Keith Tulloch Masterclass
Posted 16/05/2012
Keith Tulloch, Hunter Valley Winemaker
We're hosting a visit from noted Aussie winemaker Keith Tulloch on the evening of Tuesday 29th May at the West Port Apartments Penthouse Suite (above the new casino at the West Port roundabout, the foot of Hawkhill).
Keith's 'Per Diem' Cab/Merlot/Petit Verdot blend has been one of our biggest hits this year. He's a really engaging guy and we're looking forward to seeing him in Dundee.
Tickets for the event are £25 and numbers are strictly limited - once they're sold out, we can't squeeze you in at the back - so please call early to book, these are already selling fast. Great winemaker, great venue and a great local independent wine merchant (ie us) - don't miss it!
Tulloch Winery, Hunter Valley, Australia
LATEST BEER DEAL
Posted 23/04/2012
Cruzcampo, the delicious, fresh and tangy Spanish lager at just £36 per case of 24...
MR SMITH SHIRAZ ARRIVED 12th APRIL
Posted 12/04/2012
What more do you need to know...£22 for 2, £63 for 6, open for tasting this weekend. Orders being taken, much of the stock that arrived today has already sold. End of next week for further stock to arrive...
Shackleton Whisky in stock
Posted 06/12/2011
Ernest Shackleton's Forgotten Whisky, or Mackinlay's Whisky Reborn!
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of darkness. Honour and recognition in event of success.”
This was the advertisement with which Ernest Shackleton recruited team members for his unsuccessful Antarctic trip, which began in 1907 and ended in 1909 as the encroaching sea ice forced an early departure.
Shackleton’s expedition ran short of supplies on their long trek to the South Pole from Cape Royds and they eventually fell about 100 miles short of their goal. The men left hurriedly from Cape Royds in 1909 as winter ice began forming in the sea and threatened to trap their ship.
Thankfully, Shackleton turned back from the polar trek in time to keep all of his party safe, later explaining his retreat by saying that “A live donkey is better than a dead lion”. In the hurry to escape the ice, Shackleton and his men abandoned their base camp hut leaving behind many of their clothes and possessions – as well as supplies deemed superfluous to the return journey.
These unwanted rations included delicacies like mutton cutlets, marrow fat, kippers, egg powder and stewed kidneys. The explorers also abandonded the unloved pemmican, a kind of beef jerky made with dried offcuts and fat - huge on calorific value, but notoriously low on taste. No doubt the explorers found it easy enough to leave this kind of stuff behind - but we can only imagine the sinking feeling when they realised they'd forgotten to pack the whisky!
Two World Wars followed; we invented television, chloroform, penicillin, nylon, the contraceptive pill, and man went to the moon (these events were not all linked, by the way...) and while all that was going on, Shackleton's forgotten whisky lay locked in the Antarctic ice - until January 2006, when the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust found several cases of it ice-bound under Shackleton's hut. Detailed investigation showed three of the cases contained Chas Mackinlay & Co’s whisky, with the remaining two housing an Australian brandy made in Hunter Valley.
Through 2010 the cases were very carefully extracted from beneath the hut and one of the whisky cases was thawed by a team of specialists at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The story of Shackleton's whisky has swept the whisky world. Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, described the find as “a gift from the heavens” for whisky lovers, and analysed the whisky after extracting small samples from the bottles by syringe. The bottles have since been restored to the ice underneath Shackleton’s hut, while Whyte & Mackay have released this tribute bottling in a strictly limited edition of 50,000 bottles.
The recreation of Mackinlay’s came to market two months after the samples were brought to Scotland and is a blend of various malt whiskies including The Dalmore and Glen Mhor, the original base malt for Mackinlays. The replica has been bottled at the same strength as the sample of recovered whisky at 47.3% and the age of the malts used in the vatting is given as between eight and thirty years old - that's likely to be the Glen Mhor, which was closed down in the early Eighties.
5% of the proceeeds of each sale will be donated to the Antactic Heritage Trust, who supervised the excavation of the bottle. This is expected to total £250,000 for the trust.
Official tasting notes:
Colour – Light honey, straw gold with shimmering highlights.
Nose – Soft, elegant and refined. Delicate aromas of crushed apple, pear and fresh pineapple arouse the senses. The spirit is exciting and vibrant with attractive notes of oak shavings that release hints of buttery vanilla, creamy caramel and nutmeg. A whisper of marmalade, cinnamon and even a tease of smoke, ginger and muscovado sugar completes this spectrum of delight.
Taste – With a generous strength of 47.3% this gives the spirit plenty of impact on the palate but in a mild warming manner. Harmonious and exhilarating. Whispers of gentle bonfire smoke slowly give way to spicy rich toffee, treacle and pecan nuts. These enticing flavours linger lovingly on the palate but are soon combined by a sensual, complex array of creme brulee, orange rind and freshly baked bread. It is a remarkable tapestry of tantalising taste sensations which truly rewards the palate.
Early reports are favourable, with Dave Broom (who also tasted the original recovered sample) being quoted in Whyte & Mackay’s press release as follows:
“The Shackleton whisky is not what I expected at all, and not what anyone would have expected. It’s so light, so fresh, so delicate and still in one piece – it’s a gorgeous whisky.
“It proves that even way back then so much care, attention and thought went into whisky-making.
“I think the replication is absolutely bang on. Richard has done a great job as it’s a very tricky whisky to replicate, because you have this delicacy, subtlety and the smoke just coming through.
“The sweetness, fragrance and spice, and the subtle smoke, are all there in the replica. I’m blown away.”
