Anyone for a seriously aged whisky?

Glenfarclas, one of Scotland’s few remaining family-owned and managed distilleries, has this week announced the release of its oldest whisky to date.

Distilled on November 20,  1953, the Glenfarclas 70-Year-Old has been matured in the distillery’s traditional dunnage warehouses in Speyside. 

This release was laid down in first-fill sherry casks. The whisky has been overseen by six distillery managers over the past seventy years and will now be available to purchase internationally.

The 70-Year-Old is an exceptionally rare Glenfarclas. When it was distilled back in 1953, the malt barn would have been a hive of activity at the heart of the distillery, with barley being hand-turned on the malting floors. 

There will be only 262 bottles available globally.  

John Grant, chairman and fifth generation of the Grant family to have owned and run Glenfarclas distillery, said: 
"As chairman of a family-owned distillery I am committed to overseeing the production of our exceptional malt whisky, just as my forefathers did before me. 

“We take great pride in maintaining complete control over every aspect of production, preserving our time-honoured traditional methods - most notably, the use of direct-fired stills, which creates a robust and full-bodied spirit.

"Remarkably, this particular cask has been maturing almost as long as I’ve been alive. Releasing it now marks a true milestone.”

The new release is the oldest in the Glenfarclas Warehouse Series, surpassing the 30-, 35-, and 40-Year-Old expressions. 

Callum A. Fraser, distillery manager at Glenfarclas, is proud of the whisky. 

“This is true Glenfarclas and this expression captures the very DNA of the distillery, he said. “What we did 30 or 40 or even 70 years ago is very much what we still do today. The warehouses are still here, holding decades of stories in their walls. At the heart of it all, tradition remains key.

“This whisky has waited 70 years to be enjoyed. Through wars, the reign of a queen and now a king, the world has changed - but this spirit has endured, and it stands as a rare and timeless testament to patience and craft.”

The recommended retail price is £20,000 (UK). Ouch! 

Delamain goes big to celebrate 200 years of Cognac

 

The House of Delamain, a leading Cognac producer, has gone all out to impress as it celebrates its 200th anniversary.

As part of its bicentennial celebrations, it has released L’Edition Rare du Bicentenaire, a blend of five rare extra-old Cognacs exclusively from the prestigious Grande Champagne terroir.

Presented in a 10-litre demijohn crafted by the Parisian Maison d’Art Goossens - known for its artistic goldsmithing - the release “embodies 200 years of accumulated savoir-faire and Delamain’s impassioned curiosity as to the natural world”.

Founded in 1824 in Jarnac, the House of Delamain remains family-operated in partnership with the Bollinger Champagne group. 

“Now as then, nature, time, and people are at the heart of everything we do, and the most exquisite cognacs lie ahead,” says managing director Eric le Bouar.

In addition to the exclusive demijohn, 200 individually numbered bottles of L’Edition Rare du Bicentenaire will be released in December. 

A special day as Yalumba celebrates 175 years

Yalumba, Australia’s oldest family-owned winery, today celebrates its 175th anniversary. 

The landmark date highlights a year filled with events and honours, culminating in the release of a special anniversary wine. 

Winery’s staff gathered this week at Yalumba’s ‘Signature vineyard’ for a symbolic tree-planting morning, underscoring Yalumba’s commitment to environmental stewardship and its vision for the future.

“Today has been a meaningful experience for our team to actively contribute to a more sustainable future," said Yalumba winemaker and head of sustainability Louisa Rose. 

"Our group brings together diverse skills and roles, and it’s special for each of them to give back to the land, especially those not typically involved in our daily viticultural work.

“Our Signature Vineyard, with its view over the Barossa Valley, is still relatively young and planted with cabernet and shiraz. We prioritise planting native vegetation around all our vineyards to support biodiversity and enhance vine health. 

"This vineyard is set to play a pivotal role in our future, providing grapes for our most renowned wine, Yalumba The Signature.”

Today, the Hill-Smith family will host an intimate celebration at Yalumba with fellow Barossa winemaking families to toast 175 years of winemaking excellence.

Reflecting on the journey, Robert Hill-Smith, fifth-generation proprietor and chairman, said: “This anniversary is not only a nod to years passed. It is a reflection of our resilience and a commitment to mastering our craft, generation after generation. 

"It also acknowledges the many exceptional fine wine people that have come through the gates of Yalumba across three centuries with shared love for our property, our wines, and our industry.

“Most of all, it is a celebration of an exciting future ahead for our family business and the world of Australian fine wine. While we celebrate our past 175 years, we keep our eyes firmly set on the next 175 as the generations before us have done.”

To mark the anniversary, Yalumba will release a limited-edition anniversary wine, a Shiraz Grenache blend (above), that reflects the character and heritage of Yalumba and Barossa. 

The grapes are sourced from some of Barossa’s oldest vineyards with plantings ranging from 1854 to 1920. 

The wine will be available in magnum format from today. 

The Yalumba 175th Anniversary Shiraz Grenache 2022 magnums are $175 RRP, available at the Yalumba Wine Room and Yalumba.com. 

Image: Robert Hill-Smith, Louisa Rose and Jessica Hill-Smith planting trees at the Yalumba Signature Vineyard, Barossa

Special treats for Margarita Month

Cocktail lovers have a full 29 days to celebrate Margarita Month, which runs throughout February.

Pre-mix artists Curatif are urging tequila lovers to embrace their inner cocktail connoisseur with a limited-edition Masterita Box available in February only. Then they ride off into the Mexican sunset.

Curatif has released six incarnations of its ready-to-serve Margarita formats: Salted Blueberry, Pineapple, Cherry, Blue, Mango, and Mezcalita, in a box that yields a dozen agave spirit cocktails.

The range of flavours features a hand-picked selection of premium tequilas, mezcals and liqueurs from makers including Tequila Tromba, Los Arcos, Ilegal Mezcal and Melbourne’s own Marionette.

Curatif, regular readers will recall, was named 2023 RTD Producer of the Year at the prestigious IWSC Awards in London - the second year in a row it had triumphed.

“We’re mad for margaritas," says Curatif founder Matt Sanger. "I mean, really we love all cocktails, but a great margarita is a time-machine that transports you from a dreary Thursday to a sandy-toed, sun-drenched afternoon on the beach.

"We spent years getting our Tommy’s Margarita perfect before we launched, and I think that relentless pursuit of better than bar quality has been the perfect foundation for this project."

An instant success since launching in 2019, Curatif is 100% Australian and produced locally in Melbourne, with all of the brand’s packaging being recyclable and mostly made from recycled products.

“We have launched the Masterita box so that cocktail lovers can enjoy impeccably crafted and convenient cocktails wherever they are celebrating this Margarita Month - from a dinner party with friends to date night," says Sanger.

Curatif’s Masterita Box is exclusively available on curatif.com during Margarita Month for an RRP of $130.00 (box of 12).

For King and country: a £25,000 bottle of whisky

Distillers Gordon & MacPhail have unveiled a special single malt whisky from 1948 - the year of his birth - to mark King Charles III’s Coronation in May.

There will doubtless be many companies jumping on the coronation bandwagon to sell all sorts of tat, but few will be as expensive as The Private Collection 1948 from Glen Grant Distillery.

The whisky was filled into a first-fill Sherry cask on April 10,1948, by Gordon & MacPhail. 

Only 281 bottles will be available of this ultra-rare release which was bottled on December 15 - the anniversary of Charlie's christening.

Priced at £25,000 per bottle - that's around $47,000 in Australian pesos - the whisky retains a cask strength of 50.4% after more than seven decades of maturation.

I is described as "a vibrant and fragrant single malt packed with festive spices, mulled berries, a hint of raisin and lemon zest."

Gordon & MacPhail also released a 70-year-old single malt to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. And the family has links with the distiller.

HRH Prince Charles - as he was known then - officially reopened the company's Benromach Distillery in 1998.

To celebrate the release of The King Charles III Coronation Edition, a donation of £25,000 will be made by Gordon & MacPhail to The Prince’s Foundation. How very generous of them.

Stephen Rankin, Director of Prestige [what a great job title] at Gordon & MacPhail, said: “This exceptional whisky is a fitting tribute to His Majesty, who has continually promoted and protected British tradition and excellence over many decades.

"This release has been carefully nurtured for over seventy years and is testament to great patience, long term thinking and commitment to creating high quality products; principles that have been handed down through generations of people working for our family business.

“For more than 50 years, King Charles has placed a firm focus on sustainability and supporting communities. Our donation to The Prince’s Foundation will support his vision of a more sustainable world and aims to help create future legacies.”

Founded in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail has bottled spirit from over 100 Scottish distilleries.

For more information see www.gordonandmacphail.com

New release to honour female winemaking pioneer

When you have been in the wine business for over a century, you have plenty of stories to tell. 

Iconic Australian winery McWilliam’s Wines this week announced a new wine will honour the family’s first female vineyard manager and winemaker, second-generation Eliza Jane McWilliam, with a special release shiraz, to be unveiled this month. 

The 2018 Eliza Jane Canberra District Shiraz celebrates Eliza Jane, who, in 1902, managed the family’s Sunnyside vineyard and winery operations after the passing of her father, Samuel McWilliam. 

The wine will be the top shiraz offering in the McWilliam’s Wines portfolio. 

“Eliza was the eldest daughter of nine children to Samuel and Martha McWilliam - that in itself came with tremendous responsibility,” said sixth-generation family member and McWilliam’s global brand ambassador Scott McWilliam. 

“While John James, her younger brother, was responsible for bringing the McWillam family to Griffith, it was Eliza who returned to Sunnyside Vineyard in Corowa when Samuel died in 1902. 

"She and her two sisters took to running Sunnyside for two solid years before it was sold off.

“She even won first place in the Sweet White Wine category at the Corowa Agricultural Show with her first vintage release in 1904. 

"I dare say she would likely be Australia’s first female winemaker, if not one of the most successful female winemakers of her time.”

The wine chosen is made from fruit grown at the Quarry Hill Vineyard, just south of Murrumbateman in the Canberra district. 

It is described as "a small, dramatic amphitheatre-like vineyard with very thin soils primarily composed of granite."

The fruit was hand-picked in the early morning, then transported to the Hanwood winery in Griffith, where it was cool stored overnight before processing the next morning. 

The winemaking saw 50% whole clusters included in the open fermenter for lifted aromatics. 

The juice was fermented for 14 days on skins and the wine was pressed off and transferred to French oak puncheons for 10 months on fine lees. 

Just 25% new oak was used, with the remainder second and third fill. 

I'm told a bottle is on the way, so will update with my tasting notes. 

“This is a modern, cool climate, shiraz. It is beautifully concentrated and fresh," McWilliam said. "I can’t think of a better wine to honour someone so prominent in our family tree.” 

The bottle is labelled with Eliza Jane’s name and signature and will be available through wine retailers and McWilliam’s online cellar door for $100.

See www.mcwilliams.com.au.

Winemaker does his bit to help homeless youths

Matt Burton from Gundog Estate is one of Australia's most talented young winemakers. 

Not only does he make excellent wines using Hunter Valley and Canberra-region fruit under the Gundog Estate label, he also collaborates with Seville Estate's Dylan McMahon for Yarra Valley wines under the Burton & McMahon brand.

It turns out Burton is also a winemaker of generosity, working with community partner Path 2 Change, an organisation aiming to break the cycle of youth homelessness in the Newcastle region. 

Over 1000 bottles of the 2019 The Lived Experience Shiraz were produced by Burton, who is donating 100% of profits to Path 2 Change. 

"With our usual fundraising and work experience activities disrupted by Covid-19, we needed to get creative," Burton says. 

The wine has a hand-drawn label symbolising the journey of young people from struggles with broken homes and families to support, freedom, and hope for the future.

"We are donating 100% of profits to Path 2 Change who will use these funds to support local disadvantaged and homeless youth," Burton says. 

“The past two years have been tough for us and most others in the region. But through our work with Path 2 Change, we know that disadvantaged and homeless youth are doing it even tougher. 

"Their needs have escalated significantly, and Path 2 Change now has more clients on their books than ever before.” 

Path 2 Change Chief Executive Officer Jennifer O’Sullivan said: "Young people are also experiencing increased mental health challenges and are at a higher risk of suicide due to isolation, in addition to already being disconnected from family and social supports. 

"Our young people are requiring more support than ever during this time.”

Gundog Estate formed a partnership with Path 2 Change back in September 2018, and since then the boutique wine producer has supported the charity's work through fundraising at wine club events and at Gundog’s two cellar doors.

The one-off wine is available for sale at $35 a bottle and in six packs for $210 online or from the Gundog Estate cellar doors. It is a very good wine, savoury and certainly worthy of being cellared for a year or two.

See www.gundogestate.com.au