Taste The Difference?

http://distillerytasting.co.uk

I am currently running around like mad trying to ensure that a tasting happens at the Glenfiddich Distillery next week. Tastings happen every day at the Glenfiddich Distillery I hear you cry, so why the big deal? The minor difference with this one is that it will be broadcast live over the internet. A collection of Glenfiddich, The Balvenie and Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference malts is the prize awaiting the tasting panel.

On Thursday 24^th November, 7 days and 8 hours away at the time of writing, I will be responsible for the delivery of 5 people tasting 8 malts each for a one hour broadcast. They will taste and discuss all 8 single malts and somehow keep to within an hour – come on, we all know what whisky people are like when it comes to timekeeping. In order to actually have a broadcast there are several key challenges....

People – who to choose and how to make sure they are all in place. To make up the panel I have invited Richard Berry, a malt enthusiast but very much a highly knowledgeable amateur; Steve Smith, the malt buyer at Sainsbury’s; Jamie Milne from Glenfiddich; The Balvenie’s Global Ambassador Sam Simmons and to chair the event and keep them all in line, Eddie Ludlow, founder of The Whisky Lounge. Flights are booked, transfers in place and they all even have a hotel room so, fingers crossed, the people box is ticked.

Location – It is great that Glenfiddich have been so kind as to host us for our Distillery Tasting but even this has not been without a few struggles. Glenfiddich is a major tourist attraction and now that the season is over the preferred location within the distillery is subject to a little renovation work. Eventually we have found the right spot in the distillery and fantastic it is. Overlay on this the location of the distillery itself – up in the Scottish highlands and rather rural – then you end up with a few issues over actually getting the broadcast signal out of the area. Roll up the satellite truck and now we have a solution.

The Web – for me, this has been the first time I have had a web page created. Safe to say it is a harder, longer and more detailed process than I had imagined. Through several incarnations and many re-writes and edits I now have a fully functioning page – http://distillerytasting.co.uk

So as I get into the last week before broadcast it seems most of the major elements are in place. My people, location and web page are done so the last step will be to actually deliver an hour of live television.

If you want to see how I get on tune in to http://distillerytasting.co.uk on Thursday 24^th November at 7PM GMT. See you there.  

One man's creation - The Balvenie Forty

When a distillery releases significantly aged stocks, let’s say 30 years plus, it is generally safe to say it has been a team effort of Malt Masters. Over the 30+ years it is almost certain that at least 1 Malt Master has been and gone, perhaps more. Therefore the new make spirit that was layed down in casks by one man (or woman) is being married and bottled by another.

This is where David Stewart's achievement at The Balvenie really comes into its own. With very nearly 50 years service (this amazingly does not make him the longest serving member of the team at The Balvenie) it was David himself that layed down the new make in the early Seventies that was released this week as The Balvenie Forty.

David Stewart is the longest serving Malt Master in the industry and has picked up a thing or two in his time at the helm of The Balvenie as well as previously Glenfiddich. This experience has led to some incredible releases over the years and The Balvenie Forty is due to follow in this line.

I have not had a chance to sample as yet (come back in two weeks and I should have the experience for you) so I will leave it up to David Stewart himself to share his tasting notes –

The aroma of The Balvenie Forty is deep and rich, with fragrant floral notes, underpinned by sweet vanilla oak, fresh fruit and hints of raisin, sultana and spice.  Its taste is a lusciously creamy complexity of sweet vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and oak, combined with a mouth-watering sensation of butter toffee and delicious sherried richness.

So there it is, £2500 well spent. If you have the urge then Travel Retail and Harrods et al are the places to spend your hard earned pennies.