What Does John Know?

My 90 minutes with Bill Lumsden was very productive. I was also joined by Glenmorangie’s Business Development manager, Francois-Laurent Vitrac, and he was able to answer some of the more distribution-oriented questions.

I printed out your questions and asked him them as soon as we sat down. Here are his answers.

There are no plans on doing floor maltings any time in the near future at Ardbeg. Installing a second set of stills will be more likely, according to Bill. He said they can’t justify floor maltings. Not yet, anyway. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t wish they had them. He told me the main focus recently has been expanding capacity at Glenmorangie.

Regarding an Ardbeg Committee for the U.S., they are looking into it for 2009.  The problem is that they require import licenses for very small amounts of whiskies. The logistics are tough. Big distributors won’t want to be bothered with such small quantities. Plus, how do you distribute it? You make a few retailers happy, and piss off the rest.

Regarding Blasda, the lightly-peated version of Ardbeg which is just coming out now (not in the US–sorry), here’s the reason why they bottled at 40%. Bill said this whisky is all about the delicate, lighter side of Ardbeg. He felt it would be more appropriate if it were bottled at 40%, not 46%. This is not going to be a new trend for them, so no need to worry.

There are no plans to bottle a Madeira or rum-aged whisky anytime in the near future. When I asked about Kildalton, Bill said they are working on various projects. Read between the lines here: it seems like he’s got something up his sleeve for the near future.

Has the new packaging helped increase sales of Glenmorangie? Bill sales are up 20% globally since the new releases. But, as he said to me, “How much of this is due to the packaging and how much should be attributed to the new whiskies that came out at the same time?” It’s hard to tell.

And for those of you who asked, sales of single casks of Glenmorangie are, as Bill told me, always possible. Stay tuned on that.

About potential buyers for Glen Moray, Bill said there is tremendous interest. There’s about ten different possible buyers. Expect an announcement in October. He assured me that the distillery will be well looked after by the new owner. He was sad to see Glen Moray leave the company.

Regarding your questions about Bill’s involvement in cask selection for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, he told me he has sat on the tasting panel, and he has also selected individual casks for them, along with Rachel Barrie, Glenmorangie’s master blender.

And finally, regarding whether new, older Ardbegs available for the U.S., this will not happen until 2010 at the earliest.

I have the whole story on Glenmorangie’s new Signet and Astar bottlings. I tasted both of them with Bill. I’ll get you the details–and my thoughts on them–sometime in the next day or two. They are completely different whiskies.

I blogged about this back in June. Tomorrow, at The Macallan distillery, four Macallan legends are getting together. Each one will create a unique bottle of Macallan whisky for WhiskyFest San Francisco. Here’s an excerpt from my previous posting:

Current and past Master Distillers and Managing Directors will each create one unique bottle of Macallan. The contents inside each bottling will be offered one dram at a time to lucky attendees who provide a donation to charity.

Current Master Distiller Bob Dalgarno, past Master Distillers Frank Newlands and Sandy Curle, along with former Managing Director Willie Phillips all will be participating. They will each use their talents to create one bottle of Macallan whisky to their liking and specification. Each will be bottle #1 of only 1, never to be reproduced or replicated ever again.

Is this cool, or what? I wish I could be in the tasting lab with them while they’re putting their bottling together.

I will be one of the first in line to pony up the $$ to taste some of these whiskies. Congrats to The Macallan to cut through all the corporate red tape and do something great–and for a really good cause!

I was speaking with Jim Rutledge, Four Roses’s Master Distiller, yesterday and asked him if he has anything new coming out this fall. And, of course, he does.  Ever since the new owners let the Four Roses tiger out of the cage a few years back, they have been releasing some wonderful whiskeys.

The new whiskey will be part of their new Mariage Collection. Here’s the explanation, straight from Jim himself:

We will release a limited edition Small Batch this month. We will do this annually and this year it is called Mariage - 2008 collection. (Mariage is the French spelling of marriage, and is most often seen in the beverage alcohol business describing the marriage of various wines.) This year we will use two of our ten recipes - one 10 years old and the other 13 years age. Next year we may use two recipes again, or four, or five…. Every year it will be a totally different flavor Bourbon - via formula design. With ten distinctive recipes and combining them in different combinations, different percentages and varying ages we have an infinite number of product flavors we can use for Mariage. I’m really excited about this idea, because over the years we can show the versatility in Bourbon products/flavors that only we can do - Uniquely Four Roses.

So, there you have it. He’s sending me a review sample. When I get it, I’ll let you know what I think.

The 1964 Vintage White Bowmore has an excellent pedigree and tastes great too. But $6,000 is a lot of money for a bottle of whisky.

How about more than twice that amount for a new 1964 Balvenie?

I just read this in AnTara News — Indonesia:

On 1st September, the family-owned Speyside distillery will release The Balvenie 1964 Single Malt Scotch Whisky — perfect for the more discerning malt connoisseur. Bottled exclusively for duty free retailer Sky Connection and available only at Hong Kong International Airport, each bottle is priced at HK$108,000 [7,100 GBP / $14,200 USD]. This unique cask, Number 10378 from 1964, has matured to perfection at The Balvenie Distillery, and is extremely rare, offering connoisseurs a whisky of a lifetime.

The 1964 cask, personally selected by The Balvenie Malt Master, rested in a single oak cask for over 40 years at The Balvenie Distillery in Speyside, Scotland. With only 151 bottles forthcoming, The Balvenie 1964 is a beautifully crafted rarity.

Looks like the sky is the limit right now. Wasn’t real estate like this three years ago? And tech stocks about eight years ago?

I’m heading into NYC for a one-on-one with Glenmorangie’s whisky wizard,  Dr. Bill Lumsden this Friday. He told me he’s bringing lots of goodies to taste. I’ll get you updated over the weekend regarding all the new Glenmorangie whiskies (Signet,  Astar, etc.) and Ardbeg whiskies too!

The Balvenie Rum Cask, 17 year old, 43%, $130
Rich and sweet, with toffee, coconut cream, Turkish delight, nougat and honey. Ripe black raspberry, citrus and dried spice (vanilla, fennel, and evergreen mint) provide complexity and attempt to balance all the sweetness. A pleasant dram, but I wish there was a little more there to prop up all that sweetness. A whisky for those with a sweet tooth. Good with dessert, as dessert, or with a cigar.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 80

The Balvenie Signature, Batch #1, 12 year old, 43%, $55
Good, straight-forward, moderately sherried Balvenie. Classic Balvenie honeyed notes combine with vanilla, ripe barley, glazed citrus, apricot marmalade, cinnamon, and nutmeg. A nice entry level Balvenie. It’s a solid whisky.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 83

This is one of three new Balvenie whiskies being released this fall, and it’s my favorite of the three. I’ll post my review of the other two over the next two days.

The Balvenie Vintage Cask, 1976 vintage, 53%, $800
Very spicy and complex, with incredible depth. Once again, this 30-plus year old whisky proves the aging ability of Balvenie. Still quite vibrant and invigorating for such a mature whisky. The classic Balvenie honey note is there, but more reserved, along with graham cracker, vanilla wafer, citrus peel, raspberry (red and black), nectarine, and polished oak. Long, spicy finish. (Another outstanding Balvenie Vintage Cask. Although, I remember when I was shocked when the Balvenie vintages were selling for $400. Now it’s $800.)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 94

Some of the Willett Bourbons and Ryes have been outstanding. But they’re often very difficult to find. I spoke with Drew,  my contact at Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (the bottlers of Willett) yesterday, and here’s a brief synopsis of what he told me regarding what’s available where (and contact information!):

John, we sent 96 bottles of our 25YR/90.2 Proof to CA for distribution and 360 bottles to Japan.  I believe that there was a total of 8 barrels for this release.  Retail is around $150-$175 in CA. 

We’ve also released several more barrels for distribution here in KY selected by The Party Source, specifically:

6YR/112.2 Proof Bourbon-108 bottles
7YR/123.4 Proof Bourbon-48 bottles
12YR/114.8 Proof Bourbon-72 bottles
16YR/147 Proof Bourbon-118 bottles
17YR/97.2 Proof Bourbon-168 bottles

These are due to hit shelves late next week.  All are full barrel strength and unchill-filtered. If you interested please contact Jay Erisman (info below)
jerisman@thepartysource.com

We will be doing a 7YR for Toddy’s Liquor (in Bardstown) that will hit shelves prior to the KY Bourbon Fest.

Our distributor Ledroit Brands in Washington DC selects barrels several times a year of many different ages that are available in the DC area. Ace Beverages always has a nice selection of the Willett Family Reserve Barrel Proof Whiskies.  For more information please contact Bill Thomas (Ledroit Brands) at:

blueroomdcbill@aol.com

Regards,
Drew Kulsveen

For all of you Willett enthusiasts, I hope this helps.

Here’s the new “multi-vintage” line up from Bruichladdich, with three different levels of peat. All three are interesting, with a varying range of flavor profiles. It’s good to see all three expressions organized as family of whiskies. (FYI: “Peat” replaces the “3-D” in the line-up.)

Bruichladdich “Rocks”, 46%, $50
Fruit is the common thread to this lightly peated whisky. Red fruit, that is. Red raspberry, red currant, red seedless grape, strawberry, and red apple. A gentle sweetness (creamy vanilla, light molasses) balances all this fruit. Not overly contemplative, but delightful. This is definitely not the same Rocks I reviewed two years ago. I still have my sample and compared it to this new expression. This new one is richer, darker in color, and tastes more mature. It’s an improved version, and my rating reflects this.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 84

Bruichladdich “Peat”, 46%, $65
The most heavily peated of the three (35ppm phenol), but rather gentle for such smoke intensity. No doubt this is partly due to its sweet underbelly of vanilla cream puff, honeyed barley, and melon fruit. The other factor is that the smoke influence is not medicinal like some other Islay whiskies, but rather more of a leafy bonfire smoke, with burning embers and teasing brine on the finish. I liked 3-D better than this one.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 82

Bruichladdich “Waves”, 46%, $60
Only moderately peated (15ppm phenol), but a consistent influence. Quite fresh: reminds me of a walk around a traditional distillery, with notes of steeping barley, kiln smoke, and youthful spirit. A subtle, intriguing thread of gin botanicals (especially citrus peel) weaves its way through the palate. A bit too youthful. Otherwise, the smoke and fruit keep your attention.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 78