These drinks are truly innovative, demonstrating how colour, nose and taste all develop as spirit matures in cask. However their real difference is that each one is a fantastic drink in its own right and can be drunk straight or long with a mixer and ice or as a cocktail.
Bramble Bar has been voted one of the top cocktail bars in the world and the team are extremely creative, having developed a number of cocktails in past years. Last year they created “The New Yorker Re-visted” using “The Spirit Drink that dare not speak its name”, which is featured on their exclusive cocktail list. This year they surpassed themselves and they created a signature cocktail for each of the four Spirit Drinks.
Each of the cocktails are different and builds upon the base flavours in the specific Spirit Drink to create a unique drink, the list includes “Peated Julep”, “Fledgling Sour”, “Clearac Manhattan” and “New Yorker Revisited” . Having tried them all I find it hard to say which is my favourite, but to allow you the opportunity to try them as well, and to form your own opinion, we will be making the recipes available shortly.
A number of well kent faces were in attendance and I can confirm that they all left with big smiles on their faces.


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Stuart

Glenglassaugh – A Distillery Reborn

On 27^th July we had an exclusive event at Glenglassaugh – the launch of a new book. The Lord Lieutenant for Banffshire, Lady Clare Russell officially launched the book which has been written by Ian Buxton, the well known whisky writer and consultant who has been working with us for the last two years. As Ian says in the book he has “ a semi-detached view” of the company and this allowed him more insight into our operations and access to records then can normally be afforded to a third-party writer. As well as an in-depth view of our current operations, brands and team he has also spent considerable time and effort in delving into the past, finding our more information about our history and heritage and bringing it to life in a very readable form. Interspersed with old and new photographs this is a most enjoyable read and will appeal to everyone with an interest in Glenglassaugh or Portsoy or the Whisky industry in general.

One additional item of great interest to whisky enthusiasts is the complete and un-edited inclusion of a privately commissioned article by the most whisky writer of the 19^th century, Alfred Barnard. This account of his second visit to Glenglassaugh was part of a series of 4 such visits which had been privately commissioned by The Highland Distilleries Company in 1898 to visit all of their distilleries. It includes not only a lengthy account of his visit but a number of fascinating photographs of the distillery as it was at the end of the 19^th Century.

The book is available in both hardback and paperback versions, form the distillery and on-line at our shop.

Ian Buxton - Courtesy of Scottish Field

Massandra Wines

The day after the book launch and I was on a long journey to the Crimea, which for those of you who don’t know, is part of Ukraine and is on The Black Sea. From Aberdeen it is not the easiest place to get to with flight changes at London and Kiev which meant a journey of around 15 hours.

At this time of year The Crimea is a beautiful place with stunning coastlines and dramatic hills and due to its southerly latitudes has one of the best climates in the world for growing grapes and making wines. Massandra is rightly famous for their fortified wines (although they cannot call them certain specific names which are protected in a similar way to Scotch) and for their dessert wines.

A winery has existed at Massandra since the mid 19th Century and in 1894 cellars were built, bored deep into the mountainside as seven 150-metre tunnels. The temperature is said to be a perfect 13-14 Centigrade, thus ensuring the wines are stored in perfect condition. The Massandra Collection was originally built by Prince Lev Sergeivich Golitzin, who was a collector of both Massandra wines, and the best wines from around the world. The collection was augmented in 1922 when Stalin ordered all wines found in the Tsar’s many palaces to be moved to the cellars. Some wines bear the Tsar’s seal.

Wine is still made by the Massandra Collective, established under the Soviets, where a number of member estates employ 5,000 people and farm 4,400 acres of vines. The bread and butter of Massandra is fortified wine, in a style similar to Port, and dessert wine made from Muscat, Tokay and Pinot Gris

I was given, what turned out to be the best wine tasting which I have ever attended, by the director of wine development and quality and who is a wonderful lady of 72 years young. 12 wines later and I was starting to appreciate the different qualities of these wines.

This has been my second visit to this winery, the first at the end of last December when the country like the rest of Europe was in the grip of the harshest winter for decades. This trip was much better and more enjoyable.

Massandra Winery

A Visit from Germany

Last week we had a visit from three of our German friends, the redoubtable Andrea Caminnecci with Karl Rudolf and Werner Obalski. A short but most enjoyable visit as it always is and especially when introducing people to Portsoy and the Moray Firth Coast. Too many people have never managed to come up to the coast because there was no distillery or other major attraction. Well there is now and although we don’t yet have our visitors centre we are always ready to welcome visitors.

The Spirit Drinks

How many people have had the opportunity to try new make spirit? Or even rarer spirit that has been 6 months in a cask or 12 months in a cask. All of them too young to be called whisky, more “work in progress”.

Well now you can and in 200ml bottles which makes it lighter on the pocket too.

Our extended Spirit Drink range is now available and for those of you in Edinburgh on 26^th August then you can come along to Bramble Bar in Queen Street (voted #24 cocktail bar in the world in a recent survey) between the hours of 2pm and 4pm and try a cocktail or two made from one these Spirit Drinks.

Peated Whisky

We are starting to mash again this week following our summer break and we are starting up with two weeks of using peated malt. This was very successful last year and we are considering extending the amount of peated spirit which we produce although this will depend upon feedback from customers.

I  am now about to have a few days holiday but the distillery will still be working as usual.

If you have any comments then please leave them below or email me directly.

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Stuart

Last year at this event we launched “The Spirit Drink that blushes to speak its name” and this year we will be selling pre-launch 200ml bottles of the extended Spirit Drink range including “Peated” and Fledgling XB” as well as “Clearac” and “Blushes” We will also be taking orders for the new book which will be here week commencing the 5^th July (after a couple of delays) and which can be ordered through the website.

Unfortunately we also had a production problem this week with our condenser supply water pipe bursting underneath the still-house floor. This will result in a new supply line being installed across the still-house tomorrow and as we have two washbacks fermenting then we need this urgently.

Today is also the first birthday of the first 17 octaves which we sold. These casks were sampled today  and the samples will be sent to the cask owners. As the owner of cask number 1 I can tell you that 12 months maturation has resulted in a very fine drink, light straw in colour; nose of grass, pears and some grapes;  very sweet taste with buttery notes and spices in the after taste. It is good now and will, I am sure, improve even more.

If you have any questions or comments on any of the above or anything else then please let me know.

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Stuart

The good weather has arrived at the distillery and as with it the promise of change and things a fresh.

We have moved our offices to slightly more spacious accommodation at the distillery and also one that provides a nicer and improved environment for working. We aim to develop the two older cottages which we had been using as offices for use as on-site accommodation.

Kyle Mackinnon has joined us a temporary member of the team for the summer and is already showing that he is a quick learner who can turn his hand to most things. The rate at which the grass is growing means that he spends a lot of time just keeping that down.

We have been sampling some casks which have been maturing for around a year and were so excited by them we shared them with some of our visitors who in turn thought that they were great so we decided therefore to release another spirit drink ( cannot call it the W word as it has not matured for the requisite 36 months). This new spirit drink is called “Glenglassaugh Spirit Drink – Fledgling XB” and is the result of maturing for 12 months in an ex first-fill bourbon barrel. If you like rich vanilla and buttery flavours then you will not be disappointed.

We are also ready to share our new-make spirit made from peated malted barley and are very sure that you will be very surprised and impressed by the result . The peat is not overwhelming on the nose but the smokiness in the taste just grabs you. Great drink in its own right and a sign of things to come. “Glenglassaugh Spirit Drink – Peated”

There are some changes to our existing spirit drinks and all 4 of these will be available in 200ml bottles shortly. We will send out more information on all of these products shortly.

We have also created a sloe berry liqueur which will be available only through our web site or by visiting the distillery. This sweet distinctive drink is just right for summer and will retail for £18.00 for a 500ml bottle and is produced at 26% abv, it will be available within a couple of weeks.

Our new triple pack of aged rare whiskies will also shortly be available and consists of 3 by 200ml bottles, one with our 26 year old release, one containing a 37 year old whisky and one with a 43 year old whisky which are packaged in a leather clad box and come complete with tasting notes. This will retail in the UK for £299.00 and will be available shortly.

That is all for the moment but we are working on other products and will update you as soon as they come to fruition.

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Stuart

Firstly we can let you all know that we will be bottling some of the peated new make spirit over the coming months and this will be available through our on-line retail shop initially and dependent upon demand we will make this available through our importers also.

Secondly we have decided that we will produce some more peated spirit at the end of June and at that stage we will fill both Octave Casks and 250 Club Casks. To give us an idea of how many people are interested in purchasing one or other of these types of casks could anyone who is interested please let me know by sending an email to casks@glenglassaugh.com

We are continuing to improve the website and we now have a list of UK stockist and a list of our International Distributors. These can be found under the section called “Our Products”

Over the coming weeks there will some further changes to the site and we will also be able to tell you about some future products which we are currently working on.

As always please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

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Stuart

We would appreciate any feedback that you have, even if you preferred the last site.

We have plans to improve the site further and I will keep you informed of progress as the changes are made.

Last week was a celebratory week for us as we did well at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition with the 21 year old winning a double gold medal and the 40 year old winning a gold medal.  Following the awarding of 94 points in Jim Murray’s 2010 Whisky Bible for the 21 year old it is pleasing to see that it is being acknowledged as an outstanding whisky in it’s own right and on a par with it’s two older siblings.

Back home in Scotland, on Thursday we won an award for export development for our success in expanding availability of the new range to 13 new markets and already this year we have added more markets to that list with plans for more.

And a couple of images from the new book.

Once again please feel free to leave your comments

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Stuart

Given Ronnie’s background one of the first areas that he is likely to be involved in is our online shop, www.glenglassaugh.co.uk where we are selling our current range of whisky and spirit products as well as a limited selection of branded material. We have reviewed the price of the celebratory twin 200 ml twin pack featuring the 30 year old and 40 year old award winning whiskies and there has been a significant reduction in them.

Over the next few months we hope to announce a number of changes to the packaging of the whiskies which will include changes to the age statement on all the whiskies to more accurately reflect the actual age of the product in the bottle. Further details of all of the changes will be announced in due course.

We will also be publishing a book detailing the history of Glenglassaugh and this will be available from the shop, where copies can be personally signed by Graham and/or myself if desired. We will shortly be publishing a high quality book covering the history of Glenglassaugh from its beginnings in 1875 up to the present day and its recent revival. The book will be in hard-back format and of extremely high quality and a landscape format which allows a complete re-print of an original specially commissioned article by celebrated Victorian whisky author, Alfred Barnard, to be included.

The retail price will be £19.99, excluding delivery, and the books should be available from the distillery after 14^th April. Alternatively there will be a paperback version available at £14.99 plus delivery.

If anyone wants to pre-order one of these books then this can be done via the on-line shop.

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Stuart

On-Line Shop

At long last the Glenglassaugh Internet Shop is open and ready for business. This is not the end of what has been a prolonged process but only the end of stage 1.

We have a limited quantity of products for sale which includes all of our whiskies as well as a special double 200ml pack of our IWSC trophy winning 30 and 40 year old whiskies, and at a very good discounted price and only available here. We also have our spirit drinks and a very limited range of merchandising. The next stage will be to offer more products including some more limited edition whiskies and expand the range of merchandising including rugby shirts and our book which will be available from April.

We also currently only supply to the UK and Europe but if anyone outside these countries wants to purchase anything then please contact us direct and we will try and satisfy your request.

All Octave owners should also remember that they are entitled to 10% discount on any bottled product that they purchase.

Finally the website is www.glenglassaugh.co.uk

Main Website

Over the next few days we will also be moving our main website to a new server and so on a temporary basis anyone trying to access the main site will end up at the shop. The main site will no longer be accessible and is currently being redesigned with easier navigation, more current information, better links to the blog and the shop and a new forum area where forum members can communicate with each other and us in an easy and open environment. I will keep you informed of progress on this.

This work and indeed the development of the online shop is being carried out by a local web designer, Neil Hedley, who has done a first class job. http://www.hedleyenterprises.co.uk/

Visitor Centre

We also have plans to have a small visitors centre at the distillery and we are currently in the process of awaiting planning approval from the local authority. It is unlikely that we will have the approval and conversion work completed before the end of this summer but we will be aiming to have it opened as soon as possible. As they say in the press – read all about it http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1623802?UserKey

Peter and Graeme

Many of you passed on your best wishes to Peter and Graeme following the car accident that they had on Tuesday (see my last blog) and I am now pleased to say that they are both out of hospital and recuperating at home. Hopefully Peter will be back at work on Monday but it may be a while longer before we see Graeme back. (To stop any confusion we are speaking about Graeme Morrison and not Graham Eunson, who many of you know)

That is all for now, but as always feel free to comment or email me direct

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Stuart

The Victoria whisky festival is of course well established and provided us with a great platform to showcase our products and discuss their merits with a very appreciative audience. In addition to the public session I had a master-class in the afternoon and on the previous evening had made a “guest” appearance at the Dewar Rattray session which was featuring a Glenglassaugh independent bottle.

 The distillery has not re-started production yet which is planned for this week and we will then work through until the end of June with a small break around Easter.

With no production we have taken the opportunity to start re-decorating one of the cottages on site with a view to providing accommodation for visitors. We are planning to start whisky schools which we know have proved popular at other distilleries and with access to Graham Eunson and myself as well as the rest of the team we feel that they may prove popular here too.

Plenty of other interesting things happening at the moment and which I will be able to provide more detail in due course. Firstly we are planning to convert our old office block into a small visitor centre and to introduce more frequent tours, especially during the summer months but much of this will depend on the length of time the application takes to proceed through the planning process with the local authority.

On the subject of local authority applications we have at long last had our off-sales licence granted and can now sell all of our products over the internet as well as at the distillery to visitors. There are some changes being made to our web site over the new few weeks and so the new on-line shop is not yet available however we can now accept telephone orders.

We hope to have some announcements over the next few weeks of confirmed new markets where our products will be available and also some additional events where either Graham or myself will be attending in the next few months.

Since returning home the weather has become milder in Scotland and although still cold and small falls of snow occurring it is not at the levels seen in previous weeks. So from a wintery but sunny Portsoy, cheers for now.

As always any and all questions and comments are welcome.

In deep discussion at the Victoria master class

A mixed bunch from the whisky industry.

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Stuart