Author Archives: Val Lord

What is the Best Single Malt to Go with a Bacon Roll?

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Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2018 Wrap-up #2

Over a dozen festivals or more we at The Whisky Shop Dufftown, courtesy of our guests at Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival, have been trying to answer this question which is one of the greatest of all questions.  Each year we pitch 3 new contenders against the reigning champion from the previous festival to see which one wins and goes forward to the next contest.

The winner is decided upon by guests attending our bacon roll and whisky tasting who vote for their favourite in a blind tasting.  This is unsmoked bacon and no sauce.  This is science!

We have collated the votes from all of the tastings we held.  Counted them.  Checked them again.  And ensured there was no outside influence.

We can now formally announce the results:

Joint 3rd - Macallan 12 Years Old Fine Oak (1) & Glen Moray 15 Years Old (4)

Joint 1st - Benriach 10 Years Old Classic (2) & Glenrothes Vintage Reserve (3)

  • The number in brackets denotes the place of the whisky in the order of the tasting.

There was just 3 votes separating the 4 whiskies involved!  We will take that to mean we are getting better and better at choosing whiskies for the pairing.

As Glenrothes Vintage Reserve has been discontinued we are declaring the overall winner which will go forward to the next challenge to be Benriach 10 Years Old Classic.

Glenrothes Vintage Reserve and Glen Moray 15 Years Old were the joint winners from the last festival.

98 people took part this year and we thank them for their kind support.

What is the Best Single Malt to Go with Haggis?

This entry was posted in Blog, Other Whisky News, Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and tagged , , , , , on by .

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2018 Wrap-up #1

Over a dozen festivals we at The Whisky Shop Dufftown, courtesy of our guests at Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival, have been trying to answer this life-affirming question.  Each year we pitch 3 new contenders against the reigning champion from the previous festival to see which one wins and goes forward to the next contest.

Haggis, neeps and tatties

The winner is decided upon by guests attending our haggis and whisky tasting who vote for their favourite in a blind tasting.  We have collated the votes from all of the tastings we held.  Counted them.  Checked them again.  And ensured there was no outside influence.

We can now formally announce the results:

4th - Ben Nevis 10 Years Old (4)

3rd - Glenfarclas 10 Years Old (1)

2nd - Glen Scotia 15 Years Old (3)

1st - Tomintoul 15 Years Old Port Wood Finish (2)

  • The number in brackets denotes the place of the whisky in the order of the tasting.

Glen Scotia 15 had been the winner in many many beautiful tastings previously and was pipped this year by Tomintoul 15 by just 1 vote!

62 people took part and we thank them for their kind support.

Valentines Whisky

This entry was posted in Blog, Other Whisky News on by .

As promised her are our picks for a Valentines night dram we would like to receive:

From Kat:  Tomatin 14 Years Old Port Cask Finish

Smooth, soft, gentle "just like love for your other half"

Fruity, not too harsh or too mellow and should go with the traditional meal of steak for Valentines day. Also at a great price, leaving more money to spend on flowers (hint to husband).

From Vicky: Glenfiddich 21 Years Old Reserva Rum cask finish.

Soft, smooth and gentle on the nose with lots of fruity notes – mango, pineapple, pear and kiwi.

Soft tropical fruits lightly dance around the mouth, warming with the lightest  touch of spice and a mere hint of smoke. Smooth and sensuous like silk.

This would go with any Valentines meal or for relaxing by the fire afterwards.

From Mike: Glenmorangie 18 Years Old.

As it is taller than average, honest, reliable and reasonably priced.  Just like me.

Lady of the Drams Newsletter February 2018

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A belated Happy New Year to all of you.

The first month has already flown past. We had some fantastic sales in the shop over December and January and I hope you all managed to grab yourself a bargain, as there were some great bargains indeed.

Kat is back from maternity leave (yaay) and has taken on helping with the twitter and Instagram accounts. The feedback and responses we are getting are great with more people than ever joining us. Keep up the good work Kat!

Our events for the May festival are now planned and booked with another 5 days of fantastic tastings, tours and food ahead. The tickets have now gone live on the Spirit of Speyside website and are selling out very quickly so don’t miss out. We wouldn’t want you to be disappointed. Look out for the Head to Head tasting between Mike and myself which was a great hit last year.

We are continuously working on our website and other media sites so if any of you have any thoughts or suggestions of things you would like to see on there or any other information you would like putting on then please get in touch and let us know. We will always do our best to accommodate your suggestions where possible. As well as all the great whiskies on the website we now have over 60 gins for all you gin lovers out there.

As we settle into the year and peoples thoughts turn to Valentine’s Day, Mike, Kat and myself will put on the website our suggestions for what we think is a great dram to have with that special someone in your life with your Valentine’s meal. Not that any of us will be getting mushy but we will have a dram I’m sure.

Well that’s all from me for now but I will keep you updated as our plans for the year progress. Don’t forget you can chat to us on twitter, Instagram, Facebook, email or the website. You can even give us a call on the phone. Imagine that!

Cheers.

Lady of the Drams Newsletter 2017

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This year is flying by even quicker than usual. I started the year by enrolling onto the Spirit of Speyside Whisky School for 3 days held at Knockando Distillery, which was amazing. The guys who organise this do a fantastic job each year. We had theory work in the mornings with experts from every stage of the whisky process coming to Knockando to talk us through every step. In the afternoon we had field trips which related to the theory work we had done that morning. The school is a great opportunity to learn about whisky for people who are either in the industry or total novices. There is always something new to learn in the world of whisky.

For the shop, the season started off with a brilliant Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival which saw thousands of people come along to the shop and to the tastings we arranged. A great time was had by everyone with record numbers attending.

After the festival we had the arrival of the newest member of The Whisky Shop Dufftown team, my first granddaughter Thea Jean. She is absolutely gorgeous and has already been round for her first tour of the shop.

Now the season is in full flow and the shop and internet is busier than I have ever known. This will explain why if you come into the shop you may find either Mike or myself asleep in the corner or wandering around like zombies. We have a lot of new bottlings in the shop which we hope to be able to review for you over the next few weeks. You will also find these under the ‘new’ section on our website.

In the shop during the summer (June to September) we are holding free in store tastings every Saturday from 1pm to 5pm, where representatives from either independent bottlers or distilleries, or even breweries will come along to let you taste their latest bottling’s. Come along and join in the fun.

The Shop itself has had brand new windows and door and is looking very smart indeed. Come and see what you think.

Plans for the Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival are well underway and almost complete and will be published soon so keep an eye out for these on the website.

That’s all for now but I will keep you updated again very shortly.

Slainte

 

Lady of the Drams Newsletter 2017

This entry was posted in Blog, Lady of the Drams, Newsletters on by .

This year is flying by even quicker than usual. I started the year by enrolling onto the Spirit of Speyside Whisky School for 3 days held at Knockando Distillery, which was amazing. The guys who organise this do a fantastic job each year. We had theory work in the mornings with experts from every stage of the whisky process coming to Knockando to talk us through every step. In the afternoon we had field trips which related to the theory work we had done that morning. The school is a great opportunity to learn about whisky for people who are either in the industry or total novices. There is always something new to learn in the world of whisky.

For the shop, the season started off with a brilliant Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival which saw thousands of people come along to the shop and to the tastings we arranged. A great time was had by everyone with record numbers attending.

After the festival we had the arrival of the newest member of The Whisky Shop Dufftown team, my first granddaughter Thea Jean. She is absolutely gorgeous and has already been round for her first tour of the shop.

Now the season is in full flow and the shop and internet is busier than I have ever known. This will explain why if you come into the shop you may find either Mike or myself asleep in the corner or wandering around like zombies. We have a lot of new bottlings in the shop which we hope to be able to review for you over the next few weeks. You will also find these under the ‘new’ section on our website.

In the shop during the summer (June to September) we are holding free in store tastings every Saturday from 1pm to 5pm, where representatives from either independent bottlers or distilleries, or even breweries will come along to let you taste their latest bottling’s. Come along and join in the fun.

The Shop itself has had brand new windows and door and is looking very smart indeed. Come and see what you think.

Plans for the Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival are well underway and almost complete and will be published soon so keep an eye out for these on the website.

That’s all for now but I will keep you updated again very shortly.

Slainte

What is the Best Single Malt to Have with Haggis?

This entry was posted in Blog, Whisky Tastings and Events News and tagged , , , on by .

This is probably the other greatest question in life so to find out what is the best single malt to have with haggis we have been asking guests to our festivals to take part in a blind tasting to vote for their favourite.  We have had our guests try over 50 different single malts over the years we have been doing this experiment.  This is just haggis, neeps and tatties.  No additions or substitutions allowed.  This is pure science!

At this year's Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival the reigning champion from the previous festival, Glen Scotia 15 Years Old, in fact the winner from the past 3 festivals, was pitched against 3 whiskies we had not tried in the competition previously.  The full line up was:

  • Balvenie 12 Single Barrel
  • Glen Moray Classic Sherry
  • Glen Scotia 15 Years Old
  • Glenrothes Peated Cask

And oh dear, yet again Glen Scotia 15 Years Old romped home as the clear winner.  Is this the final answer?  We give a special mention to Glen Moray Classic Sherry which came in as clear second place.

Glen Scotia 15

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Haggis, neeps and tatties

What is the Best Single Malt to Have with a Bacon Roll?

This entry was posted in About Dufftown, Blog, Whisky Tastings and Events News and tagged , , , , on by .

This is probably one of the 2 greatest questions in life so to find out what is the best single malt to have with a bacon roll we have been asking guests to our festivals to take part in a blind tasting to vote for their favourite.  We have had our guests try over 50 different single malts over the years we have been doing this experiment.  No sauce this is pure science!

At this year's Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival there was no reigning champion from the previous festival to put in as Arran Lochranza which had won the last 3 competitions has been discontinued so we had a fresh start.  The 4 we picked were:

  • Glenturret Triple Wood
  • Glenallachie Distillery Edition
  • Glenrothes Vintage Reserve
  • Glen Moray 15 Years Old

This was a hard fought contest and we were very surprised to have a tie at the top with 2 clear winners.  All you need to know is when you next have a bacon roll then pour yourself a dram of Glen Moray 15 Years Old or Glenturret Triple Wood!

glen-moray-15-years-oldglenturret-triple-wood-edition-batch-2WSD Image Bacon 01

The experiment will continue in September.

 

Saturday Tasting Programme

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This Spring / Summer we are doing something a bit different with our Saturday's.  We are inviting different distilleries and independent whisky merchants to come along to our shop and host a free in-store tasting.  Just drop in at the shop any time between 1pm and 5pm to sample some great whiskies, gins or whatever else we come up with.

Below is the list of events we have so far arranged.  Keep an eye on our events page as we update our programme.

Saturday, 27 May 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Antonia Bruce of Adelphi (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 03 June 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Mike Patterson of Gordon & MacPhail (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 10 June 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Vicky Keough of The WSD & World Gin Day (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 17 June 2017:  In the Shop Tasting: Hunter Laing (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 24 June 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with David Ferguson of Douglas Laing (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 01 July 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Tim Pryde of Marussia Beverages & American Whiskey (13:00 to 17:00)

Sunday, 02 July 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Hudson Bay (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 08 July 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Peter Mackay of Morrison & Mackay (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 15 July 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with TBC

Saturday, 22 July 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with TBC

Saturday, 29 July 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Jonny McMillan with whisky from Berry Bros & Rudd (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 05 August 2017:  In the Shop Tasting with Alasdair Stevenson of Benriach, Glendronach & Glenglassaugh (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 12 August 2017: In the Shop Tasting with Persie Gin (13:00 to 17:00)

Saturday, 19 August 2017 In the Shop Tasting with TBC

Saturday, 26 August 2017 In the Shop Tasting with TBC

WSD Shop Front 20170415

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Challenge for Independent Bottlers

This entry was posted in Whisky Tastings and Events News and tagged , , , , , , , on by .

This is the first of our articles following The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2017.

Once again this year we laid down the challenge to independent whisky merchants to find the best independent bottling in two categories: Speyside Whisky; and the Rest of Whisk(e)y.

We run our challenge throughout the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and it is judged by guests who come in to our shop in a blind tasting.  It was fun and relaxed and people really enjoyed the experience.  We had over 300 guests of the festival  sample the whiskies in the challenge and nearly 200 voted for their favourite.

Speyside

The Speyside Category was fiercely contested but we had a clear winner in Aultmore 2008 6 Years Old from Stilnovisti which gained a third of the votes.  Stilnovisti have recently set up an office in Dufftown and it was great of them to find some whisky for us.  Particularly as they stole the show with a young whisky which beat off some much older competition.  This proved yet again that it is the liquid that counts the most and not the age.  We consider this to be a win for the Dufftown whisky region!  Second place was taken by the Adelphi Breath of Speyside 2006 10 Years Old and third place by Old Particular Craigellachie 1995 21 Years Old.

Stillnovisti Aultmore 2008 6 Years Old

Rest of Whisk(e)y

We had a runaway winner in the Rest of Whisky category with 40% of the votes, Old Particular Strathclyde 2005 11 Years Old.  We are hoping to get more stocks in shortly.  The rogue entry from Gordon & MacPhail, The English Whisky Co English Peated Single Malt came second and Old Perth came third.

Old Particular Strathclyde 2005 11 Years Old

Note:  We define the rest of whisky to be any alcoholic beverage which is derived from any grain, distilled and then matured in oak casks. It can be a blend or blend of malts. It does not have to be distilled, matured or bottled in Scotland. However, it cannot be defined to be from Speyside. Should there ever be a grain distillery in Speyside then we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

A big thank you to Adelphi, Douglas Laing, Gordon & MacPhail, Morrison & MacKay, Stilnovisti and Wemyss Malts.

Best Tasting Notes

We also have a competition for the best tasting notes submitted by one of our guests.  This year the best tasting notes came from Will Burtt and he wins a bottle of the Stilnovisti Aultmore which he voted for as his favourite.

Here is a flavour of some of Will's comments:

  • "like a distant steam train"
  • "like the very first taste of fresh Cornish vanilla ice cream"
  • "who would you give your last Rolo too?"
  • "lying in a field of lavender with a big spoon of honey"

 

A big thank you to all the guests who took part.

See you all next year!