I was at a social gathering recently and found myself amongst a circle of newly-made acquaintances whom I was introduced to just five minutes earlier. In the course of our social dialogue and etiquette-driven pleasantries (relax, this isn’t a Jane Austen novel), the fact that I was an avid whisky enthusiast and involved in its industry came up. “Oh, what’s your favourite whisky?” was the question immediately thrown at me. I’ve been asked that more times than I can possibly remember, and I have my standard answer always queued at the ready, but I reflected on the way home later that evening that it’s an increasingly irrelevant question.
Tag: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society presents….Exotic Cargo
Members or watchers of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society may recently have heard about one of the Society’s latest projects: The release of a blended malt. No, not a blend….a blended malt. (And if that subtle distinction in terminology still confuses you, you are welcome to write to the Scotch Whisky Association and let them know your thoughts on the matter. Good luck.) It goes by the name of Exotic Cargo
If there’s one thing you can’t accuse the Society of doing in recent times, it’s standing still. Clubs, societies, bottlers, and brands need to continually evolve and change with the times, and the Society has been particularly pro-active in expanding its list of bottlings and the benefits that membership bestows on its members.
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The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship, 2016
{This is an older post from the 2016 Championship. See our newer post following the 2022 event}
The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship is a bit like the internet. It’s something you might think is a relatively “new” thing, when the reality is that it’s been around for decades longer than you gave it credit for.
In actual fact, the Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship has been around since 1989! As the name suggests, it is a tasting competition, and had its origins in Adelaide, South Australia. The competition’s principal format and structure has remained largely unchanged over the years: Competitors are presented with eight whiskies pre-poured before them, and supplied with a list of nine possible whiskies – in other words, the eight whiskies that are on the table, plus one red herring. Competitors are then given 30 minutes to identify which whisky is which and to write their answers on the answer sheet. Of course, having a list with all of the possible contenders in front of you makes the exercise seem a little easier, but the challenge is also in establishing which whisky of the nine on the list is not on the table!
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40% ABV whiskies – friend or foe?
I recently read an online review of a whisky that was written by a blogger. There were a number of comments and references in the review where it was evident the writer was criticising the whisky for being 40% ABV. Having such a mindset is a slippery slope – reviewers & commentators need to be careful to distinguish between “I would have preferred to have seen this whisky bottled at a higher strength; I believe it would benefit from being at a higher proof” and criticising or faulting the whisky merely for being 40% ABV, as though it were a flaw or fault in production.
It raises a few interesting points. There is no doubt that many of us prefer whiskies at higher strengths. Cask-strength whiskies – which only as recently as 20 years ago were still relatively scarce and harder to come by – are now as common as nude shots of Britney Spears, and once you become accustomed to the higher ABV whiskies, I certainly acknowledge and agree that 40% malts have to work a little harder to keep our tastebuds entertained.
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.
Glenfarclas Distillery – a family affair
What follows is a full and detailed profile of the Glenfarclas distillery. I’ve prepared and written up similar distillery profiles and feature pieces for many different publications and outlets in the past, and this feature piece will be no different. But, in the interests of full disclosure, let’s declare all interests: Glenfarclas is my favourite distillery. There. I’ve said it…