April 8th, 2010
Iconic luxury brands The Macallan and Lalique have produced a one-of-a-kind decanter, created by the ancient “cire perdue” or “lost wax” method.
The Macallan in Lalique Cire Perdue decanter, created to celebrate the 150th René Lalique’s birth, contains a 64 years old Macallan single malt whisky.
The decanter has been designed at Lalique’s Design Studio in Paris, based upon a ship’s decanter of the 1820’s, the decade in which The Macallan was founded.
March 25th, 2010
The Core has created the exclusive limited edition pack for Ballantine’s Championship Blend 2010: a priceless Scotch whisky blended specially for the 50th anniversary of the first Ballantine’s golf tournament.
Only 20 of the ultra-luxe packs – which feature 24-Carat gold, real leather and solid mahogany – exist. The packs are currently on display around the world.
One was given to the tournament’s first Champion; another will be presented to the winner of this year’s Championship, which takes place in Korea this April.
Inspired by an antique leather golf caddy, the presentation box is handmade from solid mahogany with an embossed leather frontispiece.
March 13th, 2010
A Scottish whisky firm on Thursday unveiled bottles of the oldest single malt whisky in the world, having spent the best part of a century inside an oak barrel.
Gordon and MacPhail’s Mortlach 70-Year-Old Speyside was sampled at a launch party in Edinburgh Castle, where it was escorted through the doors by pipers and a military escort.
“It matured for 70 years in the cask and that is what makes it the oldest whisky in the world,” a spokeswoman for Gordon and MacPhail told AFP.
The whisky was filled into its cask on October 15, 1938 by the grandfather of the company’s managing directors David and Michael Urquhart.
February 9th, 2010
A hoard of a century-old whisky has been discovered beneath the Antarctic base camp of famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Ice cracked some of the bottles that had been left there in 1909, but the restorers said Friday they are confident the five crates contain intact bottles “given liquid can be heard when the crates are moved.”
New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team leader Al Fastier said the team thought there were two crates and were amazed to find five.
January 27th, 2010
A Taiwanese whisky beat a trio of top Scottish blends in a connoisseurs’ blind taste test organised to mark Scotland’s annual Burn’s Night festivities.
The Taiwan-distilled Kavalan brand, described as a “Far Eastern incomer”, came top in a test against three Scottish and one English whisky in a historic hostelry in Leith, north of Edinburgh.
“Oh. My. God,” author and whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean told The Times when the unexpected result was confirmed.
December 6th, 2009
Battery-powered illuminated liquor bottles are supposed to grab your attention when you’re trying to decide what to order at the bar.
That’s why Pernod Ricard-owned blended Scotch whisky brand is launching a bottle that flashes like a graphic equaliser in time to the music.
The dark blue bottle was created by London-based packaging agency The Core and is part of Ballantine’s ‘Listen to Your Beat’ campaign.
