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Release Notes
A Chieftain's independent bottling of a Strathisla single malt. From Hogshead cask #20798, one of 366 bottles.
Yours Truly
The Brand: Chieftain"s
| Silent since: False |
| Address: |
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Chieftain"s is bottled at natural colour and unchill-filtered to preserve all the natural esthers of the whisky for fuller flavour and smoother taste.
Each Chieftain"s bottling has its own personality and may vary in strength, colour and style. From the very pale, bourbon cask matured to the very amber sherry cask matured
The new, elegant antique bottle is reminiscent of a 1900 whisky bottle. It is decorated with a new style label design complete with new branding, calligraphy and watermark illustrations of Scotland, representative of the 5 different whisky producing regions. Each region is colour coded to signify the differences in the style of each whisky
The new more individual rigid presentation gift box, surrounding the antique bottle, in ribbed and matt black with gold lining, is a true reflection of the quality of the whisky, and with its folding back head beautifully presents the product. On the rear of the box you will find a label describing the various styles of whiskies you can get from the different regions of Scotland, all of which are represented in the Chieftain"s range
The new look Limited Edition Chieftain"s will appeal to the specialist, connoisseur, collector, enthusiast and those seeking an exceptional premium malt whisky gift. Each bottle is signed by our Chieftain"s Rare Malt Manager, and provides details of the wood type, cask number, number of bottles, vintage year, age and bottling date
The small batch releases of Chieftain"s are selected for the Spring and Autumn collections each year with a variety of distilleries, vintages, wood maturations and strengths being made available
Since 1936, Ian Macleod Distillers, through its dedication to tradition and quality, has amassed an unrivalled cask stock from Scotland"s many distilleries. This enviable collection includes extremely rare malts, some from closed or mothballed distilleries. The Chieftain"s collection hallmark is that each bottling must be fit for a King, a Leader or in the Celtic world, a Chieftain
When finishing the whisky in a variety of wood, each cask is checked and selected by our expert noses and released only when we believe it has reached its peak and has not masked the personality of the original spirit
from IanMacleod.com
The Bottler: Ian Macleod Distillers
| Established: 1936 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Russell House, Dunnet Way, Broxburn, Scotland EH52 5BU, UK |
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As well as the above brands which were acquired, Ian Macleod Distillers has developed a number of other brands including: Chieftain"s, Dun Bheagan, Smokehead, The Six Isles, Macleod"s Regional Malts and Magilligan.
Ian Macleod & Co changed its name to its current name, Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd following the acquisition of Glengoyne Distillery and the Langs brands in April of 2003.
Ian Macleod Distillers acquired Isle of Skye blended scotch whisky in 1963, King Robert range of spirits in 1968, London Hill Gin in 1990, Wincarnis Tonic Wine and Hedges & Butler scotch whiskies in 1998, Watson"s Demerara and Watson"s Trawler rums in 2000 and finally Glengoyne Distillery and the Langs brands in 2003.
Ian Macleod & Company Ltd was established in October 1933. Leonard Russell Snr owned his own whisky broking company in 1936. He died in 1956. Ian Macleod & Co was acquired by the Russell family in March of 1963. Peter Russell was Managing Director.
David Russell, Peter"s younger brother joined the company in 1963 and became a Director, retiring in 2000. He Acquired the company and label called William Maxwell. Leonard Russell, Peter"s son, joined the company in 1989 as Business Development Manager, and was appointed Marketing Director in January 1993.
The company Ian MacLeod was founded in 1936 by Leonard J. Russel. Their output exceeds ten million bottles of whiskies each year, which makes them one of the bigger players in the field. Their brands include Chieftain"s (in the past it was marketed under the full name "Chieftain"s Choice), the Shieldaig Collection, Hedges & Butler, MacLeod"s, Dun Bheagan, As We Get It, Dunfife, Glenshire, King Robert II, Smokehead, Isle of Skye and Langs. Apart from a sizeable collection of casks (Ian MacLeod supposedly owns more than 20,000 casks of maturing whisky from many different distilleries) Ian MacLeod obtained their own distillery a few years ago; Glengoyne. Since they acquired Glengoyne in 2003, the quality of the distillery"s output has improved significantly. However, it remains to be seen whether or not they released most of their best whiskies in the first few years to establish their brand, just like Douglas Laing and Bruichladdich have done when they initially emerged on the malt market. Ian MacLeod also owns a large bottling plant at Broxburn where they bottle other spirits like gin, vodka and rum.
from Malt Madness, IanMacleod.com
The Distillery: Strathisla
| Established: 1786 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Seafield Ave, Keith, Banffshire AB55 5BS, UK |
A few distilleries toy with the claim they are the oldest distillery in Scotland, and it"s often wise to regard such claims with a fair dose of scepticism. For example, Balblair distillery claims it was founded in 1790, but the oldest distillery buildings are from the 1870"s - so that"s comparable with the situation of Strathisla. Blair Athol was founded in 1798 but was closed for parts of its history. Bowmore was founded in 1779 and their credentials seem quite solid. So, it"s probably wise that Strathisla doesn"t claim to be the oldest distillery in Scotland, just in the Highlands - see the red print on the label of a Strathisla 1967 from Gordon & MacPhail at the left.
A number of people claim that Strathisla is the oldest continuously operating distillery in Scotland. It was founded in 1786 by George Taylor and Alexander Milne under the name Milltown distillery. The name was first changed to Strathisla in 1870, then to Milton in 1890 and finally to Strathisla distillery again in 1951.
In 1965 the number of stills at Strathisla was doubled from two to four. These new stills were steam heated from the start, but the two old stills weren"t converted until 1992. The other equipment includes a stainless steel (semi lauter) mash tun and ten Oregon Pine washbacks.
The spirit isn"t filled into casks at the Strathisla distillery itself - instead, it is transported to the nearby Glen Keith distillery via pipes to be casked there. Most of the casks are stored elsewhere, but a handful of them are transported back to the Strathisla distillery to mature on site. For this purpose, the distillery still includes two warehouses; one traditional "dunnage" warehouse and a modern "racked" variety. The rest of the casks are stored in one of the three bonded warehouses of Chivas Brothers - one of them located in Keith.
James Barclay from Chivas was interested in buying the Milton distillery and had already approached George Pomeroy about a possible sale in 1948. However, George demanded an insane amount of money in exchange for the distillery, so James had ceased negotiations. Fate intervened on behalf of Chivas though; in 1949 George Pomeroy was convicted of tax evasion and the Milton distillery went bankrupt the same year. In April 1950 the distillery was auctioned off in Aberdeen and Chivas was able to obtain it for 71,000 GBP.
Chivas Brothers (part of Seagram"s at the time) started a renovation of the run-down equipment right after they obtained the malt whisky distillery and changed the official name of the distillery to Strathisla in 1951. They didn"t pull the new name from their high hat; Strathisla used to be the name of the malt whisky that was produced at the Milto(w)n distillery in the 1800"s. After the purchase of the distillery, the Strathisla malt whisky quickly became an important component of various Chivas Regal blends. In fact, it"s such an important component that Strathisla is hardly promoted as a single malt whisky.
In 1825 Strathisla was obtained by MacDonald Ingram & Co. They didn"t hang on to the distillery for more than 5 years though; in 1830 Miltown distillery was acquired by William Longmore. After they changed the name to Strathisla in 1870 the distillery suffered from two devastating fires; in 1876 and in 1879. The second fire was caused by a dust explosion in the malt mill.
The distillery was quickly rebuilt, this time with its own bottling plant. In 1880 William Longmore retired; his son-in-law John Geddes-Brown took control of the distillery and the company William Longmore & Co. was formed. Ten years later, in 1890, the name of the distillery was changed to Milton (referring to the nearby Milton Castle). This change marked the start of five quiet decades. The majority of the stock in Strathisla distillery (still known as Milton distillery at the time) was bought in 1940 by the fraudulent investor George Pomeroy from London. He was involved with some shady business involving operatic productions before he entered the whisky world. Due to one case of the aforementioned "shady business" the distillery changed hands again a little later.
The town of Keith is quite significant in the whisky world; apart from three malt whisky distilleries (Strathisla, Strathmill and Glen Keith) it"s the location of one of Chivas" massive warehouses. Since two of the distilleries are owned by Chivas as well (Strathmill is owned by Diageo), Keith is clearly a Chivas Brothers company town - quite a few townsfolk work for Chivas.
Many touristic sources claim that the picturesque distillery buildings are from the late 1700"s (when Strathisla distillery was founded), but most buildings are actually from the late 1870"s when the distillery was rebuilt almost completely after two devastating fires. We have to thank Chivas Brothers for the fairly pristine conditions of the buildings today; when they took over the distillery in 1950 they renovated the old buildings that were in a fairly deplorable state. Nowadays many people consider Strathisla as the most beautiful distillery in Scotland.
In the New Millenium
2001 - Drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard gains control of the distillery through their acquisition of Chivas Brothers (who bought the Strathisla distillery five decades earlier). When Chivas Brothers bought Strathisla in 1950 they had themselves recently been acquired by the Canadian drinks giant Seagram"s.
2004 - A 12 years old official bottling of Strathisla is released by Pernod Ricard, along with a 15yo OB; a cask strength expression with a batch number which was possibly inspired by the Aberlour A"bunadh. Oddly enough, there have been very little 100% official bottlings during the 1980"s and 1990"s. However, Gordon & MacPhail have released vast number of semi-official bottlings - more than all other independent bottlers combined. Their "licensed" bottlings with age statements have been 8yo, 15yo, 21yo, 25yo, 30yo, 35yo and even 40yo in the past. It"s safe to say that Gordon & MacPhail must have massive stocks of Strathisla lying around in their warehouses.
Trivia:
- In 1786 George Taylor and Alexander Milne leased the land for the distillery from the Earl of Seafield.
- The availability of Strathisla as a single malt is limited because most of the malt whisky that is produced at the distillery is used in the various Chivas Regal blends - including their famous "Royal Salute". The visitor centre is called "The Home and Heart of Chivas Regal".
- The name Strathisla is Gaelic and refers to the Isla river that flows alongside the distillery; the word "Strath" means something like "shallow valley".
- At the "Edinburgh International" in 1886 Strathisla received an Honourable Mention for Old Highland Malt Whisky.
- According to the Malt Whisky Yearbook, the name Craigduff was used for a highly peated version of Strathisla that was first distilled in 1970. Confusingly enough, the same name has also been used for a "bastard malt" from Signatory Vintage which was alledgedly produced at the nearby Glen Keith distillery.... It"s difficult to find out the details because the production processes of both neighbouring distilleries are closely intertwined.
from Malt Maniacs
The Owner: Chivas Brothers
| Established: 1801 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Strathisla Distillery, Seafield Avenue, Keith, Banffshire, AB55 5BS, United Kingdom |
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Chivas Regal is a blended Scotch whisky produced by Chivas Brothers, owned by Pernod Ricard. According to the brand packaging, Chivas Brothers was first established in 1801 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Chivas brand"s home is Strathisla Distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland. It is the market leading Scotch whisky aged 12 years and above in Europe and Asia Pacific. Chivas Regal sales have grown by 61% between 2002 and 2008.
In the early 1900s, Chivas Brothers decided to create their most aged blended Scotch whisky to export to the U.S, where the booming economy after the turn of the century was fueling demand for luxury goods. The whisky was named Chivas Regal.
Chivas Regal 25 Year Old was launched in 1909 as the original luxury Scotch, and became a leading brand in the U.S. Chivas Regal continued its success until prohibition in the 1920s.
In 1843, Chivas Brothers were granted a Royal Warrant to supply goods to Queen Victoria. Chivas Brothers was described in 1890 as "undoubtedly the finest purveying business in the north of Scotland" by "Scotland of Today" magazine.
During the 1850s, James Chivas decided to respond to his affluent customers" demands for a smoother whisky, by beginning to blend whiskies to create a proprietary blend to Chivas Brothers. Their first blended Scotch whisky named "Royal Glen Dee" was launched, followed in the 1860s by their second blended Scotch whisky, "Royal Strathythan".
The House of Schivas, a large mansion, was built at Schivas in Aberdeenshire in 1640. The name is derived from the Gaelic "seamhas", meaning narrow place.
Chivas Brothers traces its roots to the opening of a grocery store at 13 King St, Aberdeen in 1801. The store sold luxury foodstuffs such as coffee, exotic spices, French brandies, and Caribbean rums to a wealthy clientele. In 1842, Chivas Brothers were retained to supply provisions to the royal family at Balmoral Castle upon Queen Victoria"s first visit to Scotland.
Chivas Regal was purchased by Seagrams in 1949, which provided a much wider distribution and marketing system.
Chivas Regal was re-launched as Chivas Regal 12 year old in the US following the disruption of both Prohibition and World War II. Chivas became a fashionable brand of the era, and became associated with Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack. Chivas Regal was the Scotch whisky requested by Sinatra, along with other spirits brands backstage at performances, and Chivas sponsored Frank Sinatra"s Diamond Jubilee Tour in 1990.
The Strathisla distillery is owned by Chivas Brothers, and Strathisla Single Malt is one of the malt whiskies used within the Chivas Regal blend.
Strathisla Single Malts have a natural sweetness and help to define the taste of Chivas Regal.
In 1950, the company Chivas Brothers was able to buy the Strathisla Distillery which produces the Strathisla Single Malt, which is used within the Chivas Regal blend.
The Chivas Regal range was expanded with the launch of higher aged whiskies, in 1997 with the launch of Chivas Regal 18 year old, and in 2007 with the launch of Chivas Regal 25.
Chivas Regal was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2000 upon the break up of Seagrams Group.
The home of Chivas Regal and location of its visitor centre is located at the Strathisla distillery. The distillery was founded in 1786, and is the oldest working distillery in the Highlands of Scotland - Strathisla Distillery, located in Speyside.
from Wikipedia
The Owner: Pernod Ricard
| Established: 1975 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 12, place des Etats-Unis, 75783 Paris Cedex-16, France |
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HELLO WORLD!!! Pernod Ricard owns a wide variety of brands including: Chivas Regal, Glenlivet, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Seagram"s, Pernod absinthe, Absolut, Ricard pastis, Martell cognac, Jaconb"s Creek wine, pernod anise, Havana Club rum, Ballantine"s scotch, Kahlue, Malibu rum, Beefeater gun, Stolichnaya vodka, Mumm champagne and more.
Pernod Ricard came into existence when old rivals Pernod and Ricard merged to form Pernod Ricard S.A.. Ricard was founded 1932 in Marseille by Paul Ricard. Pernod started with Henri-Louis Pernod who opened his first absinthe distillery in Switzerland in 1797, followed by Maison Pernod Fils in Pontarlier. In 1926 these distilleries merged with Distillerie Hernard in Paris to form Les Etablissements Pernod.
After the 1975 merger that formed the current company a series of buy-ins and takeovers began that continues until this day. In 1988 PR acquired Irish Distillers which includes Jameson Irish Whiskeys, in 1989 PR acquired Orlando Wyndham (makers of Jacob"s Creek wine), in 2001 PR purchased 38% of Seagram"s Wines and Spirits, in 2005 PR purchased Allied Domecq and in 2008 PR bought V&S Group which includes the Absolut Vodka brand.
Reborn from the Pernod Fils company as a producer of anise liqueur following the ban on absinthe, it is now a worldwide conglomerate. It owns the alcoholic beverage division of the former Seagram corporation, among many other holdings. In 2005, the company acquired British-based international competitor Allied Domecq plc.
In 2008, Pernod Ricard announced the acquisition of Swedish-based V&S Group including Absolut Vodka.
Pernod Ricard (Euronext: RI) is a French company that produces alcoholic beverages. The company"s most famous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise liqueurs, and often referred to as simply Pernod or Ricard. The company also produces several other types of pastis.
from Wikipedia