The Scotch Blog

No Kid Hungry

Notice how I haven't been writing here much? Yeah sorry about that.

Trying to have a personal life, combined with consulting and travel have really made "The Scotch Blog" a red headed step-child. It may be surprising to some of you, but The Scotch Blog is a side-line of a side-line - and NOT my primary focus in life.

ANYWAY, I wanted to give a shout out to a great charity "Save Our Strength" which has the noble ambition of trying to prevent any child from ever going hungry. If you don't support that, you are a complete and utter bastard.

SOS also has a number of fund-raising initiatives. One of those is called "A Tasteful Pursuit":

Share Our Strength’s A Tasteful Pursuit^® presented by Lexus is a unique dinner series that features the nation’s hottest chefs joining together to make sure no child in America grows up hungry. As they tour the country, these amazing chefs create delicious, multi-coursed dinners paired with ultra-premium wines at some of the country’s finest dining establishments. Guests enjoy the company of these chefs during their dinners and participate in auctions featuring one-of-a-kind culinary, travel and lifestyle items.

In 2007, the culinary community’s collective talent, generosity and dedication helped raise $600,000 for our efforts to surround children with the nutritious food they need to learn, grow and thrive.

The 2008 tour will include award winning chefs from around the country and make stops at some of the hottest culinary destinations.

This Thursday, I'll be attending The Tasteful Pursuit taking place in Washington DC at Charlie Palmer's. This one also happens to be co-hosted by my very good friends at The Balvenie.

Look for me if you are also attending, If not, see if there's a Tasteful Pursuit event near you. If not, seriously consider supporting the charity some other way.

An Open Letter to the Whisky Community:

I've been lucky enough to have met Michael Jackson on a few occasions...meeting him for the first time some 14 years ago at a beer tasting he conducted at the BrickSkeller in Washington DC.

Like many of you, his writing was my first "formal" introduction to the world of whisky - and all of his books grace my cabinet (some of them actually signed :))

While my own writing on the subject will never match up to his - his work did motivate me to put pen to paper (er, finger to keyboard) and start this little site about whisky.

As some of you know Michael recently announced his long-term battle with Parkinson's - Johanna Ngoh would like to let everyone know about a fund-raiser she's organizing in conjunction with the upcoming Spirit of Toronto. She is soliciting donations for a silent auction to benefit Parkinson's research and wants all potential donors to know that their generosity is appreciated and will be acknowledged in the auction catalog both online and in print.

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As most of you are aware, whisky writer Michael Jackson announced before Christmas that he has been dealing with Parkinson’s Disease for the better part of a decade. While this is challenging enough in and of itself, it is distressing that the symptoms of his condition were mistaken by the gossip mill to be the effects of intoxication. It takes years of hard work to build a professional reputation of Michael Jackson’s stature and such misinformation can only serve to damage a livelihood in this industry.

Michael Jackson openly displayed visible symptoms of Parkinson’s during a recent interview with Singlemalt.tv, an act that takes courage and character in my personal opinion. Watching him speak I became emotional but was also in admiration of the dignified manner in which he carried himself in spite of this obvious challenge.

He spoke about his first experience with whisky which in turn brought me back to my first visit to a whisky shop in Montreal. It was an aimless, bewildered wandering until I came across a copy of the ‘Malt Whisky Companion’ that provided me with written guidance, in plain language, to the Babel of bottles displayed before me. Looking back I realize that this book was actually my portal into the unique and idiosyncratic world of whisky, and its assorted cast of characters among the trade and enthusiasts who populate this decent and personable community.  Like the author himself, the ‘Malt Whisky Companion’ is unassuming, unpretentious and a reflection of what makes the Scotch whisky trade special, and I am grateful to have had this book and its author as my original mentor on the subject.

With all the above in mind, I was not content to simply feel pity and pour a dram so I made contact with both Michael Jackson and the Parkinson Society Canada. The result of these communications is that Charles and I are organizing Canada’s first whisky auction to be held by silent bidding at this year’s Spirit of Toronto Whisky Gala on Saturday, May 12. Our goal is to gather a collection of 24 bottles of whisky with all proceeds being donated to the Parkinson Society Canada on behalf of Michael Jackson.

The intention here is not to find a cure with one fund raising event but rather to collectively show appreciation and support of an individual whose work has cultivated a worldwide renaissance of whisky enthusiasm and self-styled connoisseurship. I appeal to you as a member of the whisky community to please contact me if you have a bottle of whisky that you don’t mind putting to a different sort of “good use”, but rest assured that I will be brazen enough to be contacting many of you personally!

Best regards,
Johanna Ngoh
singleminded@magma.ca

Single Minded, A Single Malt Whisky Journal

Spirit of Toronto 2007
Toronto’s Annual Whisky Gala

The 3 "T's" - Toronto. Tasting. Trout.

Trout Unlimited Canada is pleased to announce their 3rd annual Single Malt Tasting Fundraiser.

Join  Trout Unlimited Canada in preserving coldwater habitats within local watersheds with an enjoyable and informative evening, including:

• sumptuous pre- and post-tasting hors d’ouevres
• cash bar
• live & silent auction
• complimentary draw for TUC Artist of the Year print
• a lively ‘tour’ of Scotland’s famous Glenfiddich Distillery by knowledgeable and entertaining Ian Millar, Chief Brand Ambassador, and
• a formal guided tasting of exclusive Glenfiddich single malt scotch whiskys.

Trout Unlimited Canada is a not-for-profit conservation and education organization.  Founded in 1972, TUC’s focus is on volunteer-driven, member-based resource conservation.  TUC Chapter members volunteer their time and effort to preserve cold-water habitats within local watersheds. Tax receipt issued for a portion of ticket.

When: Thursday, March 1st, 2007
Reception and Silent Auction begin at 6:00 p.m.; formal guided Tasting begins at 7:00 p.m.

Cost: Tickets are $150 each, or $1,200 for a table of 8

Where: The National Club, 303 Bay Street, Toronto.

Buy Tix: Call or e-mail Kim Blain at (905) 333-3264/toll-free 1-877-733-1994 or Fax (905) 333-1964.  Visa, Mastercard, Amex or cheque accepted.

The house(s) that Johnnie built

No matter what I say about the Johnnie Walker Marketing campaigns, I can't say a bad word about their charitable giving.

How's this: You get something free. Katrina victims get new homes.

For every set of FREE personalized Johnnie Walker labels you order from www.JohnnieWalkerGives.com, Diageo will contribute $5 toward building at least two new homes for displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

That's right. YOU go to www.JohnnieWalkerGives.com; YOU order FREE labels - which you get for free. Freely sent for Free. Did I mention they are free? And then DIAGEO contributes $5 for each order.

Math is not my strong-point, but multiply the $5 by each order; carry the 2; divide by 20...yes, just as I thought...everybody wins here.

Read more...

Johnnie Walker Gets Charitable

Holy Crap! I'm about to say something nice about Diageo :)

I grew up in NYC and there you had 2 choices. Mets or Yankees. And since the Mets were in Queens, I went with the Yankees. Some of my fondest memories growing up are associated with the Yankees. My dad worked on the renovation of Yankee Stadium, and I got to run around on the field during the reconstruction - one of my brothers still has the bleacher bench my dad brought home one day.

During the renovation we would schlep to Queens to watch the Yankees (they played at Shea Stadium during the renovation), and I'd get to sit in the Press Box and play with the Scoreboard after games. (A friend of my Dad's worked the score board at Shea). Good Times. But once again, I digress.

On Opening Day, Tuesday, Diageo announced plans to donate $100 to Recording Artists, Actors, and Athletes Against Drunk Driving (RADD) every time a Yankee player walks at me beloved Yankee Stadium - all through the 2006 season.

In my book, Scotch & Baseball were made for each other (OK maybe not, but I'd rather have a glass of JW Red than an $8 Miller Lite), and I'm glad to see Diageo supporting responsible drinking - especially in regards to Scotch consumption.

As you may know, the corporate symbol of the Johnnie Walker brand is the "Striding Man" Johnnie Walker himself, and the new Johnnie Walker campaign encourages you to "keep walking". So this is a clever fit.

In a cool move to raise awareness about drunk driving (and a great public relations move), Wade Boggs, Hall of Famer and former Red Sox and Yankees third baseman handed out NYC Subway MetroCards before the Yankees game on April 11th to encourage adult fans to enjoy the game responsibly and get home safely.

Said Boggs:

I'm proud to help launch a program that reminds everyone not to drive drunk. This is a subject that I'm passionate about, particularly when it is delivered with such a positive voice.

Chris Parsons, Vice President, Scotch Marketing, Diageo:

This program is a huge opportunity for Diageo and Johnnie Walker to raise awareness of our efforts against drunk driving. As we approached the start of the baseball season, we saw the opportunity to promote responsible drinking, and we're thrilled to work with Yankee legend Wade Boggs to help us do so.

Let's hope the Yanks are walked a lot this season. And hit a lot of homers too.

Wade Boggs greets fans on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.

Glenfiddich 1937 Auction Tonight

Tonight at Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall, a bottle of Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937, will be auctioned off to benefit City Harvest, which seeks to end hunger in New York. This bottle is the only 750ml bottle of the 1937 ever produced (The standard bottling in the UK is 700ml). The spirit was aged in cask for 64 years and bottled in 2001.

The auction kicks off at 7pm with cocktails; bidding starts at 8pm and the event should be over by 9pm.

Vanderbilt Hall is a large hall right off of the center 42nd street entrance.

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An Auction for The World’s Oldest Bottle of Whisky – Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937
As part of New York’s Tartan Week celebrations (a week-long series of activities highlighting Scottish culture and heritage), Glenfiddich has partnered with City Harvest to auction off one of the four remaining bottles of Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937. In fact, because it has to be imported into the United States, a special bottling was created so the bottle on display is the only 750 ml bottle of the Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937 ever made. This one-of-a-kind bottle will be sold to the highest bidder (reserve price is $19,000) with proceeds donated to City Harvest. Just a few years ago, a 700 ml bottle from the same cask sold for almost $80,000, so this night should truly be one to remember. The event will be held on April 4, 2006, in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal, with cocktails at 7:00 pm and the auction at 8:00 pm.

Glenfiddich Malt Master David Stewart notes:

Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937 is a truly unique and exquisite malt whisky of exceptional character. As well as being the oldest Scotch whisky in the world and a very collectible piece, if you can afford to share it with your friends, it would make for the most wonderful taste experience.

Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937 was distilled in the same year as the Coronation of King George VI, the same year JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ was first published and Walt Disney’s ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was first released as a full length animated feature film. At the time, The Glenfiddich Distillery was one of only six distilleries open and producing whisky in Scotland.

KME - There is no cost to attend, but you need to get on the list by calling 212 982-8300 x 111

Palin's Pillage for Charity

Michael Palin - Monty Python and globe trotter - is supporting the 2005 Islay Pillaged Malt Charity Bottling.

The bottling is a mix of whisky from all the distilleries on Islay: Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Lagavulin as well as from the Isle of Jura distillery

Each distillery was ‘raided’ by crew of modern-day Vikings - who pillaged 40 liters of 12 year old cask strength whisky from.

Once they were done, the crew rowed and sailed with their precious cargo to Ireland’s Antrim Coast, 20 miles away, in a force eight gale across the treacherous North Channel to claim another 40 liters from the Bushmill's distillery in Northern Ireland.

Michael Palin commented:

This is the drink that gives pillaging a good name. There are few things I’d row though Force Eight gales for, but a malt whisky from Islay, Jura and Ireland are three of them.

The whiskies were left to marry for several months at Lagavulin before being bottled at the Bruichladdich Distillery this week.  The proceeds of all 500 numbered bottles go to the Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland and of Northern Ireland.

Palin, tasting bottle number 1, added:

This Pillage Malt is terrific stuff.  Forget Ambrosia, this is what the Gods should be drinking.  Never has more trouble been taken to provide a fine whisky. Do whatever you can to pillage the 2005 Pillaged Celtic malt. And make a lot of children very happy too.

The Pillaged Malt 2005 is certain to become a collector’s favourite. Event organiser Kevin Campbell hopes to raise £50,000.

Bids start at £100. You can place your bid on a bottle by downloading a bid form.

Read more here.

Charity & Whisky Gang Thegither

WHISKY MAGAZINE TEAM'S CHARITY TRIATHALON

A team from Whisky Magazine is set to walk, cycle and row its way round Islay and Jura in a bid to raise money for charity.

The ambitious two-day triathalon is a follow up to last year's Speyside walk, which raised more than £5000 for Make Poverty History.

The team (editor Dominic Roskrow, former Editor Marcin Miller and Annabel Meikle from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society) will set out from Jura Distillery and visit Islay's eight distilleries as part of the event. Distillery staff are supporting the triathalon by joining in for part of the two day event. The team will also be collecting samples of whisky aged more than 20 years from the island to put together a special vatted whisky for future auction.

Dominic says:

After the success of our Speyside walk last year we thought it would be good to do something on Islay and Jura, I was due to go over to preview the festival anyway, and so this seemed a novel way to visit all the distilleries on the two islands and to do some good at the same time.

The team has been given huge back up support from the islands themselves and have appointed Christine Logan as events organiser. Whisky Magazine journalists Ian Buxton and Martine Nouet will also be on hand and the walk is scheduled to finish at Ardbeg, where a team of journalists are being
entertained by the distillery.

So all in all it will hopefully turn in to a big party and a major celebration of all things Jura and Islay.

The full itinerary is:

DAY 1

• Walk from Jura Distillery to the ferry and over to Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain (10 miles)
• Cycle from Bunnahabhain to Bruichladdich and Kilchoman Distillery (32 miles)

DAY 2

• Row from Bruichladdich to Bowmore (3 miles)
• Walk from Bowmore to Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Ardbeg (14 miles)

The 20 year old whisky collected last year in Speyside has been put in to two special decanters by Glencairn Glass having been married by Whyte & Mackay's master blender Richard Paterson. One decanter sold for £350 the other is being auctioned at Whisky Live New York.

If anyone is interested in pledging, you can do it in one of two ways.

1. Please contact Dominic directly with your pledge, or
2. Anyone who is interested we can do a combined The Scotch Blog pledge - contribute through Pay Pal and I'll forward whatever we raise to Dominic.

Let me know!

Fighting Poverty with whisky

I give a lot of crap to companies who push expensive whisky to people who will buy it simply because it's expensive - but here is one (hopefully) expensive whisky with which I have no problem:

From Whisky Magazine:

Live Aid 20th Anniversary Whisky
Could this be the most expensive whisky of 2006?

Rare whisky is normally associated with luxury and affluence ­ but two special decanters containing the very best Speyside malts are set to raise hundreds of pounds for Make Poverty History.

The whisky has been created to mark the 20th anniversary of Live Aid and all the whisky is at least 20 years old. Malt whisky was collected from a range of distilleries in the region by a team from Norfolk-based Whisky Magazine during a charity walk to raise awareness of the Make Poverty History campaign.

And it was then mixed together by top master blender Richard Paterson of Whyte & Mackay to create a balanced and unique vatted malt. There was only enough whisky for two bottles.

The two decanters were designed by Glencairn Glass, with each bearing the Live Aid logo and each numbered.

Now the decanters are to be auctioned for Make Poverty History, and Editor Dominic Roskrow says that he hopes to attract bidders to make this one of the most valuable whiskies ever made.

We're not expecting to break any world records because the most expensive whisky ever sold went for nearly £30,000. But it would be nice to think that we could attract the best bid of 2006.

It's a very special whisky and will make a wonderful purchase for the serious collector. The sponsored walk raised about £5,000 for Action Aid and it would be wonderful to double that with these decanters.

One decanter will be auctioned at Whisky Magazine's whisky show in New York in April. Whisky Magazine is now accepting bids for the other decanter.

Cheers to Dominic and the team at Paragraph Publishing!

I think we should call up the guy who bought the Dalmore 62 for $55,000 and guilt him into paying the same amount for this bottle.