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Release Notes
A single barrel cask strength bottling of a Highlands single malt. Distilled on April 23rd, 2002. One of only 210 bottles.
Yours Truly
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Spirity to start with but give it time and you will be rewarded with fresh fruity aromas. The taste neat chilli flavoured peanuts, Bitter Lemon and lemon curd cheesecake. Water releases an intoxicating small of an orange grove and the flavour is of a lemon and mint sorbet.
SMWS
The Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
| Established: 1983 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Scotland |
| → website |
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation which bottles and sells single cask, single malt whisky. It purchases individual casks from more than 125 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and throughout the world, bottles them and retails directly to its members. It also runs three private members’ rooms in the UK and in several international locations.
The origins of the Society lie in Phillip “Pip” Hills’ travels around the Scottish Highlands in the late 1970s, during which he sampled several whiskies drawn straight from the cask.
Hills was so affected by what he tasted that, in 1978, he persuaded several acquaintances to share in the cost of a cask from the Glenfarclas distillery. Over time, the group of friends expanded to become a small syndicate and more casks were purchased, bottled and distributed to subscribing members.
Coinciding with the decision to open membership to the wider public in 1983, the Society purchased its first property, The Vaults, in Leith; a building, whose vaulted wine cellars reputedly stretch back to the 12th century.
The Society created a set of members’ rooms there.
In 1996, the Society launched a share scheme for its members, the proceeds from which were invested in the purchase of a London venue.
2004 saw the Society purchase a second venue in Edinburgh – a Georgian townhouse on Queen Street. In the same year, the Society was acquired by Glenmorangie PLC.
To mark the 25th anniversary of its foundation, the Society redesigned its bottles, to include more information and a full tasting note on the front of the bottle.
The origins of the Society lie in Phillip “Pip” Hills’ travels around the Scottish Highlands in the late 1970s, during which he sampled several whiskies drawn straight from the cask.
Hills was so affected by what he tasted that, in 1978, he persuaded several acquaintances to share in the cost of a cask from the Glenfarclas distillery. Over time, the group of friends expanded to become a small syndicate and more casks were purchased, bottled and distributed to subscribing members.
Coinciding with the decision to open membership to the wider public in 1983, the Society purchased its first property, The Vaults, in Leith; a building, whose vaulted wine cellars reputedly stretch back to the 12th century.
The Society created a set of members’ rooms there.
In 1996, the Society launched a share scheme for its members, the proceeds from which were invested in the purchase of a London venue.
2004 saw the Society purchase a second venue in Edinburgh – a Georgian townhouse on Queen Street. In the same year, the Society was acquired by Glenmorangie PLC.
To mark the 25th anniversary of its foundation, the Society redesigned its bottles, to include more information and a full tasting note on the front of the bottle.
from Wikipedia
The Distillery: Glen Ord
| Established: 1838 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Muir of Ord, Ross-shire IV6 7UJ |
| → website |
USA - Glendullan 12yo - I haven"t seen the 8yo OB from the 1990"s for ages in Europe. Europe - Dufftown 12yo - The 10yo OB from the 1990"s has vanished from the shelves too. Asia - Glen Ord 12yo - The old 12yo "cube" OB was still available in Europe in 2008.
The Glen Ord distillery was founded in 1838 by Thomas Mackenzie in the "Black Isle" area north of Inverness. The distillery takes its name from "The Ord", a plain 15 miles north of Inverness. Many castles of the clan Mackenzie can be found in the area, including Kintail, Brahan and Eilean Donan. The clan has Celtic origins (as opposed to Norman) and possibly came to Scotland from Ireland somewhere in the 12th century.
That"s much more than the Glen Ord distillery needs; the maltings produce the malted barley for a few other of Diageo"s distilleries as well. While the maltings operation was expanded, the actual distillation was as well. In 1966 the distillery was renovated, while the number of stills was expanded from two to six.
In 1985 Glen Ord was acquired by United Malt & Grain Distillers (United Distillers), which officially became part of the large Diageo corporation a little over a decade later. They continued to produce the dependable Glen Ord single malt in the round bottle (shown at the left) for a few more years before they introduced its successor in the square bottle (depicted at the right) a few years later. Both bottlings offered pretty good value; affordable single malt whiskies scoring around 80 points on my personal enjoyment scale.
In 1923 James Watson"s son died without heirs, after which Glen Ord distillery was purchased by John Dewar & Sons who became part of Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1925. Five years later, in 1930, Glen Ord was transferred to Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (SMD). This marked the beginning of a few relatively quiet decades.
In 1961 the floor maltings were replaced by a Saladin box, which was supplemented with drum maltings in 1968. Both maltings were used together for more than a decade, but in 1983 they stopped using the Saladin box. These days the drum maltings at Glen Ord produce some 36,000 tonnes per year.
Immediately after construction Thomas Mackenzie licensed the distillery to the Ord Distillery Co., owned by D. McLennan and Robert Johnstone. Soon Robert became the sole owner - but he went bankrupt in 1847. Glen Ord distillery was put up for sale, but it wasn"t until 1855 that it was purchased by Alexander McLennan and Thomas McGregor.
Alexander McLennan passed away in 1870, after which his widow took over the distillery. In 1877 the ownership of Glen Ord returned to the Mackenzie clan when Alexander McLellan"s widow remarried. Her new husband Alexander McKenzie took out a 19 year lease of Glen Ord and constructed a new still house. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a fire shortly afterwards. Alexander McKenzie died in 1896, just when the lease of the distillery ended. Glen Ord was sold to James Watson & Co. (a blending company from Dundee) for £15,800.
In recent years that comfortable situation has changed considerably. While the name "Singleton" had been reserved for the product of the Auchroisk whisky distillery (also owned by Diageo) during the 1980"s and 1990"s, around the year 2007 three brand new "Singleton" single malt whiskies were introduced in different parts of the world. Oddly enough, these singletons were produced at three different malt whisky distilleries; Glendullan, Dufftown and Glen Ord. The malts from these distilleries are marketed under the same name in three different parts of the world - which seems like a departure from the "Classic Malts" ideology.
This means that whisky lovers on different continents can enjoy three different "Singleton" malts;
In the new Millenium
2004 - A 25 years old official bottling of Glen Ord is launched.
2007 - The "Singleton" range is introduced; three different single malts for three different markets. Customers in Asia get the Glen Ord while whisky drinkers in the USA can enjoy a Glendullan malt whisky. Here in Europe a bottle of the "Singleton" whisky is supposed to contain malt whisky distilled at the Dufftown distillery.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: Diageo
| Established: 1997 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 8 Henrietta Place, London, W1G ONB, UK |
| → website |
Diageo also distributes Unicum, its lighter-bodied variant Zwack and Jose Cuervo tequila products in North America. However, Cuervo operates as a separate company in Mexico and is not owned by Diageo. Similarly Grand Marnier is distributed by Diageo in many markets, including exclusively in Canada, and a deal was reached in 2009 to significantly expand this partnership in Europe.
Furthermore, Diageo owns the Gleneagles Hotel.
Diageo was formed in 1997 from the merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc. The creation was driven by the two executives Anthony Greener and Philip Yea at Guinness plus George Bull and John McGrath of Grand Metropolitan. The product portfolios of Guinness and Grand Met were largely complementary with little overlap.
Diageo is the world"s biggest whisky producer with 28 malt distilleries and two grain distilleries.The company operates the Scotch whisky distilleries of Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol (situated at Pitlochry), Caol Ila, Cardhu, Knockando, Glen Elgin, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker, Teaninich, Mannochmore, Mortlach and Glenlossie, which are sold not only under their own name but used to make the various blended scotch whiskies sold by the company, and owns the stock of many closed distilleries such as Port Ellen, Rosebank, Brora, Convalmore, Glen Albyn, North Brechin, Banff, and Linlithgow. The company have opened a new malt distillery adjacent to their maltings at Roseisle (1st new make spirit produced Spring 2009). This will be one of the largest malt distilleries in Scotland. The new building contains 14 traditional copper pot stills. An expansion programme is also underway at its Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife that will make it the largest grain distillery in Scotland. Diageo also owns the Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow, and jointly operates the North British Grain Distillery in Gorgie, Edinburgh, with The Edrington Group.
Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO) is the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has American Depositary Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The word Diageo was formed from the Latin dia (day) and the Greek geo (World), symbolising the use of the company"s brands every day, everywhere. Its head office is located in the City of Westminster in London. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Trivia:
- In December 2003, Diageo provoked controversy over its decision to change its Cardhu brand Scotch whisky from a single malt to a vatted malt (also known as a pure malt) whilst retaining the original name and bottle style. Diageo took this action because it did not have sufficient reserves to meet demand in the Spanish market, where Cardhu had been successful. After a meeting of producers, Diageo agreed to make changes.
- In 2006, the Cardhu brand quietly changed back to being a single malt.
- In July 2009, Diageo announced that, after nearly 200 years of association with the town of Kilmarnock, they would be closing the Johnnie Walker blending and bottling plant as part of restructuring to the business. This would make 700 workers unemployed and caused outrage from press, local people and politicians. A campaign against this decision was launched by the local SNP MSP Willie Coffey and Labour MP Des Browne. A petition was drawn up against the Diageo plans, which also involves the closure of the historic Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow.
- In February 2009 it was reported in the Guardian that the company had restructured itself so as to avoid paying tax in the U.K., despite much of its profits being generated in the U.K.
- Diageo is engaged in a tax scheme in the United States of America, commonly referred to as the "Rum Bailout", which will guarantee it USD$3 billion in revenues and profits.
- The National Puerto Rican Coalitionplans to run a series of ads in New York City and Puerto Rico urging a boycott of Diageo-owned alcoholic drinks to protest the giant British-owned corporation"s controversial production move of its Captain Morgan rum from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
from Wikipedia