The Scotch Blog

Whisky galore! An English malt, please

I read this article in The Independent about the English Whisky Company, which I thought you'd also like to read. Enjoy.

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Whisky galore! An English malt, please

Originally published March 10, 2008 and reprinted with kind permission of The Independent.

The sweet smell of ground grist wafts over the surrounding peat marshland as a one-tonne copper still boils and distils mash into the unmistakable dark liquid that will eventually become whisky.

The first run of single malt, meanwhile, lies maturing in hundreds of specially imported Bourbon barrels from the United States watched over by Molly, Bert, Oscar and Zeb, the distillery's four Labrador dogs.

At first glance nothing in this particular distillery looks out of the ordinary. But to the factory's founders and whisky connoisseurs worldwide what lies in those casks is not just whisky; it is history in the making.

For this is not just another new distillery to add to Scotland or Ireland's already thriving industries. This is the English Whisky Company, the latest attempt to try and cash in on the unprecedented clamour for fine whisky worldwide and, also, the first company to produce an English malt whisky in more than 100 years.

Read the Rest of the story at The Independent site

Is anything worth £1,000 a dram?

I was once again quoted in the Scottish Newspaper The Scotsman.

This time in reference to Johnnie Walker 1805, a bottling that makes the arguably over-priced Johnnie Walker Blue look like a cheap wine.

From the article:

The main bar at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire where the rare Johnnie Walker 1805 has just gone on sale. It is claimed to be a very limited edition: only 200 bottles have been made to celebrate the birthday of the label's founder.

That scarcity value has been enhanced, the makers claim, by the fact the majority of the nine malts used are from distilleries which have since shut down. None of the bottles are on sale to the public: the Gleneagles hotel has one, and another is behind the bar of Fifty, a members-only club in London.

Want to try it for yourself? It's selling at the Gleneagles for £1,000 a dram. And if you can afford that you'll like want to stay in the Royal Lochnagar Suite at a mere £1,900 per night (but breakfast IS included).

You can imagine what I said...but if you don't like to imagine, Read the article here.

Columba Cream Responds

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Unless something REALLY big pops up, this will be the only story this week.

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A few months (September 6th) ago, I did one of my news wrap-up stories (Whisky Season = News Stories) which included a short clip on how Columba Cream was having issues with its plans to take on Diageo's

That story was a summary of a story from The Scotsman called Columba Cream Plan Hits The Rocks.

I just received a response from Jamie Morrison of the Scottish Liqueur Centre, who took some issues with my story and attempted to clarify some statements. It's great to get more information and I thank Jamie for writing me.

Below is his email, my response to some of his comments as well as the text of the original story.

The rare Saturday story

James Thompson* emailed me this morning to tell me about an article in today's Times (UK) which, on its surface, discusses the Ladybank distillery, but strayed to touch on issues of terroir - this time regarding water and its impact on the finished spirit.

Now before anyone jumps on me for the term terroir and how it is not applicable to the production of Scotch whisky - I'm still looking for someone to come up with a Gaelic term that means "the place where a thing is made" I'll happily start using that term.

Back to business...