly. The 50,000 bottles, planned for a two year selling period, would likely be all sold in twelve months (five pounds from each bottle goes to the Antarctic Heritage Trust). And you’ve already said you won’t make more, I chided him; but it’s so good, you have to! He rolled his eyes a bit, and said that they had made a promise…but that they might well make another, somewhat different version. It’s certainly hit a sweet spot on price and value and story, it would be a shame for this to be a one-off.

Because, you see, as Paterson explained — to a surprisingly quiet and attentive crowd of Club members, media, industry, and assorted important people (like the Right Honorable Mike Moore, New Zealand’s ambassador to the U.S., who I’m afraid I may have bumped into while trying to get to the bar; sorry, sir) — this is a unique whisky opportunity. The whisky was completely undisturbed at chillingly cold temperatures, but at 47.3% ABV, he said, it never froze. It is intact, almost perfectly preserved from within two years of its bottling.

Still, as Robertson had confided to me earlier, there was a terrible risk. Whyte & Mackay had already committed to making this replica whisky taste exactly like what was in that bottle. “What if it was horrible?” Robertson said, with a look on his face I’m sure he’d had before the bottle was first sampled. “’Richard, would you make us a whisky that tastes exactly that bad?’ I can tell you; he’d have said ‘Put my name on that? No.’”

Happily, that wasn’t an issue. The whisky was, by all reports, quite nice indeed. “Less smoky than we’d expected,” Robertson said, and indeed, there’d been much speculation that it would be a smokier whisky from an earlier time when whisky was burly and men were men… not the case. There was a definite but restrained peat component in the nose, along with vanilla, light fruit, and faint caramel. The flavors were a replication of the nose, with a firm malt bedrock; the smoke revisited on the finish. If the reports on the original were true, the replica was true: quite nice indeed.

After a few more drams of the Mackinlay’s, and a bit more conversation with a nice gentleman from the Antarctic Heritage Trust about the whisky — he was pleased as well — I had to return home from my adventure. Shackleton didn’t make it to the Pole, but I will discover and conquer a bottle of his expedition’s whisky.