Maltstock Final program

The Relaxed Whisky Weekend

7 - 9 September 2012

Fellow whisky enthusiasts,
Less than six weeks until Maltstock.  We now have the full program on our website. Lot's of very exciting masterclasses and much more!
Exibitors- Bresser & Timmer, Dutch importer of amongst others: Bruichladdich, Tomatin, Cadenhead, Chieftains, Compass Box, Daily Dram, Dewar Rattray, Single Malts of Scotland, Whisky Agency.
- Full Proof, Dutch collector with an amazing collection of whisky.
- WhiskyBase, Dutch importer of Silver Seal, Whisky-Doris, Whisky-Fassle and their own Archives series.
- Whisky Import Nederland, Dutch importer of amongst others: Adelphi, Berry Brothers, Creative Whisky Company, Douglas Laing, Duncan Taylor,  Kilchoman, Wemyss and their own First Cask series.
BreakfastArguably the best Scottish breakfast around. We're very proud to welcome back to Maltstock: the Highlander Inn. They will make sure everybody has the best possible start of the day. The Highlander Inn is a must visit place for every whisky enthusiast. Perfectly located in Cragaillachie in the hart of Speyside they provide excellent accommodation, fantastic food, an amazing selection of whiksy, and the best service! Visit their website for more details www.whiskyinn.com.
BBQThose of you who were at Maltstock last year will definitely remember the excellent BBQ. Good news: BBQGuru will return this year and they already have some very exciting BBQ ideas. These guys are truly passionate about BBQ and that shows! They travel the world to go to BBQ competitions. Visit www.BBQGuru.nl for more information.
Club Bottle Battle
Don't forget to enter your whisky club bottle for the unique Club bottle Battle. You can send the bottle by mail or bring it to Maltstock. But please let us know before 1 September if you will be entering this competition. A great opportunity to compare different Club bottlings .
Whisky Barrel race
You better start practicing because Balvenie has some fantastic prizes to be won with the Whisky Barrel Race!
WSD Whisky Quiz
As always there will be a whisky quiz on Friday night.  A fun evening to test your whisky knowledge. This year the quiz will be properly hosted. Michael Lord, owner of the fabulous whiskyshop in Dufftown will put together and host the quiz. Apart from eternal fame there will also be some great prizes to be won.
Food market
On Saturday afternoon two great chefs will create culinary snacks to accompany whisky. The chefs will suggest some whiskies that will probably match their creations. But it's up to you to try the delicious food and come up with your own suggestions. This is the only event at Maltstock that is not part of the all inclusive formula. But don't worry: for just a few euro's you can taste great culinary creations and combine them with whisky. And discuss with fellow whisky enthusiasts wich combinations work best.
Music and entertainment- Reflecting elephants
- Scotch and Folk
- Yann Lawick
Ian GrayOur resident artist Ian Gray will of course be present at Maltstock  again. A perfect opportunity for you all to buy  one of his beautiful prints. Ian has a lot of truly stunning Scottish landscape prints. And of course many beautiful distillery prints. If you would like a preview check Ian's website: www.iangray.de.
MasterclassesWe have a record of 9 masterclasses for you this year. The schedule will be on our website from 1 Augustus. Between 1 Augustus and 31 Augustus you can let us know your preferences and we will do our very best to have everybody attending their favorite masterclasses.
- Glenfiddich Virtual Tour, Tony van Rooijen
- Speciality Drinks, Billy Abbott
- Nosing Academy, George Cairns
- "Something special", Master of Malt
- Suntory, Tatsuya Minagawa
- Aberfeldy, Stephen Marshall
- Balvenie, Sam Simmons
- GlenDronach, Donald Maclellan
- Bourbon & Blues, Hans Offringa
Remember: there will be no ticket sales at the Maltstock gates. All tickets have to be ordered online in our webshop. So if you haven't bought your ticket yet please visit our webshop now. If you can't make it this year, we already have the dates for next year: 6-8 September 2013.
Hope to see you all in September, see you at Maltstock!
Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun
www.maltstock.com

Maltstock whisky master classes

The Relaxed Whisky Weekend 7 - 9 September 2012
		Fellow whisky enthusiasts, A few weeks ago we announced some very nice and interesting Maltstock masterclasses. We now have some more fantastic additions. It is not going to be easy for you to choose this year ;-) Launch of the Four Roses Single Barrel Limited EdtionThere will be a very special Bourbon and Blues masterclass at Maltstock this year. Accompanied by live blues music, renowned whisky author and bourbon expert Hans Offringa will talk you through the history of Four Roses and the Blues. You might be surprised to learn how many similarities there are. And we have a special treat for you! The 2012 Single Barrel is the first ever edition that will also be available in Europe. And the launch will be at Maltstock! Billy Abbott returnsBilly Abbott already has his passport ready and can't wait to return to Maltstock. And even better, he will host a Speciality Drinks masterclass. We haven't got a clue what will be in the line-up, but considering the great reputation of Speciality Drinks it is bound to be good. Stephen Marshall It is with great pleasure we can now announce that Stephen Marshall, Senior Global Brand Ambassador with Dewars will come to Maltstock this year. He will host an Aberfeldy masterclass. Maybe an underated distillery? Time to find out! None of us have ever been to an Aberfeldy masterclass before, so a great opportunity! Masterclasses so far: So a short recap of the masterclasses at Maltstock this year so far: - Tastuya  Minagawa | Suntory - Master of Maltstock | "Something special" - Tony van Rooijen | Glenfiddich special virtual distillery tour - Sam Simmons | Balvenie - Hans Offringa | Bourbon & Blues- Billy Abbott | Speciality Drinks - Stephen Marschall | Aberfeldy So plenty of good reasons to be at Maltstock again this year. As well as of course the unique and totally relaxed atmosphere. And sharing and enjoying great drams with great (new) friends! That is after what's it all about in the end! If you haven't bought your tickets yet, we would advice to hurry up. We currently do have some available in the webshop. Remember last year we sold out. So don't miss out!  Hope to see you all in September! Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun www.maltstock.com

GlenDronach Releases Latest Batch of Single Cask Bottlings

GlenDronach Releases Latest Batch of Single Cask Bottlings
THE BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd. has today, Friday 13 July, released the latest batch of single cask bottlings from its GlenDronach Distillery.

This is the sixth batch of GlenDronach single casks to be released by the award-winning Aberdeenshire distillery.

The five casks were all bottled in June and are available as of today.

The batch comprises five sublime casks with vintages ranging from 1971 to 1993. Two have been matured in Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheons, one in an Oloroso sherry butt, one in an Oloroso sherry puncheon and the fifth in a Moscatel Barrel. The Moscatel cask (1989 cask # 4885) is a particularly unusual release from GlenDronach, given that the distillery tends to focus on sherry cask maturation.

All five have been hand-selected by The BenRiach Distillery Company's Managing Director Billy Walker, and all share GlenDronach's typically luxurious, richly-sherried characteristics, plus a fantasia of dates, orchestras of spices and explosions of honey, Demerara sugar, sweet molasses, mocha...and even fruit cake!

The cask details are as follows:

1971 cask # 1247 / 41 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 47.9% vol. / approx 529 bottles

1978 cask # 1068 / 33 years old / Oloroso Sherry Puncheon / 52.9% vol. / approx 318 bottles

1989 cask # 4885 / 23 years old / Moscatel Barrel / 53.9%vol. / approx 286 bottles

1990 cask # 2966 / 22 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 55.1% vol. / approx 539 bottles

1993 cask # 536 / 19 years old / Oloroso Sherry Butt / 59.4% vol. / approx 596 bottles

Last year, after tasting and evaluating over 4500 whiskies worldwide for his "Whisky Bible 2012", Jim Murray singled out GlenDronach as the distillery "with the most consistently impressive output throughout 2011" and placed it "in the Grand Crus of Scottish Malt Distilleries". He added: "If there was a Whisky Bible Scotch Malt Whisky Distillery of the Year, GlenDronach would be it."

Keep an eye on our website and Facebook page over the coming weeks for more information on these new releases, tasting notes and exclusive product photography.

If you would like to receive more information regarding Batch 6 releases, please contact us on info@glendronachdistillery.co.uk

Summer news for whisky freaks in Scotland

New Whisky Poem from the Scots Makar The Scotch Whisky Association, protects, promotes and represents The Scotch Whisky Industry in Scotland and overseas. As part of their centennial celebrations they commissioned the Scots Makar (or national poet), Liz Lochhead to compose a poem in celebration of Scotch Whisky. The first verse is below, to see the full poem, please see here. When we sit wined and finely dined, Dressed up in oor best, braw and fancy,  Oh, it's a far cry tonight, in this company bright, From the rude and hoorin howff o Poosie Nancy. Friends, we hae a history:  Rough stuff. 'Rascally Kilbagie' Mair fiery by faur than 'lost Ferintosh' and fit, fit for but 'the most rascally part', fit for but the bard's Jolly Beggars, fit only for 'rectifying' into Hollands gin -- in the back lanes of London,  Mother's Ruin.  Sing, drunk for a penny, Blin fou for tuppence, quaff An ye shall hae straw for free When you maun sleep it aff. www.scotch-whisky.org.uk

Deanston Distillery, Doune ! We're delighted to announce that Deanston Distillery, Doune, opened its doors to the public for the first time this month. Discover the unique stories and hand-crafted attributes of this Highland Distillery (which was once a bustling cotton mill). Deanston offers a variety of tours and tastings as well as an attractive shop and relaxing cafe. For further information please see the websitewww.deanstonmalt.com or call 01786 843010. Don't miss this enchanting place on the banks of the River Teith!

Whisky Tastings and Events Official Fringe Venue The 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from 3 - 27 August and for the first time The Scotch Whisky Experience will be a Fringe venue! We are hosting a number of events throughout the Fringe Festival including Distillers tastings and our Enthusiasm for Scotch half day course. For further details please click here.

Once-in-a-lifetime Whisky cask competition Visitors to The Famous Grouse Experience at The Glenturret Distillery are being given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to win their own cask of Whisky worth over £7,000! For more information on tours and competition T+C's go to www.thefamousgrouse.com *over 18s & UK residents only.

Whiski Rooms launches tasting programme: WHISKI Rooms in Edinburgh has launched its full programme of Summer whisky tastings. All tastings are bookable online and feature a great mixture of distillery tastings with bespoke offerings. All of the whisky tastings are listed on the WHISKI Rooms site here.

Tullibardine Distillery If you are looking to visit Tullibardine Distillery and would like to stay near-by the distillery then we have the perfect accommodation recommendation for you! Lilybank cottage is located on-site at Tullibardine. For full details see the Tullibardine website here. Lilybank cottage sits adjacent to the Tullibardine Distillery which has a wealth of historyattached to it giving you the perfect excuse to enjoy a wee dram of our wonderful malt whisky at night after perhaps taking one of the fantastic Distillery tours! The cottage is also within easy walking distance of the local shop and bar.

Inaugural Whisky Luxe Edinburgh comes to The Scotch Whisky Experience Whisky Luxe welcomes you to walk the red carpet into the exclusive whisky-tasting event of the year, at The Scotch Whisky Experience. As one of a very select group of VIP guests, Whisky Luxe Edinburgh is yours to explore and experience, with the chance to sample some of the finest whiskies available and meet the Ambassadors from the most iconic whisky brands in the world. Fine food will be served throughout the evening and you will have opportunity to sample some original and innovative food & whisky pairings. With gifts and goodie bags, prize giveaways and the ultimate VIP experience, Whisky Luxe Edinburgh is the event for those who appreciate life’s luxuries, and with a true passion for whisky. Get ready to dress to impress and be one of the first to experience this unique and exclusive evening. For more information and to book your tickets visit