|
|
Release Notes
For years Chieftain's was one of our most trusted and sought-after independent single malt labels, owned by the Ian MacLeod Company. We purchased casks directly from their warehouse outside of Edinburgh and some of our most legendary bottlings (Port Ellen, Brora, old Mortlach) have been from their incredible stocks. But a few years back the supply chain began to get a bit tight and the company decided to invest in production, purchasing the Tamdhu and Glengoyne distilleries respectively. We saw few Chieftain's selections after that point and had all but given up on the brand. Now, however, we're happy to announce the return of new single cask Chieftain's expressions, in dashing form no less. This PX sherry-finished wonder of a whisky should be a HUGE hit among fans of our legendary 22 year old cask of Mortlach we bought from Chieftain's years ago. This time around we have a standard 46% ABV and a sherry-finish rather than a full-termer, but don't let that hold you back. This malt has everything you love about Mortlach on full display. Rich layers of cakebread and toffee coat the palate, subtle sweetness and spice coat the finish, and the essence of all that goodness lingers long on the tongue after the whisky goes down. If we had been offered exclusivity on this cask, we would have taken it. Unfortunately, we'll have to share this one with the general American market. Grab it while it's here.
K&L
The Brand: Chieftain"s
| Silent since: False |
| Address: |
| → website |
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 |
| → website |
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: Mortlach
| Established: 1823 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Dufftown, Keith, Banffshire AB55 4AQ, UK |
2004 - The Mortlach 32yo 1971/2004 (50.1%, OB) is released.
The Mortlach distillery was the first distillery in Dufftown, pre-dating the next one (Glenfiddich) by over four decades. Mortlach was founded in 1823 by James Findlater, who was joined by Alexander Gordon and James Macintosh the next year. They acquired partial ownership.
Mortlach has one larch washbacks for every one of its six stills and a semi-lauter mash tun that was added in 1996. More than two decades earlier (in 1964) there was a refurbishment that was so considerable that it pretty much meant a that the whole distillery was rebuilt, at least on the inside. The exterior was the only part of Mortlach that remained largely intact at the time; although the pagoda roofs would have a strictly decorative function in the future.
Mortlach"s floor maltings remained operational until 1968. Larch worm-tubs on a platform outside the still house are still used to condense the spirit. New Lauter mashtuns were installed in 1996. The Mortlach distillery grounds feature five traditional "dunnage" warehouses that provide storage capacity for 21,000 casks.
In 1853 or 1854 part of Mortlach was taken over by George Cowie Senior, a railway company surveyor and (later) the mayor of Dufftown. When John Alexander Gordon passed away in 1867 he became the sole owner of the Mortlach. His son George Cowie Junior started work at the distillery in 1895, two years before the number of stills was expanded from three to six in 1897. This was an unusually large number of pot stills in those days - the expansion of the production capacity was probably inspired by the massive "whisky boom" of the time, which effectively meant that all the produced whisky could be sold.
When the extra stills were installed in 1897 the owners also added a railway siding that linked Mortlach with the Dufftown train station. One year later electric lights were added, as well as a hydraulic lift system in the warehouses that was used for lifting casks and other loads to the upper floors. This were the last modernisations of the distillery until 1923 when Alexander Cowie decided to sell Mortlach to John Walker & Sons - the company that became part of Distillers Company Limited (DCL; predecessors of Diageo) two years later in 1925. The configuration of the six stills at Mortlach is unusual - and probably unique in Scotland. The "partial triple distillation" that is used at the Mortlach distillery is a variation of the technique that is in use at Springbank and Benrinnes.
The initial owners didn"t manage to keep the distillery running for more than a decade; Mortlach was sold on to John Robertson in 1831 for the ridiculous amount of 270 GBP. This marked the start of a number of purchases by different (part) owners, including A. & T. Gregory, John Alexander Gordon and brothers James and John Grant. Mortlach was inactive for a few years (at least as far as the production of malt whisky is concerned) - the buildings were used as a brewery and as a church,
Just like the founder of Glenlivet (also constructed in 1823), the founders of Mortlach hoped to benefit from the new Excise Act. If they benefited at all it was only for a few years; Mortlach was sold on to new owners for a number of times and some of the buyers didn"t even intend to actually produce any whisky. For example, when John & James Grant of Glen Grant bought the distillert they removed the distilling equipment and left it silent - probably as a way to reduce competition. After Mortlach had been used as a brewery for a few years in was converted back into a distillery in 1852, using brand new equipment to produce a whisky with the name "The Real John Gordon" - a reference to the owner at the time.
In the New Millenium
2002 - For a long time the closest thing to an official bottling of Mortlach were the licensed bottlings by Gordon & Macphail. However, the Mortlach 19yo "Manager"s Dram" (55.8%, OB, Refill cask, 2002) marked a new beginning.
2009 - The Mortlach 1997/2009 "Managers" Choice" (57.1%, OB, C#6802, 240 Bts.) appears.
Trivia:
- In 1886 a distillery employee by the name of William Grant left Mortlach after almost twenty years. Apparently he had learned quite a bit about the fine art of distillation during that time; within a year after he had left Mortlach he built his own distillery; Glenfiddich.
- Mortlach malt whisky is an important component of the Johnnie Walker Black Label blend.
- The Mortlach distillery was built around a well that had been previously used for illicit whisky production.
from Malt Maniacs
The Owner: Diageo
| Established: 1997 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 8 Henrietta Place, London, W1G ONB, UK |
| → website |
Diageo also distributes Unicum, its lighter-bodied variant Zwack and Jose Cuervo tequila products in North America. However, Cuervo operates as a separate company in Mexico and is not owned by Diageo. Similarly Grand Marnier is distributed by Diageo in many markets, including exclusively in Canada, and a deal was reached in 2009 to significantly expand this partnership in Europe.
Furthermore, Diageo owns the Gleneagles Hotel.
Diageo was formed in 1997 from the merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc. The creation was driven by the two executives Anthony Greener and Philip Yea at Guinness plus George Bull and John McGrath of Grand Metropolitan. The product portfolios of Guinness and Grand Met were largely complementary with little overlap.
Diageo is the world"s biggest whisky producer with 28 malt distilleries and two grain distilleries.The company operates the Scotch whisky distilleries of Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol (situated at Pitlochry), Caol Ila, Cardhu, Knockando, Glen Elgin, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker, Teaninich, Mannochmore, Mortlach and Glenlossie, which are sold not only under their own name but used to make the various blended scotch whiskies sold by the company, and owns the stock of many closed distilleries such as Port Ellen, Rosebank, Brora, Convalmore, Glen Albyn, North Brechin, Banff, and Linlithgow. The company have opened a new malt distillery adjacent to their maltings at Roseisle (1st new make spirit produced Spring 2009). This will be one of the largest malt distilleries in Scotland. The new building contains 14 traditional copper pot stills. An expansion programme is also underway at its Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife that will make it the largest grain distillery in Scotland. Diageo also owns the Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow, and jointly operates the North British Grain Distillery in Gorgie, Edinburgh, with The Edrington Group.
Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO) is the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has American Depositary Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The word Diageo was formed from the Latin dia (day) and the Greek geo (World), symbolising the use of the company"s brands every day, everywhere. Its head office is located in the City of Westminster in London. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Trivia:
- In December 2003, Diageo provoked controversy over its decision to change its Cardhu brand Scotch whisky from a single malt to a vatted malt (also known as a pure malt) whilst retaining the original name and bottle style. Diageo took this action because it did not have sufficient reserves to meet demand in the Spanish market, where Cardhu had been successful. After a meeting of producers, Diageo agreed to make changes.
- In 2006, the Cardhu brand quietly changed back to being a single malt.
- In July 2009, Diageo announced that, after nearly 200 years of association with the town of Kilmarnock, they would be closing the Johnnie Walker blending and bottling plant as part of restructuring to the business. This would make 700 workers unemployed and caused outrage from press, local people and politicians. A campaign against this decision was launched by the local SNP MSP Willie Coffey and Labour MP Des Browne. A petition was drawn up against the Diageo plans, which also involves the closure of the historic Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow.
- In February 2009 it was reported in the Guardian that the company had restructured itself so as to avoid paying tax in the U.K., despite much of its profits being generated in the U.K.
- Diageo is engaged in a tax scheme in the United States of America, commonly referred to as the "Rum Bailout", which will guarantee it USD$3 billion in revenues and profits.
- The National Puerto Rican Coalitionplans to run a series of ads in New York City and Puerto Rico urging a boycott of Diageo-owned alcoholic drinks to protest the giant British-owned corporation"s controversial production move of its Captain Morgan rum from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
from Wikipedia