Category Archives: Master of Malt

This just in from Master of Malt – The Blogger’s Blends are up for sale and you get to vote!

Below is an email I received from Master of Malt regarding their new Blogger’s Blend whisky.  Being that The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society is a part of this great adventure, I thought I’d pass it on to you.  You get to choose the best blend out of 10 – Unlike the US Presidential elections of 2000 – Your vote counts!

What you need to know is below:

The Bloggers’ Blend – Your Vote Counts!

Highland Park 40 NewFor a long while now, we at MoM towers have been thinking that one of the biggest and most valuable resources in the industry is the blogosphere… There are a huge number of incredible whisky blogs out there, run by experts with a huge depth of knowledge about the subject of whisky. 

With this in mind, about a month ago we asked 10 of the most prominent whisky bloggers out there to assist us in the creation of our next whisky. We sent them all highly technical blending kits involving loads of cool scientific bits and bobs, and some superb whiskies, and asked each blogger to create their own blend using the ingredients provided, then send us their recipe. We then followed their recipes, made up their blends and put together the sample sets you now see below.

Now, we can only pick one of the recipes to use as our next whisky, and here’s where you come in… We want you to pick which of the 10 blends we bottle.

Highland Park 40 How to Take Part 

All you have to do to take part in this, the world’s first blend created solely by whisky bloggers, is buy a tasting set with all 10 of the bloggers’ recipes for £29.95, and decide which is your favourite.

The kit contains a unique code to enter into the website to enable you to cast your vote, as well as details on how to vote once you’ve tasted the samples.

Bloggers’ Blend Tasting Set for £29.95.

Buy Now

You can read more about the Bloggers’ Blend on the Master of Malt blog.

The Bloggers…

caskstrength 

Caskstrength is one of the best respected blogs on the web. Penned by former rival A&R men Neil and Joel, erudite discussion and commentary abound here, with more than a hint of ‘chappishness’.

Dr. Whisky

Penned by Sam Simmons (AKA Dr. Whisky), global brand ambassador for The Balvenie. Dr. Whisky’s blog is pleasingly irreverent, combining industry opinion with some of the best tasting notes we’ve ever read.

Edinburgh Whisky Blog

Founded in 2009 by Chris and Lucas, (then) students at Edinburgh university, and all-round whisky enthusiasts. Both of them now work in the whisky industry, thanks in no small part to the incisive and instinctive writing style on the blog.

Guid Scotch Drink

Written by Scottish ex-Pat Jason Johnstone-Yellin (now residing in the USA), Guid scotch Drink is a healthy mix of reviews, advice and some truly epic distillery tours. Guid Scotch Drink also offer distillery tours and lectures…

Founded in 2009, The JSMWS blog is packed full of irreverent humour, and supremely detailed tasting notes (delivered with images for each of the most prominent flavours – a superb idea). A must-read blog for everyone…

WhiskyCast 

The longest-running whisky podcast on the Internet, with weekly episodes featuring whisky news and interviews with distillers, blenders, authors, and other whisky experts. A true heavyweight of whisky journalism.

Whisky Connosr

Billed as ‘the Whisky Social Network’, Connosr also has a blog offering industry insight, and some superb competitions for users. The blend was provided by a panel of Connosr’s most prolific users.

Whisky Mag

Published 8 times a year, Whisky Magazine is the perfect complement to the dram in your glass. Every issue brings you fascinating articles on the art, science and romance of the ‘water of life’.

WhiskyWhiskyWhisky

One of the most active whisky forums on the web, WhiskyWhiskyWhisky boasts over 1,000 members, discussing an incredibly broad range of topics across the wonderful world of Whisky.

Whisky for Everyone

Husband and Wife team Matt and Karen co-write this superb blog which offers in-depth opinion, tasting notes and distillery information. The site is also host to excellent buying guides and FAQ’s about whisky.

You can read more about the Bloggers’ Blend on The Master of Malt blog.

Single Cask, 30yo Caol Ila bottled by Master of Malt

Islay region – Master of Malt Exclusive Single Cask bottling limited to 154 bottles – 57.4%ABV – £99 | €111

Yay!  The whole “get a free sample of whisky using the JSMWS sample code at the Master of Malt website during checkout” works (details on that program can be found here).  I’m not here to push Master of Malt right now, not really.  I’m just reviewing one of their whiskies and letting you know how I ended up getting a sample of their new Caol Ila single cask whisky.

I am a patron of Master of Malt as well as Royal Mile Whiskies, The Whisky Exchange, SCOMA, Shoppers Vineyard, Abbey Whisky and many, many others… not trying to show favoritism here… I shop them all.  My whisky purchasing business gets spread all around as I want to help keep all of these stores up and running.

So, to continue with my story…

While spidering the MoM website, I uncovered some great deals so I took my own advise and used the “JSMWS sample” code in the shipping instructions during my last purchase to Master of Malt.  Lo and behold, what did I find in the box along side some Hanyu, Aberlour and Arran I bought?  A fun little 3ml sample of this 30yo Caol Ila single cask, that’s what!

So, it all worked out in the end.  I got some fancy whisky bottles and a shiny, bandy-new sample of Caol Ila.  Lucky for me because this is a well chosen cask of whisky!

On the nose More smoky than expected with this one being as old as it is… perhaps it’s the pepper attack that grabs my nose’s attention which is then followed by a smoke burst that makes it seem more smokey than it actually is.

Let’s give this another go.  Incredibly fruity – sugared tropical fruits.

Vanilla creams and lemon pepper.

Tobacco and fig ice cream (topped with fresh figs) – hungry yet??

On the mouth Soft – bloody f&%king soft entry (!!) and filled with salted sugary goodness.

Aged rum – this actually reminds me of some aged cask strength rums I’ve had.

Nowhere near as smoky as the nose suggested.

Smoked salt on pineapple (fried pineapple).

Peach Melba.  Fabulous.

Herbed incense.  Hot now, salty too.

Finish Long, longer, silken and warm with peaches.

In sum A luxurious Single Cask of Caol Ila.  Wonderfully composed, balanced and just a damn, damn tasty dram!  Powerful yet soft and elegant.  An any occasion dram – perhaps a dram to enjoy ASAP!  Before it sells out!

Unpacking the whisky and tools to make the BEST (hopefully) Master of Malt blend!

I was so excited to receive and open my box of blending tools and whiskies from Master of Malt, I had to make a video.

I’d, of course, like to thank G-d but would like to also give special thanks to Master of Malt, my wife, our crappy little point & shoot, iMovie, our compost bin and our kids pictures (both of which can be seen in the background of the video) for making this possible.

I hope after this my video will be considered for a “Drammy”!

Master of Malt creates a whisky liqueur for single malt connoisseurs

I don’t post many PR pieces (not because I don’t want to; I usually don’t have the time.  I’ll figure it out one of these days…).

This one tickled my fancy for sure.  I’m not a liqueur kind of guy but the description sound very nice – especially if it is what they say it is!!  I’ll have a review going up on this in a few weeks.  To me, it sounds ridiculously delicious.

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Whisky Liqueur for Single Malt Connoisseurs

Master of Malt have created a whisky liqueur for single malt Scotch whisky drinkers.

Master of Malt’s (http://www.masterofmalt.com/) Whisky liqueur is made exclusively with all-sherry matured, 10 year old single malt whisky from a very famous Speyside distillery. It is flavoured with many Christmassy spices including cinnamon and cloves, and two kinds of orange peel. The result is a rich and complex liqueur aimed at the discerning single malt whisky connoisseur.

Master of Malt’s Sales Director, Ben Ellefsen, described the thinking behind the new venture: “We wanted to go against the grain and say “here’s a liqueur that a whisky connoisseur can enjoy”. Our new liqueur is made with all natural ingredients, based around an absolutely superb 10 year old Speyside single malt whisky, which was matured solely in sherry casks. The flavours we added were chosen to complement the Scotch, and bring it to a new level – this is in contrast to many of the mass-marketed liqueurs which use huge levels of sweetness and flavourings to hide the lack of complexity in the (often cheap, young, grain) whiskies they are based on.”

“Our new whisky liqueur is delicious neat or in a Rusty Nail cocktail, but we heartily recommend you have it in an ice-filled tumbler, garnished with a freshly cut strip of orange zest…”

You can buy Master of Malt 10 Year Old Speyside Whisky Liqueur for £26.95 here: http://www.masterofmalt.com/liqueurs/master-of-malt-10-year-old-speyside-whisky-liqueur/

Master of Malt Whisky Liqueur

  • Made exclusively with 10 year old, all-sherry matured Speyside Single Malt
  • Flavoured with Christmassy spices including cinnamon and cloves, and two kinds of orange peel
  • Handmade in very small batches

About Master of Malt

  • Established in 1985
  • One of the UK’s leading Online Spirits Merchants
  • A highly rated independent bottler, all of whose single cask whiskies scored over 90 points in the Jim Murray Whisky Bible 2009

Master of Malt Blog – http://www.masterofmalt.com/blog

Master of Malt Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/masterofmalt

Master of Malt Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/masterofmalt

Master of Malt – http://www.masterofmalt.com/

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My guest post on the Master of Malt blog – Making The Yarmulzaki

The good and kind folks over at Master of Malt asked a few whisky bloggers (myself being one of the lucky lot) to join in on a little fun.

They sent each of us bloggers a bottle of their 8yo Master of Malt blended whisky (a pretty damn good blend at that) and a bottle of their new Cask-Aged Bitters and asked us to use these ingredients along side some ingredients of our own to create the ultimate wintry cocktail.  They said “Jump!”, I said “How High?”

So far Neil from Caskstrength.net (a fellow knight of the Whisky Round Table) has offered up his fine drink; the “Spiced Apple Blazer“, and Billy of Billy’s Booze Blog fame created the “Mull of Apple-Tyre

My cocktail is called the “Yarmulzaki“.

Actually, it’s not my drink.  I am forever grateful to James Reichman, fashion designer and the mastermind behind Baby James Cigars for this recipe.  He posted it up on the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page and I used his creation for my post.  Thanks James!

So, how did this all work out?

Click here or on the image below to be directed to the details of the Yarmulzaki.