The Balvenie x Royal Selangor Mash-Up : Luxury in a Box

December 21, 2020/in Events/by Zerlina Zhuang

Luxury in Scotch whisky is common these days. The most recent collaboration is the team-up between The Balvenie and Royal Selangor. What I did not expect, however, was the sheer prestige it entailed until I attended the media event for the unboxing of the product.

Shared Passion and Time-Honoured Craftmanship

The collaboration between The Balvenie and Royal Selangor is a tribute to their shared passion and respect for craftsmanship. The result of their teamwork is a collector’s box that is 100% handmade. The box holds precious liquids from The Balvenie expressions, 30 years old and upwards.

The collector’s box is made of high-grade walnut wood encased in handcrafted pewter. The Royal Selangor’s signature dimple design on the box reflects the skill and precision of the craftsman. The dimple design requires a hammering technique that needs years to master and takes up to six days to complete!

Reflection of Luxury

The media event revealed the deep-seated beliefs shared by The Balvenie and Royal Selangor. The attention to details on the participation kit of the event was on point. As the event was held at 6pm local time, The Balvenie also provided us an “atas” dinner made up of a dozen of things. There was also a full bottle of the delicious Balvenie 12 Years Old Doublewood and its accompanying pewter-based tumbler. On top of these goodies, there was a notebook, a cheese board, a leather bookmark and a wee table lamp that opens like a book. All in all, the kit was too generous!

Our team got to enjoy the food and whisky while learning more about The Balvenie and Royal Selangor collaboration.

Getting your hands on The Balvenie’s Collectors’ Box

Now, the important information that you need to know is HOW to buy the collector’s box. We understood that there are only fifteen such boxes available in Singapore and Malaysia. The box houses three bottles of The Balvenie’s signature bottles, 30 years old and upwards. Buyers can choose their bottles, of course! Each box needs to attain a minimum purchase value of £41,800.

The Balvenie Gift Packs

We understood that there are also special releases of The Balvenie 12, 14, and 17 Years Old with this collaboration. The gift packs comes with a delicious single malt and a wondrous gift of a pewter-based tumbler.

Each tumbler comes with a solid pewter base and looks amazing no matter how you hold it. These packs are available for a limited time from TODAY (21 December) onwards on the WGS flagship store on LazMall. If you are looking for a last minute gift for a loved one, you gotta check them out.

More about The Balvenie & Royal Selangor

The Balvenie differentiates themselves by their commitment to craftsmanship. It brings invaluable skill, knowledge, experience and passion to every stage of the process. They are the only distillery in the Scottish Highlands that maintains the Five Rare Crafts of whisky making since 1892. In today’s world of automation, it sets The Balvenie apart.

Royal Selangor is the world’s foremost name in high quality pewter, founded in 1885. The brand is synonymous with innovative design and expertly honed craftsmanship. Devoted to their craft, Royal Selangor was founded by Yong Koon, a pewter smith and since 1979, has been conferred by the Sultan of Selangor with the warrant of ‘Royal Pewterer’.

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Dram on, Dràm Mòr

December 13, 2020/in Events, Reviews/by Hong Fu Teo

The first big tasting of Dràm Mòr in Singapore and their second ever release of bottles in Autumn of 2020! Dràm Mòr is an Independent Bottler in Scotland that is owned by a husband-wife duo, Kenny and Viktorija.
Many of the bottles in this second release were finished in fortified wine or wine casks for 4 months! This decision for a short duration finish was not unfounded as well! Kenny sought the advice of Whisky legend Jim McEwan and told Kenny to watch closely over 1st fill wine casks. This is most likely due to the spicy notes the active wine cask might impart on the whisky if it aged any longer.

Glen Garioch 8yo 2011 (Cask #2697) 55%

We started the night with a full-term refill bourbon. There was a time I used to find full-term bourbon maturation like from Cadenhead to be boring. What a fool I was #cringe. What I know now is that a light bourbon maturation can allow the spirit character to develop and shine through!

For this Glen Garioch, I’m glad it did! I get the herbal orange peel that I associated with the Official Bottlings of Glen Garioch, but with so much more characteristics! There’s a toasted cereal note, peaches, a hint of salinity, with a mouthfeel you can chew on! It’s a lovely anytime kind of dram!

Aberlour 7yo 2012 (#F800914) 54%

This Aberlour spent 7 and a half years in refill bourbon with a 4 month dry Madeira finish. The Aberlour A’bunadh series inspired Dràm Mòr to do a young cask strength Aberlour! This decision for a short finish was an excellent one. In 4 months, the influence of the wine is clearly much stronger, with only a touch of spice from the oak. This works well because the strawberry jam preserve notes of the Aberlour spirit character works with the dry cranberry notes, pepper and raspberries, along with the honey and floral notes from the prior bourbon maturation.

Glenrothes 9yo 2011 (#2850)

One of two Glenrothes in this Autumn release, this spent 8 years and 8 months in refill bourbon, before finishing in Spanish Red Wine casks for 4 months. This was a beautiful balance between the influence of the red wine and the European oak. Even the folks at Glenrothes distillery gave Kenny the stamp of approval!
In my personal opinion and preference, this dram probably needs some time to open up. Initial top notes of gunpowder which will fade away with time, so if you love your sulphur notes, you might not want to wait. This Glenrothes offers notes of honey, a whiff of chocolate, with oranges, red berries, figs and nuttiness!

Glenrothes 9yo 2011 (#2851)

This Glenrothes spent 8 years and 8 months in refill bourbon, before finishing in Moscatel Wine casks for 4 months. If it feels like Déjà vu, that’s because both Glenrothes are sister casks! Moscatel Wine casks are not as popular in whisky, but this is a damn good example! People who know me know that I do not particularly enjoy the spirit character of Glenrothes, but this dram is probably the first young Glenrothes that I have thoroughly enjoyed!
This dram offers golden pears, with honey and vanilla sweetness coming from the bourbon maturation. Moreover, the wine cask influence is very nuanced, with hints of toasted nuts, tart apples and a whiff of Nutella! One of the participants in the tasting even got Jasmine flowers! This is definitely a beautiful dessert dram.

Tomintoul 15yo 2005 (#32)

This gentle dram spent 15 years and 4 months in a rather shy refill sherry butt, and 4 months in a 1st fill Sauternes Wine Cask! These 15 years in the refill sherry butt gave a gentle maturation, and most importantly, it cultivated the gentle spirit character of the Tomintoul. Distilleries Director of Angus Dundee, Robert Flemming, who oversees Tomintoul and Glencadam, loved this dram when he asked Kenny for a sample of this! If the people who make this whisky liked it, then you know Dràm Mòr did Tomintoul right!
This gentle dram offer notes of sugary sweetness, freshly cut grass in spring, pears, white raisins, tart apples and pears, notes of a buttery pie crust and hints of salinity.

In this Autumn release, Dràm Mòr shows that flavourful whisky doesn’t necessarily need to be peated, or heavily sherried or old. I also do enjoy their stance on not chill filtering and not adding colour! If you wish to purchase these bottles, do give Spirits Castle a visit, and if you wish to find out more about Dràm Mòr and their latest December 2020 Christmas release, check it out here!

Hearts & Spirits Bottle Subscription Service!

November 29, 2020/in Whisky News/by Hong Fu Teo

Heart & Spirits is Singapore’s first whisky bottle subscription service. Yes, that’s right. Not a sample. Not a flight of samples. But a full bottle. Heart & Spirits aims to help share the joy of the dram without the hassle. To connect whisky lovers with the abundance of fantastic distilleries around the world, Heart & Spirits solves the problem of hunting down unique bottle releases and takes customers further into the world of whisky than ever before. This will be perfect for people who are looking for a new, unique experience, off the mainstream radar.

The Heart & Spirits team led by Chris Chambers, and Matthew Fergusson-Stewart. Chris is the former Master of Spirits at ATLAS and was the Single Malt Brand Ambassador in Dubai. Matthew is Managing Director of SPUN Spirits and was also the Regional Brand Ambassador for the Glenfiddich in Asia Pacific. Both of whom are familiar faces in the Singapore whisky community!

For a fixed monthly subscription Heart & Spirits delivers a carefully curated bottle to subscribers’ doors every month. Moreover, there will be recommendations on whisky tasting, tasting notes, and information on the history, production and people behind the bottle. In the future, Hearts and Spirits plan to connect Singapore’s whisky lovers with online tastings and whisky education sessions.

Heart & Spirits offers three distinct subscription options for customers to choose from. Each package is designed to maximise the discovery of the world’s best independent and boutique drams at their own comfort level.

Subscriptions

“The Apprentice” is best suited to those just moving beyond Supermarket-issue whiskies. This subscription slowly expands the newcomer’s comfort zone, with the occasional independent release.

“The Journeyman” subscription is the next step and even offers more obscure releases. Some of these bottles may even impress your more established whisky-loving friends.

Hearts & Spirits: The Journeyman Subscription preview

“The Master”, offers some of the finest and rarest whisky released in Singapore, in addition to some of the world’s truly iconic releases.

Hearts & Spirits: The Master Subscription preview

Subscribers can certainly expect fascinating whisky experiences featuring single malts and blends from more established regions; like Scotland, Ireland, Japan and the United States. But, in addition to that, subscriptions would include bottles from France, India, Australia, New Zealand.

According to Chris, Heart & Spirits avoids the bottles customers can pick up elsewhere and focuses on delivering unique whisky experiences they cannot find anywhere else.

“You won’t find our selections in the supermarket or in duty-free. While some may be found in specialist retailers or bars, we are able to offer them at the same or a better price than what is usually available to the public, as well as getting access to educational and fun perks along the way”, he says.

“With many years of experience across multiple countries, we’re connected to the world’s best boutique distillers and are curating our selection years ahead of release. We know the trends and that allows us to select exceptional whiskies that are hard to find elsewhere.”

Please click here to subscribe!

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