Category: Events

An audience with Balvenie and David Stewart

Want to know about David Stewart and his role with Balvenie / William Grant and Sons?  Read on….

If you’re an employer or in charge of Human Resources, you’ll be aware of the dynamic and shifting nature of your workforce in recent years.  Being Generation X myself, it was drummed into me that you should show loyalty to your employer and stick around.  We were constantly told by the Baby Boomer generation above us that “your CV will look more impressive and you’ll be rewarded if you’ve demonstrated that you stay at the one place for five to ten years.”

This is in stark contrast to the Gen Y and Millenial approach, where the thinking seems to be that a CV littered with multiple positions and experience gained across a many different roles and jobs is the more attractive pursuit.

So with that as context, what do we make of an employee who sticks with his boss for 54 years?  What do we make of a role and a career that has outlasted many people’s lives, let alone most people’s professional undertakings?  Such is the story and the appeal of Mr David Stewart of Balvenie.

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Macallan – The past, present, and future collide

In France, they timestamp their modern history into pre and post The Revolution.  In countries like Germany & Japan, the split point is pre and post World War II.  In the computing world, Apple has come to be referenced as pre and post Steve Jobs.  And for fans of Macallan, life is pre and post 2004.

This is a topic close to home, and much has been written about this previously.  For a more detailed rundown and perspective on Macallan and how its whiskies have changed since the mid-2000s, I encourage you to read this piece The highs and lows of Macallan.

But for now, suffice it to say that 2004 was the year Macallan made the momentous decision to introduce bourbon cask-matured spirit into their official bottlings.  It started with the Elegancia release, followed by the launch of the Fine Oak range.  By 2005, as a result of growing markets and increased demand (which had a flow-on effect to cask procurement, cask management, and the recipes/vattings for the various releases), many regular Macallan drinkers felt the brand’s whiskies changed in style, character, and quality – even the releases that remained purely sherry cask-matured.  After decades of 100% exclusive sherry maturation releases and undisputed quality, suddenly, Macallan drinkers across the world fell into one of two camps:  Those that liked Macallan, and those that liked what it used to be like.

But that was then.  This is now.  What about the new generation of Macallan drinkers being introduced to the brand today?  Now that the dust has settled and the apocalyptic events of 2004/5 are a blissfully unknown chapter in an unknown whisky history book, how do today’s twenty-somethings approach a distillery they’ve heard so much about, when so many of the celebrated bottlings are either unavailable in their country, or priced at a point that is beyond what most can afford?

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Ardbeg Dark Cove

If you’re here just to read the review on the Dark Cove release, scroll further down.

Ardbeg Day is just around the corner again, which means it’s time to shake off the Autumn blues (or dust off your Spring hat if you’re in the northern hemisphere) and gear up for all the fun and excitement of Ardbeggian delights.

I’ve written much about Ardbeg’s history, the Ardbeg Committee and Ardbeg Day in the past.  So rather than fill up space by repeating it all on this page, you can re-visit those pieces here (Ardbeg Day 2015 report), here (Perpetuum review) and here (Ardbeg Day 2014 & Auriverdes review) if you need to fill in any blanks.   For the purposes of a concise read, let’s cut straight to the chase and get stuck into Ardbeg Day and the annual release for 2016.

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Now & Then: Comparing old bottlings with today’s counterparts

Now and then.  Ah, the joys of nostalgia.

If there’s a topic guaranteed to start an argument around the table, it’s when sports enthusiasts try to pick or assert that a particular sporting team from one era was superior to the team from another era.  For example, is the Hawthorn team from the 1980’s better than the Hawthorn team from 2013-2015?  Was Don Bradman’s 1948 “Invincibles” side a better cricket team than the all-conquering Steve Waugh side of 1999-2001? If the two teams were to compete against one another, who would win?

Sadly (or happily?) in the case of such arguments, it is all speculation and conjecture.  For, quite simply, we will never know.  And how do you compare teams across different eras when rules were different, playing conditions differed, and the level of athleticism and professionalism was different.  The discussion is nothing more than hypothetical amusement.

Increasingly of late, similar discussions and assertions are translating across into whisky circles.  For example, a commonly-seen thread in many online whisky groups or forums is the assertion that the whiskies of today are not as good as what they were 20 years ago.  Or that whiskies have changed over the years.

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Kininvie – The distillery emerges…

Like so many other aspects of the whiskysphere in recent years, there are entities or processes that have been around for a long time, but simply weren’t well known. The internet, combined with a booming market, have resulted in many industry secrets or hidden jewels coming to light.  Distilleries are one such example – if there wasn’t a commercial release available (or widely distributed) on the market, consumers simply didn’t know it existed.  Ailsa Bay, Inchgower, Allt-a-bhaine, etc, are all examples of distilleries that most whisky drinkers simply haven’t heard of, despite the fact they’ve been around for many years.   Kininvie is another example, although that’s now all changing, courtesy of its whiskies suddenly being thrust into the limelight.

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The art of matching food to whisky

When The Scotch Malt Whisky Society launched and commenced operations in Australia back in 2002, one of the earliest and most staple activities was a healthy program of whisky dinners.   The tradition of whisky and food matching has never died and, here in Sydney at least, the Society continues to hold at least two significant whisky dinners each year for its members. When it comes to matters culinary, if you’re going to promote something as being uniquely special, delivering excellence, and showcasing “the best”, then you need to work with the best. For this reason, wherever possible, the Society chooses to team up with Franz Scheurer – the maestro of matching food to whisky.

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Mortlach distillery – the Beast beckons…

It was a long time ago now, but back in 1988, UDV (now Diageo) made the momentous and ground-breaking decision to launch the Classic Malts range. The launch of those six whiskies drew newfound attention to the world of single malts and helped propel the whisky boom we now find ourselves in.  Mortlach distillery was not one the original Classic Malts…

I often wonder about how the marketing team at the time set about choosing which distilleries would be featured in the Classic Malts range? Looking at the portfolio available to them, Glenkinchie for the Lowlands obviously chose itself, as did Talisker for the Islands.  But what about Speyside?  We know now that Cragganmore got the gig, which subsequently thrust that relatively small distillery into the limelight.  But how different might the whisky world be today, and the fortunes of one or two distilleries if they’d selected, for example, Dailuaine, Knockando, Mannochmore, or Glen Elgin?   Or Mortlach?

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An evening with Laphroaig & John Campbell

It’s the bicentenary year for Laphroaig – no mean feat for a little distillery on the coast of Islay to churn out the world’s most “richly flavoured” whisky for 200 years! And that means some special events and ambassadorial work for the distillery team as they mark the occasion.

It was a treat for all Australians then, when the good folks at Beam Suntory elected to send John Campbell, Laphroaig’s Manager, to our shores for a promotional tour. On a two week trip that saw him involved with endless tastings, appearances, interviews and events – including the epic “The Great Whisky Rumble” (read all about that one here), John spent his last night of the trip in Sydney to conduct an intimate Laphroaig tasting at Grain, one of the city’s newest whisky bars. It was a ticketed event, and yours truly wasted no time in shelling out $85.79 to book a seat.

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The Great Whisky Rumble

Back in 2003, I hosted and presented my first “Whiskies of the World” tasting.  It was an educational affair; an introduction into the different whiskies being made around the world; and an opportunity to taste the different styles and flavours on offer.  More importantly, it was an opportunity for punters to learn how and why, for example, bourbon tasted different to Irish whiskey, and why Scotch and Japanese whiskies were reasonably similar.  And I threw in a Canadian whisky and a Tennessee whiskey for good measure.  (Don’t ask “What about an Australian whisky?” Lark’s whiskies were scarce, and Bakery Hill had only just launched its first ever release that same year).

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Wild Turkey and Russell’s Reserve

One of the problems with being heavily involved and associated with the Scotch whisky industry is that people assume you’re less inclined to entertain a glass of bourbon in your hand.  Far from it, I’ve long enjoyed a good bourbon.  And, whilst it doesn’t feature prominently on my CV, I have in fact worked as a brand ambassador for Jim Beam and hosted my fair share of bourbon or American whiskey appreciation nights and tasting events.

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