Book Review: Canadian Whisky

My 'well thumbed' copy with my only bottle Canadian whisky in the background

I hadn't even considered Canadian Whisky at the beginning of my whisky journey, but what did I know back then? I had started on a 'malt crusade', but was only buying whisky from the supermarkets, and although reading anything I could find, was mainly reading the brand websites.

Towards the end of my first year I bought a couple of books when I desperately needed some guidance. One of them was Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die, and it was Ian's book that opened my eyes up to the vast catalogue of great tasting whiskies from around the globe. Listed in it were two Canadian Whiskies, which immediately went on my list. His follow-up book, 101 World Whiskies listed a further four. I needed to find out about Canadian Whisky.

Twitter has made a huge difference to my whisky knowledge. With the #whiskyfabric woven across the globe (go on, search that hashtag on Twitter) Canadian whiskies have been traded with friends across the pond and I have made some steps towards checking off the ones from the list, as well as discovering some new expressions chosen for me through these trades.

It was during my first virtual journey into Canadian Whisky (with the help of #whiskyfabric founder @whiskylassie and @BruceFraser who traded the necessary samples to start my tasting trip) that I found out about Davin de Kergommeaux and his Canadian Whisky website and was about to publish his 'portable expert', Canadian Whisky. 

Then at the beginning of this year I was asked if I would like to take part in a four part whisky tasting with the author, and a copy of the book would be sent my way. The book duly arrived and was enthusiastically read.

Davin takes readers on a journey through the history of Canadian whisky, the book being divided into five sections, which seems to cover all bases incredibly well. 

Starting with the key ingredients and the 'substance' of Canadian Whisky, we're then told how it's made in great detail. This is followed by a section on how we should be tasting it and why it tastes the way it does. 

The fourth section is a concise history with the rich folklore surrounding it, and the final section introduces the nine current distillers of Canadian whisky.

Davin has put his heart and soul into this book, and it has been a fabulous read. The history has been extensively researched and learning about the pioneers of the industry has been fascinating; of the English and German settlers bringing their distilling skills with them to their new home, of the rise and fall of the distilling dynasties as whisky went out of fashion towards the end of the last century, leaving just nine distilleries today from the twenty two registered in 1976.

However this isn't just a book describing the history of Canadian Whisky, throughout the book Davin has posted tasting notes for Canada's top one hundred whiskies.

This book (and the Canadian whisky I have tried to date) has certainly whetted my appetite for more. Unfortunately reading Davin's tasting notes is a bit of a tease as Canadian whisky is not (yet) widely available outside of Canada (they seem to be keeping it all for themselves!) There are a few brands available at the well known British whisky websites but I'm sure with the increasing interest more will be available in the very near future, and as it does, I'll be ready, with my portable expert!

Ardbog Day

On the 1st of June we were invited to take part in celebrating Ardbeg’s limited edition release of their Fèis Ìle festival bottling – Ardbog. On this day, dubbed Ardbog Day, I headed to London with my other half in tow as Dave couldn't go, as at around that time he had started to tear down his ensuite.

To make it bit more of a country feel, there was a stage full of steaming peat for people to dig through, flying sheep (oh yes there was!) & normal sheep, a nice old tractor, straw bales, shiny Ardbeg Chopper and country games where you can win prizes. All of the pictures from the day can be seen on our Facebook page here. 

The Ardbog T-shirt was hard to come by, I only got one after completing two tug-of-war games, some wellie wanging, a wheel barrow race, and a sack race! A cocktail half way through the day, consisting of Ardbog, lime juice, gomme syrup & lavender liquor, quenched the thirst nicely.

Slainte! Kat

Whisky Discovery #498

Ardbeg 'Ardbog' (52.1% abv, 2013)

Islay Single Malt Whisky

circa £80.00 (when it was released)

The whisky has been named after the peat bog that gives the whiskies from this distillery its heavily peated character. Ardbeg’s is one of the peatiest malt whisky, which I’ve been advised ‘with a phenol level of the peat measured at an average 55-60 parts per million’. Compared with say a Lagavulin with phenol levels of around 40 parts per million. 

Ardbog is a marriage of Ardbeg whisky that are at least 10 years old, that has been matured in bourbon cask and in Manzanilla sherry casks.

So What did we think?

Kat's notes: 

Nose: My first thought was warm buttermilk pancakes with lashings of maple syrup and rashes of crispy bacon. Followed by the smell of a burgundy Chesterfield sofa on a hot day, nutmeg, hazel nuts, toffee, medicinal aromas - TCP/Band-Aid, all balanced with a background note of smoke. It’s also noticeably dry. 

There’s not a major change to the aromas after adding a drop of water. Only noted the smokiness mellows, bringing out more of the sweet maple syrup characters & nut notes. Personally the high ABV is not a problem here and prefer this dram without water.

Palate: I was very happy when it offered most of flavours of what it promised in the nose. At the first second when it hits the palate, there’s a short hint of mint mouthwash. Shortly follow with maple syrup, toffee, peat smoke, iodine/seaweed, very nutty with a nice coating of nut oils from hazel & Brazil nuts. Again, it is a nice balance of sweet and savoury that’s a little dry which helps cut through some of the richness of this whisky. 

With water, the only change that I noticed was that the minty & smoke characters become distinctively like black cardamoms. 

Finish: Nutty, peat smoke/wood charcoal, iodine, hint of sea salt and black cardamoms. 

To sum up for me it’s like eating maple syrup pancakes with crispy bacon after brushing your teeth or using mouthwash, and somehow these flavours combined to make a really delicious dram. It is a great execution of balancing sweet, savoury, and peat smoke.

Dave's notes:

Nose: Very typically 'Ardbeg' with a definite smoky bacon 'Frazzles' over a 'stable' element, with earthy peat, straw and cowshed (yes, I've slept in one). The medicinal notes are all there; iodine, old style crepe bandages, menthol, as is the charcoal and coal dust. There are sweet notes with rich honey and good Balsamic vinegar, similar to my wife's homemade salad dressing, and plenty of sea salt. Digging deeper there are some fleeting delicate floral notes underlying.

Palate: A peaty sweetness, albeit not quite as sweet as I was expecting. Sooty charcoal notes begin give the dry mouthfeel and there's a short spicy build up, but again not quite as spicy as I was expecting, more of a mild chilli heat to me (I do eat a lot of chilli though). There's a salty tang that sneaks up on you too.

Finish: A long and drying finish, woody sawdust. The salt that sneaked up on the palate and the sherry sweetness remains for a long time too, but charcoal is more dominant and stays right through and beyond!

Verdict: I was fairly certain that Ardbog was quite similar to their Uigeadail so decided to taste these alongside each other. They both have a similar 'make up' (Bourbon and Sherry casks) although Ardbog specifies Manzanilla casks, the colour is difficult to differentiate between the two and flavour profiles are quite similar although the Uigeadail comes across as slightly sweeter and more rounded. That said the Ardbog is very drinkable however value for money? I didn't think so and would prefer to spend my hard earned cash on Uigeadail or Corrywrecken and still have some change in my pocket.

Old Pulteney Tweet Tasting

An August Tweet Tasting with Alembic Tweets for the launch of the Old Pulteney 'Lighthouse Series'. These three new whiskies have been developed for the Travel Retail and will be available exclusively from airport duty free stores and other travel retail outlets from August 2013. 

The three new expressions showcase the Old Pulteney coastal style from three different maturation angles, and are presented in bold packaging (you won't miss these amongst the other whiskies on the shelves!) and highlight Pulteney Distillery's maritime heritage by celebrating prominent local lighthouses – Noss Head, Duncansby Head and Pentland Skerries.

Only Dave on this tweet tasting as Kat was busy with other things although she did pop by just before the start to pick up some ingredients from the kitchen, but didn't stop for a snifter. The tweet tasters were all ready to rock'n'roll at precisely 2000 BST, the designated 'kick-off' time, but our host was nowhere to be seen. With @OldPulteneyMalt new to Twitter sitting on the sidelines, we decided to take matters into our own hands and start the tasting on our own.

Eventually our host Lukasz Dynowiak of @alembic_tweets turned up around the time we were just moving onto our final dram, but he had a very important reason for missing the start, and was quickly forgiven! (Family always comes first,  he  had been held up in A&E with his young son, but fortunately all was well at home) The Tweet Tasters knew the drill and kept everything in line for him to step into comfortably and take over the final session.

Whisky Discovery #495

Old Pulteney Noss Head NAS (46% abv)

Highland Single Malt

circa £40.00 100 cl

We started with the entry level dram which features the distinctive Noss Head lighthouse that is located just four miles north of the distillery. The Lighthouse was built in 1849 by Robert Arnot, and the name comes the Old Norse word ‘Snos’, a nose, relating to the nose-shaped headland where it is situated. 

Noss Head has been matured wholly in ex-bourbon American oak casks. It's bottled at 46% abv with no age statement, non chill-filtered and naturally coloured.

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Light fresh nose, certainly has a citrus edge alongside some coconut - not fresh coconut, but that sweet dried desiccated coconut. Vanilla as one would expect follows, then Barley Sugar along with some malty notes and spices 

Palate: Much richer on the palate than the nose suggested. The citrus note is there but darker, like a caramelised orange (if there is such a thing). Very sweet with only a gentle pepper spice. Barley sugars found on the nose more prominent 

Finish: Quite a long finish to this, malty and sweet with gentle pepper spices with a slight hint of saltiness I was expecting ro find in the maritime highlander.

Verdict: Light and refreshing and would be great on a warm summers afternoon.

What did the others think?

@mynameisgone: The nose is fresh, cereal, with a touch of sweetness, also a citrus edge

@ansgarspeller: Vanilla, fruit, lemon, raisin, sweet, bit rose wine? and funny enough some 7-up on the nose?

@dvdbloke: Nose - lemon sherbert, peel, underage orange, coconut, light honey.

@RLemkin: On the palate I think it's lovely, sweet, fruity with a bitter orange bite to it

@LaCaveDeCobalt: The palate on this is quite spirity. Like a young plum alcohol. It's salty, peppery with a light bitterness on the finish.

@steveprentice: Very easy drinking at the slightly higher than often found ABV. Reasonably thick oily mouthfeel which if held on the tongue for a little bit turns reasonably spicy. Nice sweet and malty, much more likeable than I was expecting.

@whiskyrepublic: A quality dram for easy drinking or for those who may be wary of some of the harder hitting sherry/peat bombs out there

Whisky Discovery #496

Old Pulteney Duncansby Head NAS (46% abv)

Highland Single Malt

circa £45.00 100 cl

The Duncansby Head lighthouse lies 18 miles north of the Pulteney Distillery and is situated near John O’Groats at the very northern tip of Scotland. The lighthouse protects a dangerous part of the Pentland Firth where the Atlantic waters meet the North Sea. Built just after WW1 it is now equipped with a low-power self operating racon and has been fully automated since 1997. 

Duncansby Head is made in the classic Old Pulteney style matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and Spanish ex-sherry casks  Again this has been bottled at 46% ABV, non chill-filtered and naturally coloured

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Slightly richer on the nose that Noss Head, the sherry casks showing their presence, with a very nice balance of bourbon/sherry casks.  With a little air I started to get a strong hint of chocolate alongside sultanas which was followed by some lovely butterscotch flavours. It certainly took some time, but the nose was gently evolving across the senses and finishing with some white pepper.

Palate: Initially very sweet, a stronger more rounded spiciness builds but settles quickly. That slightly burned orange note that I found in Noss Head made an appearance but again it felt richer and more rounded. The butterscotch comes through to the palate after the peppery build up fades.

Finish: Another long finish, must be down to the higher abv. Quite fruity and feels very refreshing at first before turning quite dry.

Verdict: I like the introduction of some sherry cask matured malt to the mix, it give it more body.

What did the others think?

@steveprentice: That unmistakable distillery character of maritime salt, but tempered with hints of autumn fruits intertwined amongst the malty summeryness. Spiced stewed red apples with a drop of caramel. Leave this one to air for a bit

@dsappl: very pleasant stuff in the nose. Honey, apricot, maybe a touch of prune. Much less burn than Noss

@fr1day: Nose: Very appealing! Red fruits - plums & prunes with subtle nuts - pecan maybe

@mattveira: Sweeter, more rounded and fruitier this one. Vanilla & honey with a hint of wood again. More maritime salt too!

@sjoerd972: Feels young again but less so than Noss. Sherry casks give it some more depth, nuttiness (walnut and hazelnut). warmer, gentler.

@MCRWhiskyClub: Interesting palate - cookie dough, the chocolate from the nose, danish smoked salt and green fig

 @HMcnee: Spice, thick, coats the tongue and the taste is there for longer than noss head then becomes very dry

Whisky Discovery #497

Old Pulteney Pentland Skerries NAS (46% abv)

Highland Single Malt

circa £55.00 100 cl

The most premium of the three new releases, Old Pulteney Pentland Skerries celebrates two

lighthouse towers of the same name located at the eastern entrance to the Pentland Firth. Located 18.5 miles from Pulteney Distillery (as crow flies) Pentland Skerries was developed with input from renowned Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson. Built in 1794 on the uninhabited Muckle Skerry island off the far north eastern coast, en route to Orkney. Two towers, 80ft and 60ft high, standing 60ft apart, guard the eastern entrance to the Pentland Firth.

The whisky was matured wholly in Spanish ex-sherry butts. Similarly to the other two, it's bottled at 46% ABV, non chill-filtered, and naturally coloured

So What Did I Think?

I knew I was going to love this the moment I twisted the cap off and poured it into my nosing glass. I've been trying to drink more sherry this year in order to better understand the differences and the effect that these sherry casks have on the whisky that has been matured in them, and because it's damn good - make time for sherry!

Nose: The nose on this is very inviting (to me!) I could pick out Oloroso and the sweetness of Pedro Ximenez. It comes across as sweet and sticky with all the rich sherried fruits you'd expect; sultanas and raisins, dates and figs and that 'signature' caramelised orange note as well. There is a molasses sweetness to it too, dark and slightly musty like well seasoned hardwood on the brink of no return

Palate: Very rich but it wasn't as sweet as the first two. Sherried fruits from the nose all pushing for positioning on the palate with richer chocolate notes than the previous Duncansby Head. Spice are more complex with cinnamon and liqorice.

Finish: Rich and long, starting sweet before drying tannins take over, the licorice remaining to the bitter end.

Verdict: This was my favourite of the three and will certainly be looking out for this one when I'm next passing through an airport.

What did the others think?

@fr1day: Nose: glorious toffee! With a hint of mint? And milk chocolate.

@dvdbloke: Nose - still young. toffee. some light spicy fruitcake thing going on. Chocolate floating in the background.

@MCRWhiskyClub: Very powerful dry sherry character yet somehow retains that salty profile

@mynameisgone: Nose, slightly savoury, briney, dried fruits, candied orange

@ansgarspeller: The taste is sweet, raisin, chocolate, fruity, honey, mint, fresh, lemon twist and pepper... and so much more

@whiskyrepublic: Seductive sherry notes mingling with hints of the coast. A Muckle Skerry mussel sherry dram.

@dvdbloke: palate skerries -  thick, sweet, toffee malt. Rum and raisin. Dusting of cocoa. Fruitcake filled. Profiteroles.

@RLemkin:  Palate is even better. Sweet raisins, toffee and a much more mellow orange compared to the Noss Head.

And finally....

Pentland Skerries seemed to win the vote from the Tweet Tasters this evening and then the panel was split between the two for second place. I favoured Duncansby Head over Noss Head, but could see that the bourbon cask matured Noss Head would be very refreshing on a warm summer afternoon

As per previous Tweet Tastings there was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #OldPulteney hashtag on twitter for the full story.

Yet another great experience, with three new discoveries A massive THANK YOU to Lukasz Dynowiak of @alembic_tweets to all the team at @OldPulteneyMalt and of course the tweet tasters.

Your tweet tasters were:

@mynameisgone @ansgarspeller @RLemkin @whiskyrepublic @WhiskyDiscovery @LaCaveDeCobalt @HMcnee @janmccurdy @dvdbloke @MCRWhiskyClub @fr1day @mattveira @bumpythechemist @dsappl @sjoerd972 @steveprentice @thomas_speller @timstasting @wimvlonkhuijsen

Make sure you're following these whisky peeps on Twitter!

So will you be picking up one of these new releases next time your travelling? Would love to hear what you think of them. 

Slàinte! Dave

An Apology

We have been struggling to maintain our blog for far too long recently and decided that we really need to explain our lack of writing over the last couple of months before we launch back into more regular blogging.

We are both fine and dandy, but our free-time has been severely eroded these past few months. While we haven't been writing (although we have umpteen blog posts in draft form) rest assured, we have still been discovering whisky!

It all started back in May when I was trying to write a book review for Davin De Kergommeaux's excellent book 'Canadian Whisky'. I've read the book twice and was putting together a little review when I simply 'ran out of words' and wasn't happy with anything that was coming out of my head and onto the keyboard. I will finish this book review, but in the meantime why don't you check out his website Canadian Whisky

It was also around this time that my 'real job' got a tad busier. I've been spending around 50-60 hours a week in the office that I commute to and from (about an hours drive each way) which under normal circumstances wouldn't be too much of an issue. I normally sit and read and write while having a dram or two in the evenings, but since taking on the 'bathroom project', which also started around the same time, I've not been able to sit and concentrate in the evenings as there had been little rest at the weekend.

The bathroom project has been a major upheaval in my life. What started off as a simple repair job ended up with every weekend being spent gutting and rebuilding the bathroom. Most of the plasterboard walls needed replacing, new plumbing needed installing - the list goes on and I won't bore you with all the details. Fortunately I'm able to do all of the work, and have done, on my own, but the effort required has almost floored me at times. The chosen tiles are huge and out of the 100 or so, I counted just 5 that were whole! When I was younger, something like this would be well within my capacity - I could work all day at work, then work at home till midnight and still be up at 0600 the following morning. I turned 50 a few weeks back and realised I can't do this any more as my recovery time seems to be much longer these days! Each weekend I seem to find new aches and pains. Fortunately, I'm coming to the end of the project now so hope to be back blogging soon.

So what whisky action have we been up to since we were last active?

All set for the final Sunday afternoon for the Davin TT

Well May was a Canadian Whisky month, not only were we reading Davin's great book, we also got the chance to review the book with Davin while blind tasting four Canadian whiskies over the course of four Sunday evenings. A fantastic event organised by Johanne McInnis of The Perfect Whisky Match blog who chose four Canadian whiskies from her own collection for us all. I have all the details and a blog post in draft which will be posted eventually. There were three new whisky discoveries to report as one of them appeared in my first venture into Canadian Whisky.

We both went to excellent The Whisky Lounge London Fest, a two day event held in Shoreditch. I went on the Saturday, although wasn't feeling 100%, coming down with a dose of 'manflu' around that time. I made some new Whisky Discoveries in the first session which have been listed in The Liquid Log (WD425 - WD433) and ran the Balcones Whisky stand single-handedly for the second session. 

Kat went down to the Sunday session accompanied by her other half, which also included a jamming session. Again draft blog posts on file, but not finished. However, photos (and theirs are far better than mine) from the event can be found on our Facebook page here.

I had a great afternoon at the London International Wine Fair. Although not a great event for discovering whisky, I did catch up with Iain Allan from Glen Moray and taste a couple of outstanding vintages as well as finding some excellent Tequila which should be hitting UK shores in the very near future. 

One of my missions at the LIWF was to find out a little more about Sherry and Port and I met up with Wine and spirits writer Colin Hampden-White who took me through some amazing sherries and vintage Ports. While waiting to meet up with Colin I met Whisky guru Dave Broom and tasted a superb Glenmorangie 25 Year Old before all three of us headed over the the Gonzalez Byass stand and in a surreal moment was being taken through some fabulous vintages with Dave Broom to my left and Colin Hampden-White to my right. A few photos from the event can be found on our Facebook page here.

I left the Wine Fair around five o'clock and headed over to Piccadilly as I had two events scheduled on this day. A Warehouse 24 event named 'Malt in the Making' with The Balvenie team where I finally got to meet David Mair as well as a few of their international brand ambassadors. 

The event featured five vintages ranging from 2009 to the finale dram, drawn from a single cask laid down in 1971. I also got to meet Malt Master David Stewart who selected each of the casks just a few days before the event. My photos from the event can be found on our Facebook page here.

The Jura 50th Anniversary Tweet Tasting with The Whisky Wire was held at the end of May where we were treated to some very special drams. Starting with the new Travel Retail release Turas Mara we went on and tasted the Jura 30 Year Old, The Jura 1977, a special release 'Delme Evans' and a preview of a to be released 40 Year Old, aptly called for this event the Jura 39 3/4, as it was not ready to meet the 40 year Old age statement.

The Dramogram, a twitter led event organised by Tom's Whisky Reviews and a follow on from the 12 Blends of Easter just sneaked into May where I sent a blind sample to @whiskyrepublic to guess, and was sent a blind sample from @galg for me to make my guess. Another draft post that should be fairly straightforward to complete and post!

June was another busy month and started with Ardbog Day on the 1st of the month. Kat headed down to London to join in with the events there while I continued destroying the bathroom, her photos are on our Facebook page here.

My next whisky event was The Macallan Tweet Tasting with The Whisky Wire, and the four new 'colours' from the recently released 1824 Series was experienced. Although I had tasted these all before at The Midlands Whisky Festival I was fortunate to revisit them all and write some more comprehensive notes, again all the data is to hand, although I wasn't able to download all of the tweet tasters tweets as I normally would due to a software change in Twitter. However I did persevere and will be posting the full story very soon.

A fabulous box set was sent to each of the Tweet Tasters. A box set just like this recently sold for over £1,000 at auction!
My set is like new, except the miniatures are now empty, any offers?

A special 'Fathers Day' Glen Garioch Tweet Tasting with Rachel Barrie was held in the week running up to the Fathers Day weekend where we visited the 12 Year Old from their core range followed by two vintages from 1997 and 1988 before we tasted the 'mystery dram'. My internet was misbehaving on this evening and I was losing connection before it finally gave up on the third dram - I have all my notes so will be writing this up too.

Malt Master David Stewart and Tun 1401

I was also invited down to London for the launch of The Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 8. I've never tasted any of the Tun 1401 series before but have heard so many great things about them so was really excited when I received my invitation. Batch 8 was absolutely amazing and I really wished I had bought a bottle there. I also had a wonderful chat with David Stewart before heading home. A few photos from the event can be found on our Facebook page here.

I turned 50 in the middle of June, but my birthday celebrations were nothing to shout about , I had a variation of the 'Midas touch', as just about everything I touched that day turned to shite! Most of my birthday weekend was spend fighting the bathroom but I did get a couple of bottles of whisky to add to the shelf. A bottle of Talisker Distillers Edition from 2000 and an Inchmurrin 21 Year Old

A  Wemyss Malts Tweet Tasting with The Whisky Wire introduced 4 new whisky discoveries, which was followed a week later by the Liquid Americana Tweet Tasting, again with The Whisky Wire, with five blind miniatures resulting in a further four new whisky discoveries. Our blog post will follow soon.

Another first, as headed down to London to meet Phil Brandon of Rocktown Distillery at The Soho Whisky Club. Phil started his own distillery and was introducing his Bourbon and Gin to the UK for the first time - be sure to look out for that soon as I was really impressed and already have my order in. You can find the photos on our Facebook page here:

In July Kat and I spent two fabulous days at Imbibe Live, meeting the Karen and Jacqueline from Wemyss Malts and sampling both their whiskies and Darnley's View Gin. We caught up with the Berry Bros and Rudd Team, tasted some amazing spirits including the recently released 2001 Vintage from The Glenrothes. We met Adnams distiller, John McCarthy and tasted his 'Spirit of Broadside'. There were a few 'Whisky Discoveries' made but mostly it was about catching up with friends as well as meeting people we'd only tweeted with to date. Again, you can find photos of this event on our Facebook page here:

We were really fortunate to receive an invite for the Glen Garioch Virgin Oak launch, held at the Zetter Hotel and Townhouse, just off the Clerkenwell Road. 

Hosted by Brand Ambassador Phil Nickson, and PR Director Carolynne Coole, we joined Matt and Karen from Whisky for Everyone, Jason B Standing of Whisky Squad fame, 'The Miss Whisky' herself, Alwynne Gwilt and whisky legend Ian Buxton for a delightful dinner before tasting the new Virgin Oak Glen Garioch alongside their 12 Year Old. We later found out that we had actually tasted this before, as the new Virgin Oak was also the 'mystery dram' from the previous tweet tasting! I've uploaded the photos I took during the evening, but my photography skills were at their lowest point on this particular evening. You can find them here.

And finally my wife and I made it to 'The Miss Whisky' aka Alwynne Gwilt's charity event held at The Opium Bar in London's China Town, where we spent the afternoon sipping Glengoyne's Teapot Dram and listening to cool jazz from Aline Stoffel while raising funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care. A great Sunday afternoon was had by all and Alwynne raised over £1500. You can find out more on Alwynne's blog post here

So stand by for a stampede of blog posts as we try to get back on top of it all! 

Until our next Whisky Discovery, Slàinte! Dave