It’s hot, and it’s summer and most of you are/were/will be on vacation. But that is soon to end. Here in the meantime, a few whisky PRs that might interest you.
New Whisky book By Dominic Roskrow & Gavin D. Smith
The definitive 21st-century reference to the world’s greatest distilleries & their whiskies
Gavin D. Smith & Dominic Roskrow
With contributions by Davin de Kergommeaux & Jürgen Deibel
Price: £30.00 Publishing: 3rd September 2012
By looking at established whisky-producing countries such as Scotland, Ireland and America, and innovative newcomers like Sweden, Taiwan and Australia, not to mention whisky’s growing popularity with customers in Brazil, India and China, the Whisky Opus is an unmatched exploration of the increasing popularity and ever changing geography of whisky from Banffshire to Bangalore.
Divided into chapters by country and with information panels and specially commissioned maps showing terroir, Whisky Opus identifies the key features of each whisky style, as well as the history of distilling in each region. 175 of the world’s most significant distilleries are then explored with stories from their past, quirks of production methods, particular personalities and even intriguing new trends to watch out for.
With Whisky Opus explore every whisky style, from single malt to rye, and train your palate how to recognize and appreciate them all with the help of 500 evocative and informative tasting notes for the classic, prestige and an unusual brand from every featured producer, with at least three listings per distillery
Whether you are new to the wonders of whisky or a connoisseur, you will find DK’s new book tells you everything you want to know. Elegant, classy and written by four renowned whisky writers, make Whisky Opus your tipple of choice.
MASTER OF MALT announce perfect summer tipple
Online retailers Master of Malt are proud to announce the launch of Professor Cornelius Ampleforth’s Summer Fruit Cup – a classic, refreshing English concoction based on a recipe of strawberries, cucumber, orange and mint with a blend of fine wines, spirits, herbs and spices. The result is the perfect summertime quaff.
To create this quintessentially English drink, Professor Cornelius Ampleforth uses a vacuum still in which he carefully re-distils top quality wheat spirit infused with cucumber, strawberry, orange and mint. The use of a vacuum still allows distillation to take place at room temperature, retaining freshness and complexity.
Each bottle is wrapped in crinkled brown paper, with a string-wound neck and a handsome black wax seal. The bottles are adorned with a print of a hand-drawn illustration depicting a refreshing bowl of summer fruit-punch and three jolly Victorian gentlemen.
To serve a perfect Summer Fruit Cup half-fill a tall glass with ice, sliced cucumber and orange, quartered strawberries and a lightly bruised sprig of fresh mint. Then combine one part Summer Fruit Cup with two parts lemonade and enjoy!
Tasting notes:
Nose: Huge depth and richness in the initial nose, spicy with notes of Caramelized Apricot, Chocolate and Marmalade. A huge secondary whack from the cold-distilled botanicals – Cucumber is the primary component, but mint, orange and sweet luscious strawberry all make an appearance.
Palate: Extraordinary intensity, but made fresh and accessible by the cold-distilled botanicals. The Strawberry is particularly prominent, but the mint freshness is omnipresent.
Finish: Long and luscious with the Mint, Strawberry, Orange peel bitterness and mint continuing to shine.
Master of Malt announce limited edition bottling by BenRiach and Caskstrength.net
Drinks writers Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison of Caskstrength.net have teamed up with BenRiach whisky distillery to produce a single cask, Single Malt Scotch Whisky. This limited edition bottling is available only through Master of Malt.
Online retailers Master of Malt are proud to announce the exclusive release of a limited edition bottling of 16 year old BenRiach Single Malt Scotch Whisky selected by renowned whisky journalists Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison of Caskstrength.net. Working directly with BenRiach, Mr. Ridley and Mr. Harrison hand selected a single cask to release this limited edition run of 296 bottles.
The whisky was distilled in 1996, aged for 16 years including 4 years in a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask, and bottled in July of 2012. The whisky is a single cask whisky (cask #5614) and was bottled at cask strength at 55.2% abv.
This bottling represents the second in a series of ‘A-Z’ bottlings to be released by Caskstrength.net. Their first release was an Arran Single Malt Scotch Whisky and sold out in a matter of days on Master of Malt. The Arran release has since become a collectors’ item and has tripled in price in the past year. Caskstrength.net has yet to reveal what their next release will be.
Each 70cl bottle is labelled with the ‘Cask Strength and Carry On’ logo, is individually numbered, and is hand signed by both Mr. Ridley and Mr. Harrison. The first 50 bottles will be sold with a limited edition ‘Cask Strength and Carry On’ cotton carrier bag.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Toffee sweetness and Werther’s Originals spring out of the gate. The PX finishing is extremely apparent with brown sugar and Christmastime notes with a hint of salted caramel and just a whisper of granny’s old baking-and-spice cabinet.
Palate: Rich, dark, and dried fruits roll down like an avalanche and lead into a river of caramel and toffee. Some soft potpourri and candied lemon peel pops up its head but doesn’t overpower. Begins elegantly and reveals a more powerful flavor with time.
Finish: Long and lingering, it carries the salted caramel through to the back of the throat for a pleasantly drying finish thanks to the Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.