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MN ... Michal
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TB ... Theo B.
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VH ... Vasek H.
VN ... Washoun
ZM ... Zdenda
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Staging
Recognize a fake!
<a name="RecognizeFake"></a>
[posted Apr-XX, 2018]
Vacation period and trips to exotic locations are drawing near again, and we became part of discussion about whisky fakes produced in some of those countries.
The most popular distillery with fakes is for sure Macallan. But the chance that you would buy a Fine & Rare bottling of Macallan just on the spur of the moment during your vacation is somewhat limited :-)
However, you may very probably come across counterfeited bottles of some well recognized blends, most notably Johnnie Walker.
Fortunately, here it is very easy to tell the fake from a real McCoy:
The top level of the liquid in the bottle must copy the angle of the slanted label that most of the Johnnie Walker blends fancy. The label is slanted by 24° (if you want to measure it accurately.
On the photo, you see a real stuff on the ??? and a fake on the right.
BTW, you can apply the same for Jane Walker ;-)
Enjoy your vacation!
[PHOTO]
Tomatin Five
<a name="TomatinFive Virtues"></a>
[posted Mar-31, 2018]
Tomatin like to create series of related products to present their distillery. Some of you remember the Quatro family, or the Contrast double pack.
Now, they finished a new run (releases in three stages) of five expressions depicting key natural elements essential to whisky production: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.
All five together under one roof, we are looking forward to a nice comparative tasting!
[PHOTO]
How to get peat into Balvenie?
<a name="HowToGetPeatBalvenie"></a>
[posted Nov-30, 2017]
Balvenie and peat have never been friends. There was an experiment carried out at the beginning of the millennium, where a standard Balvenie was finished in casks that previously contained unnamed Islay whisky. It became part of the experimentation series with different wood finishes and aged either 14 or 17 years. (W.Grant did a similar experiment across the street - it was called Glenfiddich Caoran Reserve.)
But ... About the same time, the distillery got a second thought. And as of 2002, dedicated one week of the distillation year to produce peated new make, using Highland peat!
Lo and behold, here we are presented with the outcome after 14 years. And not with one, but two different versions. First spent 14 years in usual bourbon barrels, is called Peat Week - 2002 Vintage, and was sold by retailers. The other enriched the Triple Cask range at Travel retail: Blend of Oloroso, Bourbon and "Tradional Whisky" (whatever that means ;-) casks.
Let's hope it will become an expressions that will be offered on yearly basis, and that we will also see some older versions in due time! [PHOTO Balvenie peated]
Whisky books - Arran's approach
<a name="WhiskyBooksArran"></a>
[posted Aug-15, 2017]
There's an incredible amount of whisky literature available these days. and when you are a whisky author, you need to think twice before you invest your time and money into writing and publishing a book, what is the new angle you want to bring to the topic.
Arran distillery came with an innovative approach two years ago, and finished their three-tome series now. Their books deal with smuggling and illicit distilling on the Isle of Arran. They keep the text quite concise, but include - very unusually - a full-size sample of the liquid of those times :-)
[PHOTO]
PS. We were happy to enrich our Club's whisky library with the second tome of The Best Collection of Malt by Valentino Zagatti - got it in a whisky shop in Frankfurt.
Macallan prices 2006 (or 2007)
<a name="MacallanPrices2006"></a>
[posted Jun-XX, 2016]
When Macallan introduced the hotly discussed Fine Oak series, they also made both the new Fine Oak expressions and the traditional Sherry Oak ones available in their own webshop. It makes an interesting reading today, especially when you look at the prices!
What is event more alarming than the price hike of the aged whiskies is that Macallan try to get the same money (and more!) from the customers for much younger NAS whiskies, just because they are poured onto designer bottles - you know the fancy names: Ruby; Rare Cask; Rare Cask Black; No. 6; Reflexion; M.
In our view, these products have little to do with whisky, should be classified as jewelry and sold in corresponding retail shops!
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