Archives for November 17, 2017

Maverick Drinks Named IWSC Spirits Distributor of the Year 2017!

November 17, 2017 by Gary Leave a Comment

IWSC Spirits Distributor Trophy – Maverick Drinks

Maverick Drinks has been named Spirits Distributor of the Year 2017 by the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) judges, announced at the recent Annual Awards Banquet hosted at Guildhall, London. This is the second year in a row that Maverick Drinks has claimed this title, and the third time in the four years since the distributor was established in 2013.

Maverick Drinks won its first Spirits Distributor of the Year trophy at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2014 as a newcomer to the industry – founded only one year before in 2013. In 2016, Maverick Drinks was again rewarded for its unwavering support and education of craft spirits with its second Spirits Distributor of the Year title.

It’s an incredible honour to be recognised by the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition. Awards like this push us to continue innovating and driving change in the drinks industry and it once again affirms that craft spirits with provenance and authenticity are increasingly what people are looking for. We’re very fortunate to work with some of the best brands and people in the business.
– Michael Vachon: Maverick Drinks’ head of brand development

This news comes following a huge year for Maverick Drinks, which has seen the recruitment of a new national partner management team, the launch of its industry-wide #forwarddrinking campaign and several additions to its distribution portfolio, including Wolfburn single malt Scotch whisky, Brenne French single malt whisky, Bluecoat American Dry Gin and That Boutique-y Gin Company – which also celebrated success at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, picking up the London Dry Gin Trophy for its Swedish Rose Gin from Hernö at the Annual Awards Banquet.

Maverick Drinks products are available to buy from:-

Atom Brands Named UK Gin Producer of the Year!

November 17, 2017 by Gary Leave a Comment

IWSC UK Gin Producer Trophy – Atom Brands

Atom Brands has been crowned the 2017 UK Gin Producer of the Year at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC). The accolade reflects excellence across the Atom Brands gin portfolio, with the title awarded as gin entries into the competition climbed 50% year-on-year.

Up against some of the biggest names in UK gin, including Diageo and Warner Edwards, the award recognises the wide range and quality of gin within the Atom Brands portfolio and signifies a huge triumph in a category that is experiencing tremendous growth. Gins within the Atom Brands portfolio include Bathtub Gin, That Boutique-y Gin Company’s selection of independently bottled and bespoke expressions, 1897 Quinine Gin (supporting Malaria No More UK) and the terroir-exploring Origin Single Estate Gin range.

Atom Brands also collected both of the available IWSC gin trophies at the Annual Awards Banquet last night – The London Dry Gin Trophy for That Boutique-y Gin Company’s Swedish Rose Gin from Hernö, and The Contemporary Gin Trophy for Bathtub Gin Navy-Strength. Atom Brands also performed strongly in the whisky category, listed as a finalist in the Scotch Whisky Producer of the Year shortlist.

We are incredibly proud to have been named UK Gin Producer of the Year by the International Wine & Spirit Competition judges. Our approach has always been simple – the pursuit of excellence without compromise, and this blind-judged result stands testament to the quality of our gin portfolio.

– Ben Ellefsen: Atom Brands’ Managing Director

Atom Brands Gin is available to buy from:-

Master of Malt

Midleton Dair Ghaelach Releases New ‘Bluebell Forest’ Edition!

November 17, 2017 by Gary Leave a Comment

Oak grown in the Bluebell Forest

Irish Distillers has unveiled the next chapter in its Virgin Irish Oak Collection of Single Pot Still Irish Whiskeys; Midleton Dair Ghaelach Bluebell Forest edition. This exceptional offering has been finished in barrels made from Irish oak grown in the Bluebell Forest of Castle Blunden Estate in County Kilkenny, imparting a true and unique flavour of Ireland.

Midleton Dair Ghaelach Bluebell Forest

Dair Ghaelach, which is Gaelic for ‘Irish oak’, is the result of an eight-year exploration by the expert production team at the Midleton Distillery, County Cork, into using native oak to mature Irish whiskey and follows the release of Midleton Dair Ghaelach Grinsell’s Wood in February 2015.

In collaboration with expert forestry consultant, Paddy Purser, the Irish Distillers team of Kevin O’Gorman, Head of Maturation, and Billy Leighton, Head Blender, chose Bluebell Forest on Castle Blunden Estate to provide the oak for the second edition in the Midleton Dair Ghaelach series. Each bottle can be traced back to one of six individual 130-year-old oak trees that were carefully felled in the Bluebell Forest in May of 2013.

It is a joy to be able to showcase more of our experimentation with maturation in Irish oak through the release of Midleton Dair Ghaelach Bluebell Forest. The naturally sweet compounds found in Irish oak work in perfect harmony with this whiskey to deliver milk chocolate and honeycomb on the nose, a beautifully round and silky-smooth mouth feel and a long, pot still finish.

The nuances in flavour in the two editions of Midleton Dair Ghaelach come from our native wood, and offer whiskey fans a true flavour of Ireland – the range has provenance unlike any Irish whiskey before it and we look forward to exploring more of Ireland’s woodlands further in the years to come.
– Kevin O’Gorman: Head of Maturation at Midleton Distillery

Bluebell Forest is found among the historic stone walls of Castle Blunden Estate in County Kilkenny. Since the 1600s, generations of the Blunden Family have watched over a stand of Irish oak trees with a carpet of luminescent bluebells covering the forest floor. The carefully felled oak from these woods imparts its character and nuances into Midleton Dair Ghaelach Bluebell Forest to create an intrinsically Irish whiskey with historical provenance, traceability and a clear link to the sustainability and rejuvenation of Irish oak.

To craft the oak into barrels, fellow artisans at the Maderbar sawmills in Baralla, north-west Spain, used the quarter-sawing process to cut the trees into staves, which were then transferred to the Antonio Páez Lobato cooperage in Jerez. After drying for 15 months, the staves were worked into 29 Irish oak Hogshead casks and given a light toast.

The whiskey, made up of a selection of Midleton’s classic rich and spicy pot still distillates matured for between 12 and 23 years in American oak barrels, was then filled into the Irish oak Hogshead casks and diligently nosed and tasted each month by Leighton and O’Gorman. After a year and a half, the pair judged that the whiskey had reached the perfect balance between the spicy single post still Irish whiskey and Irish oak characteristics.

Bottled at cask strength, between 55.30% to 56.30% ABV, and without the use of chill filtration, Midleton Dair Ghaelach Bluebell Forest is available now.

Midleton is available to buy from these Whisky Merchants:-