Scotch

Last week we ran a Competition to win a pair of tickets to Dramboree, a brand new whisky weekend, which is to be held in Aberfeldy from 5th – 7th of July this year. To enter, we asked you to come up with the best picture of a dog in people clothes you could possibly find and then post it on our Facebook page! (Oh, and to Like our Facebook page too, but I’m sure you’ve all already done that... Right?) The entries came flooding in! Whole packs of them, by the kennel-load. A veritable litter of entries. Although I left the judging to MoM’s resident poochie experts, I can now reveal the winners (we felt it was only fair to give out a couple of prizes for some honourable mentions too)... Honourable mention 1 (receiving a free 3cl dram of Arran – Batch 2 from That Boutique-y Whisky Company!)... “It’s a fez, I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool.” Congratulations Fraser Sutherland, we loved your Dogtor, complete with accessories – have a dram on us! ...but fezzes are cool! Surely?! Honourable mention 2 (receiving a free 50cl bottle of Arran – Batch 2 from That Boutique-y Whisky Company!)... Quick Smee, we must get this booty to yonder galleee... Congratulations to Kavita Favella! We always like pirates. And dogs. And booty. ...and finally, the Winner of the Dramboree tickets... (Mandatory drum roll, please...) That’s one small step for poochie... One giant leap for poochiekind! Congratulations to Fraser Ross, who posted a number of top quality dogs in people clothes that won over the judges! In the end, any number of his entries could have won it. Here’s another: (with original caption) “Take me to the Dramboree... dram-a..dram-a..dram-a..dram-a..dram-a..dram-a..... BATMAN!” Although it is quite clearly a Batdog. Details. A big thank you to all who entered – Mr. Ross, we’ll see you at Dramboree! Look, I’m sorry okay? Jake

Those of you who regularly read our blog, or keep up with our Twitter feed, will know we’re good friends with the chaps at Master of Malt. Whenever they’re in Edinburgh we do our utmost to squeeze them in to our schedules and meet them for a drink (or six) in one of Edinburgh’s delectable [...]

Ardbeg 1990/2001 (46%, Spirit of Scotland) - Ardbeg 11yo 1990/2001 (55%, Potstill, Austria) - Ardbeg 2000/2007 (62.6%, Daily Dram & The Whisky Fair) - Ardbeg 'Ardbog' (52.1%, OB, 2013) - Joey Gilmore

Ah, the infamous old-time favourite Chicken Cock Whiskey! Nope, me neither. It’s a thing though. Established in 1856, this Kentucky whiskey had to move its production to Canada during the dark days of Prohibition – smuggled into the country in tins, Chicken Cock was still being served in speakeasies such as the legendary Cotton Club thanks to the well-developed bootlegging network. “...all this talk of bootlegging – what is bootlegging? On a boat, it's bootlegging. On Lake Shore Drive, it's hospitality. I'm a businessman!” Fast-forward to 2013 and Matti Anttila has relaunched the long-defunct brand with a new range of products produced by the Terressentia Corporation in North Charleston. The only problem is, 884 cases were stolen last week en route to Texas in a daring truck heist – that’s more than 10,000 bottles of Chicken Cock with a retail value of $200,000 or up to $1.4 million if sold by the measure! That’s a lot of Chicken Cock. It seems then, that the brand has come full circle – a classic brand best known for its association with illegal drinking has become the victim of crime almost immediately upon its return. Shipments of Chicken Cock have probably failed to reach their destinations in the past but on those occasions it would have been the law that captured them! “I appreciate the irony in this situation” says Matti Anttila. “Hmmm.... It’s like rain on your wedding day.” Erm, no Alanis – that would just be inconvenient, coincidental at most. Silly person. Chicken Cock Whiskey are now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the whiskey. What the heist has also done however, is made an awful lot of people across America talk about the brand – so, a classic whiskey with ‘Untouchable’ heritage? Sounds interesting... A pint of ‘medicinal’ whiskey. That. There are three flavours available in the new range: Southern Spice(d), Cinnamon and Root Beer but sadly not one that tastes of whiskey. Hey – at least they come in metal bottles though as a nod to those crafty tins mentioned above, that’s kind of cool, right? Supposedly this also serves the purpose of allowing you to cool it down nice and quick for the pouring of those yummy ice cold shots... Umm... Some ‘classic’ whiskey being prepared. You could always mix it though... Why not try a Cockstar, a Cock & Balls, a Cockmeister... or a Jim Morrison. (This is all true by the way, you couldn’t make this stuff up!) The Jim Morrison: “Pour equal parts Chicken Cock Root Beer Whiskey, Jaeger & Coke in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake and pour into shot glasses. Find a friend, make eye contact and take the shot! Repeat as desired...” ... Hmm... A ‘near’ miss then perhaps? Oh well, it was quite amusing for a moment or two wasn’t it? Time to move on to more serious products I suppose, how about that rum – what’s it called again? Yes, that’s the one: Big Black Dick... (Still not making this up.) The Music of the Prohibition: Charleston, 1925 Gramophone Recording Jake

Counting down to #youranCnoc Day 17th JuneWith #youranCnoc Day fast approaching, it's time to get your smart phones primed to take the picture that could win you a bespoke bottle of anCnoc – and an unforgettable four-night trip to New York.The #youranCnoc campaign – launched to celebrate the third limited edition Peter Arkle release for anCnoc – is already making its mark and Monday June 17th is shaping up to be a day to savour for whisky fans around the world.That’s when we’ll be asking you to tweet us a pic which sums up how you savour your dram. In return, the 10 we like best will provide the spark for Scottish-born, New York- based illustrator – and anCnoc partner – Peter to design you a personalised bottle. Our overall winner will then be flown, with a friend, to have their bottle presented to them by Peter in Manhattan.It’s easy to enter. Snap a picture that sums up your ideal anCnoc experience and Tweet it to@anCnoc_whisky using #youranCnoc between 00.00 (GMT) on Monday June 17th and 09.00 (GMT) on Tuesday June 18th.Peter enjoys his best while relaxing on his New York roof terrace, but whatever your inspiration – be it an uplifting country landscape, a beach barbeque, or even a night in front of the fire – we’d love to see it. So remember, think, snap then tweet on June 17th.Visit www.anCnoc.com for more information and terms and conditions or watch the video to see how it works.Slainte!anCnoc

Wemyss Malts have been at it again, releasing a tantalising range of single cask whiskies for our enjoyment. This time we have a 15yo Auchentoshan from a bourbon barrel, a 12yo Bunnahabhain from a puncheon and a 25yo Glenrothes from a sherry butt. I’ve tasted quite a few of their previous releases and I’ve rarely [...]

Braeval 18 yo 1994/2013 (49.7%, Liquid Library, bourbon barrel) - Braeval 18 yo 1994/2013 (52.5%, Liquid Treasures, bourbon hogshead, 120 bottles) - Braeval 23 yo 1989 (54.2%, The Whisky Barrel, Burns Malt, hogshead, cask #1074, +/-2013) - T. Bone Burnett

I have really enjoyed this whole Glenlivet Alpha thing. In case you haven’t heard (where have you been?), Glenlivet Alpha was released as quite an interesting project. It came in a lovely black bottle, with no information in the slightest on the label. I mean, it said it was Scotch whisky, it said it was [...]

Mortlach 16 yo 1997/2013 (51%, Liquid Treasures, bourbon hogshead, 176 bottles) - Mortlach 1995/2013 (56.4%, Svenska Eldvatten, 257 bottles) - Mortlach 21 yo 1991/2012 (56.3%, Silver Seal, cask #4246, 542 bottles) - Michel and Christiane Legrand

We are currently in the midst of The Balvenie Whisky Fête, which runs from 13th-15th June, with many of you no doubt planning on heading down there this weekend. London’s Tavistock Square Gardens has been transformed into a whisky wonderland complete with two handcrafted domes made from cask staves as well as The Balvenie Craftman’s Bothy. David Stewart, the great Malt Master who has who has worked at the distillery for over 50 years is on hand to run tutored tastings amongst various other workshops and goings on. The doctor will see you now... Balvenie’s Global Ambassador Sam Simmons in his stave hideout. The thing that has piqued our interest the most however, is the fact that the new batch of The Balvenie Tun 1401 has officially been unveiled to the public. Marrying tun 1401 is, basically, David Stewart’s favourite plaything. He uses it to vat some of the very best casks The Balvenie have to offer in order to produce a series of truly sublime limited edition expressions that have become extraordinarily popular. (Unsurprisingly.) The famous tun being filled during the creation of Batch 3. Batch 8 is a vatting of 9 American Oak casks and 3 European Oak Sherry casks, which spent a number of months marrying in tun 1401 before bottling at 50.2% abv. 2,700 (very popular) bottles have been produced. With only one in three new batches being released in the UK (as well as Canada and Australia whilst others are destined for the US and travel retail), we simply cannot wait to get our hands on this one! Especially after the exquisite Tun 1401 – Batch 2 and Tun 1401 – Batch 5. The Balvenie Tun 1401 - a thing of beauty. (Although this batch has 12 casks... but you get the idea...) We should also point out that The Whisky Fête is not only a celebration of whisky but of all British craftmanship, part of The Balvenie Masters of Craft awards programme, which has been running for three years now. Let’s allow everybody’s favourite television architect to explain... Kevin McCloud speaks about last year’s Masters of Craft. Jake