Whisky Stramash: Strumming a second tune
The Whisky Stramash: Edinburgh's fanciful whisky weekend out.
Stewart Laing on his new co, de-mergers and the future
Stewart Laing with his sons Andrew and Scott, who will all head up Hunter Laing & Co.
Karen Walker
Karen Walker, Marketing Director of Scottish Brands at International Beverage.
Dominic Roskrow on whisky, life and new directions
Dominic Roskrow talks about life, whisky and why he's excited about moving forward.
Finding Speyside’s Spirit
The Spirit of Speyside whisky festival
Nikka Whisky Pop-Up Bar Competition
Nikka whisky will hold a pop-up at Smiths of Smithsfield. Find out how you can win tickets.
A bit of BBQWhiskyBeer
The Wargrave Arms in Marylebone, which hosts BBQWhiskyBeer
Alice Lascelles
Alice Lascelles, Times and Sunday Times spirits columnist and founding editor of Imbibe.
Valiant Dalmore
For many whisky companies, travel retail (or duty free for consumers) has become the place to release interesting and deliberately different bottlings.
In the past couple of months, there’s been the Highland Park Warriors and The Balvenie Triple Cask selections, to name just two.
Now, The Dalmore has launched its Valour in travel retail, following up from last year’s first editions of the Constellation Collection which was originally debuted exclusively at Heathrow Terminal 5.
This release has been named after the valiant efforts of one of the members of the Mackenzie clan (later, the owners of The Dalmore) who saved King Alexander III from a runaway stag. The family was granted a Royal 12-point stag for their coat of arms by the rather happy king, and that stag is what you’ll find on each bottle of The Dalmore.
Made from a blend of three cask finishes (namely: first fill ex-bourbon casks and 30 year old Matusalem oloroso sherry butts married together and finished in port pipes) the new whisky comes in at 40% ABV and costs £50.
I was sent a wee sample (found in that rather pretty box, above) and have had a chance to try it. Here’s what I thought:
The Dalmore Valour: 40% ABV: £50:
(C): Mahogany
(N): Buttery brown sugar, sticky cooked apples, cooked golden raisins and sticky toffee pudding to start – rich all around. There’s also something musty (in a good way) that makes me think of a fur coat, stored with oranges. With water, more of a nutmeg and orange blossom note emerge – it’s still rich but with a bit more lift.
(P): Starts out rounded and fruity (cooked fruits) then moves to a lovely burnt brioche note – it’s slightly [...]
Mischievous Loki Tells a Tale
I love a good story, a deep dark tale of good versus evil, of fighting factions wrapped up in Hamlet-esque dramas that pull one in and enrapture one’s mind.
Long the provenance of the stage, film and novels, I’m noticing more and more whisky companies playing on this angle.
My favourite of late? Highland Park’s Loki, the second release from its Valhalla collection and the follow-up to last year’s Thor.
The tale started when I received an undiscerning package in the post with a origami puzzle inside that I had to decode. When I unfolded the flat black hexagon, it read the following: “All is not as it seems.” Further rearrangement of the puzzle also revealed this: “A serpent stirs in the smoky shadows.” All photo evidence of this puzzle has disappeared from my phone. I can only imagine that gremlins related to this serpent came and ate it.
What it all meant, I was unsure. But, the intriguing part of the tale had begun.
A couple of weeks later, I received the answer in the form of an origami creature, who wrapped his wicked self around a sample bottle of the new Loki whisky.
While the puzzle was solved, there was still much to learn from the tale.
Basing itself on the Norse legends as Highland Park tends to (see this piece on their recent duty free releases, the Warriors) the company had decided to further use this dark history of the Norse Gods to make for an inviting whisky launch.
Legend goes that Loki was a shape shifting, tricky god of fire, full of mischievousness and dark ways. According to Highland Park, Loki has raised his head out of the gloom to take on his adopted brother Thor, who took [...]