..Category Archives: Blog

Malt of the Month July 2019

This entry was posted in Malt of the Month on by .

Our Malt of the Month for July is.......

Berry's Glen Moray 2007 10 Years Old!

 

 

This Glen Moray was distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2018 from cask #5803 by independent bottler Berry Bro's & Rudd. We have very limited stock for this, and won't be able to get hold  of any more once it's sold!

 

WSD Tasting Notes

Nose: Apricots, green apples, sharp and sweet. Soor Ploom sweets, apple drop sweets. Sharp plums. (Kat)

Light mahogany shavings, dark chocolate, waxed beeswax wood. Heather honey and white pepper. (Vicky)

Taste: Spiced tropical fruits in a mahogany bowl (freshly waxed bowl!) Warm peaches covered in cinnamon. (Vicky)

Soft and smooth with a hint of spice covered apricot. Soft oak. Fresh and crisp. Slight hint of cardamon pods. Overall very smooth and rounded. (Kat)

Finish: Medium length, the flavour gradually  fades and reveals more oak hints as it goes. (Kat)

Medium, slightly  drying finish. (Vicky)

Malt of the Month - June 2019

This entry was posted in Malt of the Month on by .

We have a special whisky on offer for you this month! It's a cask strength (57.8%), 12 years old, limited release bottling from Islay...

 

It's Lagavulin 12 years old 2018 release!

Save 12% - was £107.00,   NOW  £94.16

As this one is limited, we don't have a lot of stock for it so you may need to be quick to purchase this one!

The distillery say this pale gold cask strength Lagavulin is bursting with intense distillery character.

Tasting Notes

Nose
Distillery: Powerful smouldering peat smokiness on a cleansing, oiled base, with the smell of the sea in the background. Complex lighter notes lie within, among them citrus zest, fresh mint and tropical fruits. Add water, and iodine-rich cleanness combines with smoke, to be altogether appetising.

Vicky: Sweet meat smoke, light, with BBQ smoke drifting on the breeze.

Taste
Distillery: Smoothly oily with an exquisitely powerful taste, first sweet and firm, with strong saltiness, then drying and tangy. A rush of simple notes: salt and vinegar on chips wrapped in paper: honey, mints: wax: oil lamps: fresh wood. With water sweet, smoky and salty, with citrus fruit.

Vicky: Initially sweet, with citrus fruits giving way to a citrus smoke.

Finish
Distillery: The long, spicy and smoky finish is intensely sweet, then deeply pungent and warming, with a lingering dryness.

Vicky: A lingering fruity coal ash remains.

Independent Bottler's Challenge Winners 2019

This entry was posted in Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, Whisky Tastings and Events News on by .

Independent Bottlers Challenges - 2019 Winners

Each year, we have 2 challenges for independent bottlers at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival - one for Speyside whiskies, and one for the Rest of Whisky. The aim? To see which bottling visitors to the festival think is the best! How? By letting our festival guests be the judges! We run these challenges every year, and guests taste the whiskies blind, so they don't know which they are until after they've voted. That way, it's kept fair and without any unfair judgement being made before the whiskies have even been tasted!

Our 2019 Winners are...

Rest of Whisky
1st Place - That Boutique-y Whisky Company Scottish-Japanese 21 Years Old
2nd Place - That Boutique-y Whisky Company Cotswolds 3 Years Old

 

Speyside
1st Place - Adelphi Breath of Speyside 11 Years Old
2nd Place - The Single Cask Glen Moray 10 Years Old

We'd like to thank everyone who took part in judging, and the Independent Bottler's who entered their whiskies.  A massive well done to That Boutique-y Whisky Company on their double-win, and to The Single Cask who've won 2nd place on their first time entering! As for Adelphi, we're starting to lose count of how many trophies they've won over the years from the challenges!

Wonder who will win in 2020?! Only one way to make sure your vote counts - purchase tickets when they're released next year and join in!

Our 2019 Charity

This entry was posted in Blog on by .

Every year, we pick a charity to raise funds for through out the year and at the whisky festivals. We pick a different charity each year to try and keep it as fair as possible.  As we've now supported a lot of charities throughout the years, we opened up the suggestions to our social media followers for this year, to help us get an idea of charities we hadn't already considered or supported.

Then the really tough part happened. So many fantastic charities were suggested to us, and while we truly wish we could support them all at once, it unfortunately isn't possible so we had to select one. Don't worry too much though, as I've created a list of the charities suggested for future years.

In recent years, you may have noticed more news regarding male mental health and the statistics surrounding it. Chances are, you know a male who has struggled with mental health issues. You may not even know of their struggles.

While researching charities, we discovered Brothers In Arms. A new charity set up in 2018 for men in Scotland. They are a charity for men who are, or have, struggling with their mental health.They use digital technology as a way to reach out to men no matter where they are in Scotland so that they can both self-manage and keep their mental fitness healthy through the use of an NHS approved App, as well as access on a 1 to 1 basis to a mental health coach. (The app is available here)

 

They create film content to raise awareness around men and mental health from a Scottish point of view (link to their Youtube channel here) and use social media to help spread the word (link to their Facebook Community Page here)

A bit from the charity founder, Dan: "Our strategy is showing that we are 100% reaching out to the male demographic in Scotland, but that also to the more remote parts of Scotland such as the highlands where there is not always a support infrastructure in place or that the small communities are a barrier to men seeking support, also the anonymous data is giving us insights to how men feel about their mental health that we would not get by asking them face to face and is enabling us along with our digital partner Thrive Therapeutic to create content and modules specific to their mental health needs."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suicide is one of the biggest killers of men in the UK under the age of 45. We are desperate for that to change. We hope that, with your support and donations, we can help Brothers In Arms to make a difference.

On behalf of us at The Whisky Shop Dufftown, thank you for reading and helping raise awareness.

 

 

Brothers in Arms website link here

Malt of the Month - April 2019

This entry was posted in Malt of the Month on by .

Last month, we started our Malt of the Month idea, as a way to give our customers savings on something different each month. Last month we had Glen Moray Sherry Cask Finish on offer. This month, we're giving you 15% off the price of.....

Kilkerran 12 Years Old!

The Kilkerran single malt is a lightly peated, double distilled whisky which is 70% bourbon casks and 30% sherry casks. Read our tasting notes below!

Price - was £37.95     now £32.25

 

Mike:

Nose – sherbet lemon, wood smoke and coal dust.

Taste – Fish shop scraps, real lemonade turning into mocha.

Finish – wood smoke returns and smouldering newspapers.

Vicky:

Nose – Soft waves of light wood smoke and orange oils.

Taste – Lemon pepper and spiced Simnel cake.

Finish – Very warming with white pepper notes.

Kat:

Nose – Lemon curd, soft and gentle, rock salt on salmon.

Taste – Meaty pepper, spicy chilli flakes, hint of smoke at end. Great to wake you up.

Finish – What a beauty! Long, warm and rounded.

TWSD Spring Sale!

This entry was posted in Other Whisky News on by .

As you may have noticed from our social media and website, we've been receiving a lot of new products recently. Brand new releases from new distilleries, new batch releases, bottles that have been re-branded and so on. All of these take up shelf space, which is fantastic as it means we have even more items for you to choose from.

However, it does mean that we're very quickly running out of shelf space - our WSD Gin Palace is already overflowing with gins and completely out of space for our next new arrivals!

Solution? Spring sale! This sale is a complete mixture of items, including high end collectables, popular gins, best selling cask strength whiskies, cracking cognacs and more! A lot of these won't be restocked, some due to them having old packaging that's now been redesigned, new batches being made or because they were limited release and no longer made. This is a brilliant chance for you to get a great item (or more than one) at a fantastic price. Don't forget that we can ship your items to most countries - check our Shipping section for full details.

All items below are now with 15% off their original price (the price shown on the list is the current reduced price you pay if purchased before 30th April 2019 when sale ends). Our website is taking a bit of time to process all these sale items onto our Special Offers section, but if you search for the products listed below they will show up with the correct reduced price for you. Several items are already low in stock, so you may need to be quick!

 

Evan Williams Extra Age Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – £22.52

Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 100 Proof – £28.47

Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage – £37.82

Baker’s 7 Years Old 107 Proof – £40.75

Adelphi The Brisbane 5 Years Old Malt Whisky – £153

Adelphi The E&K Malt Whisky – £125.50

The Tweeddale 16 Years Old Grain Whisky – £46.70

Jean Fillioux La Pouyade – £33.57

Jean Fillioux Star Gourmet Cognac – £59.45

Jean Fillioux Tres Vieux – £55.20

BBR Girvan 2006 11 Years Old – £45

Xtra Old Particular Port Ellen 1982 34 Years Old – £1249.50

Glenrothes 25 Years Old – £284.75

Glenrothes 1988 – £293.25

Mortlach 18 Years Old – £187.85

Mortlach 25 Years Old – £546.55

Rock Rose Autumn Edition 2017 Gin – £29.32

Kilchoman 2012 Sauternes Cask Finish – £66.25

Kilchoman Machir Bay – £37.82

Kilchoman 100% Islay 8th Edition 2018 – £63.70

Kilchoman 2009 Vintage – £59.45

The Lakes Gin – £28

Strane Merchant London Dry Gin – £33.10

Gilt Gin – £26.30

Old Tom Gin – £28

Edinburgh Christmas Gin – £29.70

GlenWyvis Christmas Goodwill Spiced Gin - £28

Misty Isle Mulled Christmas Gin - £28

Kingsbarns Dream to Dram

This entry was posted in Blog, New Whisky Releases and Bottlings on by .

It’s not often that here at The Whisky Shop Dufftown we all agree on how good a whisky is. There’s normally one of us whose opinion differs to the others. However that moment has arrived with the release of Kingsbarns Dream to Dram.

Kingsbarns Distillery has distilled, matured and bottled this single malt from some of the earliest casks it filled. It has been matured in two types of casks then married together: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrels and shaved, toasted and re-charred barriques.

Kat was the first to try this and admitted she was very pleasantly surprised by it. Her tasting notes are as follows:

On the nose sharp lemon with malted milk biscuits and vanilla pods

On the taste hoppy, with burnt toffee background and dark chocolate digestive biscuit that's gone soggy from being dunked in coffee.

And the finish almost-but-not-quite medium length, lingers just long enough to warm the mouth.

This week Mike and I tried it and here’s what we thought:

On the nose lemon shortbread, lemon drizzle cake, marzipan and almonds. Sherbet lemons and Franzipan cake.

On the taste lemon meringue pie covered with cinnamon. Pear skins covered in pineapple juice (tinned) with a touch of cider vinegar. There is an underlying smoothness on the first mouth full.

The finish we found to be medium length with the flavours drifting in and out. Pleasantly warming.

So overall, a very drinkable dram and good value for money.

Slainte

Malt of the Month - March 2019

This entry was posted in Blog, Malt of the Month, Tasting Notes on by .

We've been racking our brains here at TWSD to think of ways to thank our customers for being, well, our customers! And to show that we really do appreciate the support we receive through places like our social media accounts.

So we've decided that each month, we are going to get together as a team and pick out a whisky (or gin) from our shelves that we think is a fantastic drink. We'll write our tasting notes for it, so that you get our own true thoughts. We'll never be influenced by a distillery or other people, so you can rest assured that we're not being paid by a company or distillery to tell you that their whisky is the best ever. You'll always get our actual thoughts and tasting notes. Truly Independent Whisky Shop.

Oh, and the bottle we pick for the month will be discounted in price too!

For our 1st Malt of the Month, we have picked..... Glen Moray Sherry Cask Finish!

Usual price £23.95       Price for March 2019 - £18.95

Glen Moray Classic Sherry Cask Finish

 

Tasting Notes

Vicky

Nose - Lime zest, coffee beans covered in dark chocolate with maraschino cherries and marzipan

Taste - Tiramisu and marzipan covered in chilli chocolate

Kat

Nose - Raisins and apricots soaked in sherry. Dark chocolate shavings, followed by fresh wood shavings and sharp citrus fruits.

Taste - Tangy orange marmalade, with sour apple and pears topped off with chocolate covered raisins. It's soft and gentle, with gentle spices coming in at the end to warm up your mouth. I'm not always a fan of sherry cask finished whiskies, but this one is truly incredible!

Mike

Nose -  The nose starts with cherry pie and flapjacks. Hints of orange boiled sweets come next and peanut butter.

Taste -  The palate is quite rich and creamy. Bourbon notes mingle with orange and raisins. A cross between an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan.

Finish -  The finish has syrupy elements with vanilla and honey.

 

Mother and Daughter Working Together

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

The Whisky Shop Dufftown is one of the very few, if not the only, whisky shop to have a mother and daughter team working together I thought it might be good to give you an insight, as a mum, as to what it’s like and how it works.

I started working for The Whisky Shop Dufftown in October 2010 and my daughter Kat joined us in February 2015 after completing a couple of months training just after her 18th birthday.

When Kat and I first moved to Dufftown in 2006 we did the obligatory distillery tour as I had never tasted whisky before. As impressed as I was, unfortunately, Kat was just as equally unimpressed thinking it smelt like cow manure. I thought this would be the end of any temptation Kat might have towards whisky. How wrong I was! Obviously, it wasn’t the end for me as I found some whiskies I liked. Then 4 years later I “inserted” myself into The Whisky Shop Dufftown and have been here ever since working my way up from shop assistant to Retail Manager. Through my new found love of whisky I kept encouraging Kat to try different ones, after she turned 18 of course. Eventually she found some she liked. Just like with me this grew into a passion for all things whisky. Eventually she decided she wanted to join the shop as well. I was of course delighted by this however, poor Mike wasn’t sure he could cope with both of us, but agreed to give it a go. Kat started as a shop assistant and has now worked her way up to Social Media Manager.

Kat and I have always had a very close relationship and are very similar in almost every way from our sense of humour to our tastes and mannerisms. This has helped us maintain a well-balanced work/life relationship where one doesn’t affect the other. I know a lot of people who say they would never work with family but if anything, it has brought Kat and I even closer together. We now also have a third generation to train up in 17 years who already loves being in the shop with mum and grandma. Not working obviously but when we pick mum up after her shift.

Like me, Kat was quite shy and quiet so it has been brilliant for me to see how Kat has blossomed since joining the team, gaining not only in experience but in confidence as well (okay those of you who know me can pick yourselves up off the floor now). Kat has been on whisky judging panels, can help anyone find their first whisky or a new whisky they’ve never had before and confidently recommend a dram you will enjoy. Not many mums get to see their daughter in action in their job so closely and I feel very proud when I watch Kat with customers and see how far she has come. I am so glad to have been and continue to be part of this journey with her.

Keep an eye out for further insights.

 

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

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 #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.