NEW SINGLE CASK SELECTION FROM THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

 

SMWS Single Cask Spirits, Cognac Selection of Single Casks

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) more known for their scotch whisky selection and single cask scotch whiskies is now introducing a few Single Cask Cognacs. This is not the first time as they had one Single Cask Cognac in late 2015.

In addition, they are working with Michelle Brachet who has recently joined the world of cognac after working on a documentary assignment about cognac in 2014 which got her started thinking about cognac, and her interests grew further since.

SMWS is rather influential in the scotch whisky category. Let's hope that their venture in creating other single cask selections and in particular cognac will get whisky drinkers to become interested in cognac.

Source:  TheDrinksReport.com

THE DALMORE NEW 50 YO SCOTCH WHISKY FINISHED IN CHAMPAGNE CASKS

Whyte & Mackay (part of the Group Emperador, largest brandy producer) brand The Dalmore is marking master distiller, Richard Paterson's, 50 years in the whisky industry by releasing a 50 year old single malt, finished in Domaine Henri Giraud champagne casks.

cognacdailynews-thedalmore-50-champagne

This is not the first 50 years old scotch whisky for The Dalmore. Perhaps, the 3rd I would say.

The Dalmore 50 year old has been crafted in partnership with four other luxury houses:

1) Domaine Henri Giraud: cask finished from craft champagne producer.
2) Baccarat: glass bottle maker.
3) Linley: packaging maker.
4) Hamilton & Inches: silvering.

The artisans at French crystal house Baccarat have created crystal decanters, each of which will be held within a presentation case designed and crafted by the accomplished furniture makers at Linley.

With up to 50 decanters released, hand-filled on order, The Dalmore 50 has been matured in American white oak, Matusalem oloroso sherry casks from the world renowned Gonzalez Byass Bodega and port Colheita pipes from the Douro region of Portugal, before undertaking a final finesse for 50 days in champagne casks from Domaine Henri Giraud.

Each decanter will be adorned with a solid silver stag, created by silversmiths Hamilton & Inches, holder of The Royal Warrant.
Richard Paterson, master distiller at The Dalmore says: “This is a special year for me so I chose to finesse this whisky in a champagne cask, as this magnificent drink is synonymous with celebratory occasions.

The 5 steps of The Dalmore 50 Year Old:

1) 1966: The Dalmore new make spirit began its journey in American white oak ex bourbon casks

2) 2003: The maturing whisky is transferred to Matusalem oloroso sherry casks

3) 2012: The whisky is transferred to port Colheita pipes

4) 2016: In January of this year, the spirit was transferred to bourbon barrels as it reached its desired taste profile, prior to finessing.

5) November 2016: The whisky was finessed in Domaine Henri Giraud Champagne casks for 50 days before bottling.

Source: The Drinks Report

NEW WORLD EXPLORERS: JOHNNY WALKER AND GREY GOOSE

Johnny Walker and Grey Goose are both getting adventurous, joining the long legacy of Rasmussen or Magellan.

Explorer, Discovery, Grey Goose, and Johnny Walker

Grey Goose which is made in Cognac, has just signed a partnership agreement with Virgin Galactic to shoot the first commercial while traveling out of space using Virgin Atlantic out of space travel facility. Planned to launch in 2015, the Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflight, owned by Branson’s Virgin Group, has already accepted US$80 million in deposits from prospective “space tourists”.

Johnny Walker (Diageo) through a complicated trademark law suit against the Explorers Club has decided to settle. Even better Diageo and The Explorers Club have now announced a global sponsorship and licensing agreement to settle all outstanding litigation between the two companies.

Under the agreement, Johnnie Walker has become a corporate sponsor of The Explorers Club. This sponsoring will allow The Explorers Club to fund more educational programs and world education.

WHAT SHOULD BE COGNAC NIGHT?

The Liquor.com website caught my attention today as they mentioned that: "Irish whisky drinkers have St. Patrick’s Day and bourbon drinkers have the Kentucky Derby, but what do Scotch drinkers have? Burns Night. The holiday, which is tonight, celebrates the birth of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, back in 1759. Honor the man by trying one of these new single malts."

When I lived in Scotland I was lucky enough to acquire a book published in the mid-1800s from Robert Burns and signed in the 1990s by a descendant of Burns. So I know exactly what they are talking about.

Robert Burns and Scotch

Then, I thought what would be cognac day? Or rather cognac night?

Cognac has the blues festival. Or they have the cognac festival. But these are really more local events and public festivals. They have the Summit and la Part des Anges ... but these are more industry events and celebrations.

So the equivalent of Robert Burns in Cognac might be Odette Comandon who was a popular actress and story teller from the 50s to the 80s, and become director of the Académie de Saintonge. She exemplify, the Cognac  and regional identity as she was a perfect speaker of the local language called 'patois saintongeais', that is the local dialects.

Or is it Francois Mitterrand, enigmatic President of France from 1981 to 1995. I think this personality might be too politically loaded and therefore not so universal.

Perhaps, Francois 1er (1494 – 1547), born in the city of Cognac and King of France (1515-1547). I think he is a significant person in the history of cognac, but perhaps Francois 1er is too emblematic of the history of the city of Cognac, and cognac cannot be summarized by something to do with the city of Cognac only. In other words, perhaps Francois 1er is not inclusive enough.

What about Bastille Day? Really, it is too generic.

Should cognac night be in winter?

Most people think cognac is a winter drink. This is wrong. Try this. Ginger ale, ice cubes and a little drop of VS cognac and voila, the ultimate summer quencher. So cognac night would not have to be in winter.

If anybody has any suggestions please just comment as I am out of ideas.

Source: Liquor.com

Source Photo: Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and Wikipedia Commons