Premier of Highland Park 30 YO

In 1975, the craftmen at the world's northernmost distillery Highland Park in Scotland's Orkney Islands, followed the centuries-old whisky making traditions from floor-malting of barley to filling casks with hand-crafted new spirit. Some of that become 12, 18 or 25 years old Highland Park single malts, but a selected quantity now makes its debut as Highland Park's first-ever 30 years old single malt Scotch whisky arriving in June 2005. In 1975 also happened that US troops officially withdrew from Vietnam, the Steven Spielberg's movie "Jaws" premiered and became the first movie to hit the $100 million income, and "Saturday Night Live" appeared on TV in US. Highland Park distillery was established in 1789 on Orkney as the most northerly Scotch whisky distillery in the world. Orkney is a land full of mystery and rich in ancient anecdote. This, combined with the windy, rainy weather, crushing waves and freezing hail of Orkney, set the scene for the home of a unique malt whisky. Tasting notes for the 30 years old Highland Park single malt: rich, amber colour and spicy, aromatic nose with hints of nutmeg and dark chocolate, its taste includes toffee, dark chocolate and some orange with a rich, long, sweet and slightly smokey finish. Its retail price will be around $350 for a 750 ml bottle in US.

1975-ben Highland Park, a vilag legeszakibb whisky leparlo uzemenek, szakemberei az evszazados tradiciokat kovetve keszitettek kezmuves whiskyjuket. E whiskykbol erlelodtek a 12, 18 es 25 eves Highland Park single malt whiskyk, am egy valogatott mennyisegbol keszitve iden (2005 juniusaban) mutatkozik be eloszor a 30 eves Highland Park single malt. E whisky szuletesekor, 1975-ben, tortent az is, hogy az USA hivatalosan kivonta csapatait Vietnambol, Steven Spielberg uj filmje, a Capa, megdontotte a 100 millio dollaros beveteli alomhatart, es az amerikai TV-ben bemutattak a hires "Saturday Night Live" showt. A Highland Park whisky uzemet 1789-ben alapitottak a skociai Orkney szigeten. Orkney egy misztikus, osi legendakkal teli terulet, amely szeles idojarasaval, vad tengerparti hullamaival es fagyos zaporaival remek kornyezetet biztosit egy kulonleges malt whisky keszitesehez. A 30 eves Highland Park jellemzoi: a gazdag, borostyan szin es fuszeres, am aromas, kisse etcsokolades, mogyoros illat, valamint a karamellas, etcsokolades, enyhen narancsos iz, hosszu, edes, kisse fustos lecsengessel. Egy palack ara 350 dollar korul lesz Amerikaban.

US security agency monitors whisky plant

The Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay was contacted by the Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of US, after an agent clicked on to the distillery's website. The agent revealed this way the organisation's interest in the whisky plant after alerting the distillery to the fact that one of its webcams was faulty. Cameras had been former installed by the company to show off its traditional distilling techniques. The distillery manager said all was revealed when he replied to the contact thanking for pointing out the problem. They started a correspondence, when at some stage the manager noticed the sign-off at the bottom with the initials DTRA. Finally the agency gave a fantastic explanation about how the agency's work was all to do with the anti-terrorist threat to US security. They had been monitoring the webcams because the process of making alcohol is close to making weapons of mass distruction, apparently. The US government agency based at Forth Belvoir in Virginia, USA, is responsible for American national security. An agency spokesman was saying the distillery's webcams were of 'no official interest'.

Az Islay-szigeti Bruichladdich leparlo uzemmel kapcsolatba lepett az USA Kulso Fenyegeteseket Elharito Hivatala (DTRA), miutan egy ugynokuk raklikkelt a leparlo uzem weboldalara. Ilymodon az ugynok felfedte a hivatal erdeklodeset, mikor figyelmeztette az uzemet, hogy elromlott az egyik webkamerajuk. A kamerakat az uzem telepitette meg korabban, hogy bemutassa hagyomanyos leparlasi modszeret. A leparlo vezetoje szerint akkor derult minderre feny, amikor o elkuldott a hivatalnak egy koszono levelet, melynek eredmenyekepp levelezesbe bonyolodtak. E levelezes soran vette csak eszre az egyik valasz alairasaban a DTRA roviditeset. Vegul a hivatal eloallt egy fantasztikus magyarazattal arrol, hogy mindez csak az o terrorista elharito munkajuk resze. Folyamatosan figyelemmel kisertek a webkamerak segitsegevel az uzemet, mert az alkoholgyartas folyamata igen kozel all a tomegpusztito fegyverek gyartasi modjahoz. Amerika nemzetbiztonsagaert a Virginia allambeli Forth Belvoirban mukodo kormanyhivatal a felelos. A hivatal egy szovivoje szerint a leparlo webkamerai irant "nem hivatalos" volt az erdeklodesuk.
(BBC News)

The story of Whisky Galore

The wartime looting of the ship SS Politician, which sank off the Outer Hebrides with a cargo of whisky and inspired the 1949 comedy classic Whisky Galore, is a tale of happy-go-lucky islanders outwitting killjoy tax inspectors. The novel of Compton MacKenzie, and later the film, was supposedly inspired by the story of quenching a thirst for whisky born in wartime rationing. In reality the Hebridians were overcome by greed and ready to use violence to protect their booty, 24,000 bottles of whisky. The records show that beside "liberating" the whisky, the islanders stripped the vessel of about 10,000 GBP worth of furnishing, lamps, writing desks and even the ship's compass. Some of the 3 million GBP cargo of banknotes bound for Jamaica also went missing. On the first interception by local Custom officials, the crew of three boats carrying 42 cases of whisky included an 84 year old man. The grandson of one of the islanders who was arrested and fines, said that the battle became heated because islanders could not bear to see the cargo go to waste. "That must have been extremly frustrating for people who didn't like to see waste" he said. This summer a hollywood film company starts to shoot the remake of the classic comedy - Whisky Galore.

A II. vilaghaboruban a Skocia nyugati partjainal teljes whisky rakomanyaval elsullyedt SS Politician teherhajo kifosztasa, amely ihlette az 1949-ben bemutatott Whisky Galore cimu filmet , egy meseszeru tortenet arrol, hogyan packaztak a szerencses szigetlakok az adohatosag embereivel. Compton MacKenzie regenye es a kesobbi film azt mutatja be hogyan csillapithattak a kornyekbeliek whisky-szomjukat a szukos haborus korulmenyek kozott. Valojaban azonban a mohosag uralkodott el rajtuk es keszek voltak eroszakra is, hogy megvedjek 24,000 palackos hadizsakmanyukat. A korabeli adatok szerint a whisky "kimenekitese" mellett elraboltak a hajoroncs 10,000 fontot ero teljes berendezeset, lampakat, iroasztalokat, meg a hajo iranytujet is. A Jamaicanak szant 3 millio font egy reszenek is nyoma veszett. A helyi vamtisztek elso rajtautesekor elcsipett 3 hajo egyikeben a 42 karton whisky mellett egy 84 eves bacsika ucsorgott. Az egyik akkoriban letartoztatott es megbirsagolt helybeli unokaja szerint a kuzdelem azert valt oly hevesse, mert a helybeliek nem tudtak elviselni, hogy a hajo ertekes rakomanya karba vesz. Szerinte "ez a pazarlas kulonosen felhaborito lehetett azoknak a rendkivul takarekos embereknek". Mindez azert erdekes, mert hollywood iden nyaron nekiall ujraforgatni az eredeti Whisky Galore filmet.
(The Times)

The 175 years old Teacher's

Born in 1830, Teacher's was one of the first registered whisky trademarks. Developed by the charismatic and innovative William Teacher who narrowly avoided imprisonment for political agitation. Known for his temperance views and high moral standards, Teacher's Dram shops (pubs) in Glasgow were well respected and surprisingly progressive given: no smoking allowed in Teacher's pubs, and drinking in moderation was encouraged. William Teacher was responsible for two inventions that changed whisky irrevocably. In 1913, he invented the "self-opening" bottle (no need for a corkscrew), which is in use by all the Scotch malt whiskies till today. He was also the one, who first applied chill filtering - a process which removes cloudiness in whisky leaving it bright and clear and thus more visually appealing to the consumer. This is now and industry standard process. Teacher's whisky has a higher malt content (45%) than most blended whiskies. This gives a fuller and richer flavour recognised by many whisky enthusiasts. Teacher's celebrates its 175th birthday in 2005. It is expected to see some special limited edition range on shelves, to mark this auspicious occasion.

1830-ban a Teacher's az elsok kozott jegyezte be vedjegyet az altala gyartott blended whiskyre. Az alapito William Teacher karizmatikus es innovativ szemelyiseg volt, akit egyszer csaknem lecsuktak politikai agitacio miatt. Temperamentuma es szigoru erkolcsi normai miatt a Teacher's Dram Shopok (lenyegeben talponallo kocsmak) nagy tiszteletnek orvendtek akkoriban es meglepoen halado szellemu szabalyokat kovettek: a dohanyzas tilos volt a shopokban, illetve mindenkit a kulturalt alkoholfogyasztasra osztonoztek. William Teacher ujitasai nagy hatassal voltak a whisky iparra. 1913-ban, o talalta fel a "kezzel (onmagatol) nyithato" whisky-s uveget (amelynek kinyitasahoz mar nem volt szukseg dugohuzora), amely palackozasi eljarast a mai napig hasznalnak a Scotch malt whiskyk tobbsegenek gyartasa soran. Ugyancsak o volt, aki eloszor alkalmazta a "chill filtering" (hutve szureses) eljarast, amely a fogyasztok szamara szebbe, tisztabba teszi a palackozott whiskyt. Ezt az eljarast is a mai napig alkalmazzak az iparagban. A Teacher's whisky kulonlegesseget az is adja, hogy magasabb a malata whisky tartalma (45%) mint barmely mas blended skot whiskynek. Ezaltal sokkal teltebb, gazdagabb az izvilaga, amely igazan kedvere valik a hozzaertoknek. A Teacher's whisky 2005-ben unnepli 175. szuletesnapjat, igy varhato, hogy a marka iden elorukkol valamilyen kulonleges szuletesnapi "limited edition" sorozattal.

Malt whisky exports soar for Scotch

Scotch malt whisky exports soared worldwide last year, with over 55m bottles of malt whisky shipped overseas, according to export figures for 2004 released by The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). Exports broke the ?2bn barrier for the twelfth year in succession, with over ?2.2bn worth of whisky shipped overseas. The volume of bottled in Scotland malt whisky sent overseas grew by 12% (+6.1m bottles), with bottled blends also up 1% (+9.2m bottles). The 2004 figures revealed it had been a record year in Chine, with exports increasing by 165% (!) in value to over ?25m. Just 5 years ago, Scotch exports to Chine were worth around ?1m. The top 10 export markets by sales volume (in million bottles) are:
1. France (136.2)
2. USA (118.2)
3. Spain (111.9)
4. Thailand (44.4)
5. Germany (36.3)
6. South Korea (33.8)
7. Australia (28.6)
8. South Africa (26.9)
9. Greece (26.9)
10. Venezuela (24.9)

A skot whisky export szarnyalt az elmult evben. A Skot Whisky Szovetseg (SWA) nemregiben kiadott 2004. evre vonatkozo jelentese szerint, 55 millio palack malata whiskyt exportaltak Skociabol. Immar egymast koveto 12 even keresztul sikerult felulmulni a 2 milliard angol fontos export szintet, a legutobbi evben ugyanis 2,2 milliard angol font ertekben ertekesitettek skot whiskyt barhol a tengerentulon. A palackozott skot malt whiskyk ertekesitese 12%-kal (6,1 millio palackkal), mig a blended whiskyke 1%-kal (9,2 millio palackkal) nott. A szamok szerint 2004 rekord ev volt a kinai piac szamara, ahova az export 165%-kal (!) nott es elerte a 25 millio angol font erteket. Ot evvel ezelott az export Kinaba meg nem volt tobb mint 1 millio font. A vilag top 10 export piaca a skot whisky ertekesites szerint (millio palackban):
1. Franciaorszag (136.2)
2. USA (118.2)
3. Spanyolorszag (111.9)
4. Thaifold (44.4)
5. Nemetorszag (36.3)
6. Del-Korea (33.8)
7. Ausztralia (28.6)
8. Del-Afrika (26.9)
9. Gorogorszag (26.9)
10. Venezuela (24.9)

Double Gold Medal for Woodford Reserve

My favourite premium Bourbon whiskey, Woodford Reserve, was awarded the Double Gold Medal for Straight Bourbons at the 2005 World Spirits Competition. It is the highest award given and is the third time in the past six years that Woodford Reserve has won it. World Spirits Competition is well regarded as it is done in a "blind tasting" format; the judges have no idea what brands they are sampling at the time so they are truly judging on quality. Woodford Reserve was first distilled in the oldest and smallest distillery in Kentucky, Labrot & Graham, which was established in 1812. Couple of years ago the distillery was re-named after Woodford Reserve, but the whiskey is still made in the traditional, hand-crafted way. This whiskey is a clear, caramell-like colour Bourbon with sweet vanilla nose and fruity aroma, and a complex and crisp body.

Kedvenc premium bourbon whiskey-m, a Woodford Reserve, Dupla Aranyermet nyert a 2005-os World Spirits Competition-on. Ez a legmagasabb kituntetes, amelyet immar harmadszor nyert el az elmult hat ev soran. A World Spirits Competition az egyik legelismertebb megmerettetes, hiszen a zsuri itt "vaktesztekkel" biralja a versenyzo italokat, ami azt jelenti, hogy sosem tudjak melyik markat kostoljak, ertekelik eppen, igy az eredmeny valoban a minosegen alapszik. A Woodford Reserve whiskeyt eloszor az 1812-ben alapitott Labrot & Graham leparlo uzemben keszitettek, amely a leregebbi es legkisebb leparlo uzem Kentuckyban. Nehany evvel ezelott a leparlo uzem is megkapta a whiskey nevet, de az italt a mai napig a hagyomanyos, "hazikeszitesu" modon allitjak elo. A Woodford Reserve egy tiszta karamell szinu bourbon whiskey edes vanilia illattal es gyumolcsos aromaval, amely osszetett, am frissito elmenyt nyujt.