When - October 30th and 31st, 2008

Where - Aleksandorvskyi Sad Hotel, 3 Georgievskyi Descent, Nizhnyi Novgorod 603005, Russia

For a chance to win two invitations, please email your details to theglenfiddichblog@wgrant.com.

When - October 27th and 28th, 2008

Where - Heliopark Kaiserhof Hotel, Oktyabrskaya st.6A, Kaliningrad 236039, Russia

For a chance to win two invitations, please email your details to theglenfiddichblog@wgrant.com.

In consultation with our longest-serving craftsmen, David Stewart, Eric Stephen and Don Ramsay, who have more than 135 years experience between them, the artist has buried a 500-litre cask of newly distilled Glenfiddich spirit, in the floor of warehouse 8. It is hoped burying the cask will overcome the effect of evaporation, which normally results in the alcohol strength dropping below the legal requirement of 40%abv, after about 50 or 60 years. The objective is simple – to produce a 100-year-old whisky.

25 empty presentation boxes will soon be available for sale at the Toronto International Art Fair and through the distillery Gift Shop. Buyers of this piece of art, called ‘A Drink To Us (When We’re Both Dead)’, will have to pass the wooden box and contract to their children, who in all likelihood, will also have to part with the work before a bottle is filled with whatever remains in the cask in 2108. There is obviously no guarantee just how the spirit will mature and develop in character, whether the liquid will remain in the cask, or indeed whether it will meet the future Scotch whisky legislation of 2108, but the project does ‘have a sense of wonder for the buyer and a sense of expectation for whoever owns the piece in 100 years’ time’, Dave explained.

At CN$2,000 a piece, I personally won’t be rushing to buy a box but I do wish I could be here in 100 years to witness the exhumation of what could be the world’s oldest and cheapest whisky.

For more information about our Artists in Residence programme, please visit our main website.

Regards,

Ludo

I was recently fortunate enough to be part of the selection group that chose the vintage cask in celebration of 25 years of aviation from Larnaca Airport.

Much of the credit for the creation, building and development of the airport must go to Mr. Nicholas Shacolas who played a huge part in getting the airport project off the ground.

Gerry Crawford of CTC-ARI, a partnership of Aer-Rianta and Hermes was delighted with the vintage cask selected from a final choice of eight different casks.

The flavours in the chosen cask were rich with hints of fruit, citrus and raisins.

The cask first laid down in 1975 was a second fill European Oak ex sherry cask, cask number 287.

Both Gerry and his colleague Michael Murphy enjoyed the whole experience from touring the Distillery to nosing and tasting the several casks.

The vintage is likely to be launched in Cyprus in November this year.

Ian Millar

David will be visiting all the major Swedish cities, so please, do give him a wave if you cross his path.
Oh and by the way, David asked me to mention that he never keeps whisky in his car – so no point in getting any silly ideas!

Best regards,

Ludo

Some of these serves are very easy to reproduce and I would encourage you to try some of them out, especially the Glenfiddich Soho, which is one of my favourites. I like it because I think the orange peel, ginger and cloves, emphasize some of Glenfiddich 12’s natural flavours (especially the fresh citrus notes).

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these recipes and of course, if you feel the soul of a mixologist, why not share your own recipes? I’d be happy to pass them on to my many bartending friends.

GLENFIDDICH ZEST created by Alex Turner

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
1 fresh ginger slice
1 fresh lime zest

Method
Build over crushed ice, add ginger and lime, stir & serve in a rock glass.

Garnish
Fresh ginger & lime peel

GLENFIDDICH CALIFORNIAN created by Alex Turner

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
5ml orange bitter
1 orange zest

Method
Build with the orange bitter over crushed ice in a rock glass

Garnish
Orange twist

GLENFIDDICH EDEN created by Alex Turner

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
10 ml clear honey
1 apple peel

Method
Gently muddle the honey with the apple peel, add whisky, add crushed ice and stir in a rock glass

Garnish
Apple peel ribbon


GLENFIDDICH SUMMERTIME created by Andy Lawrence

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
5ml elderflower cordial
1 slice of fresh ginger

Method
Build in a rock glass, gently muddle the ginger with the whisky and the cordial then add crushed ice

Garnish
Slice of fresh ginger

GLENFIDDICH ORIENTAL

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
1 slice of fresh ginger
1 orange peel

Method
Build over cracked or crushed ice, add ginger & orange, stir and serve in a rock glass

Garnish
Slice of fresh ginger with the orange peel

GLENFIDDICH SEVILLE

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
1 orange peel

Method
Build without ice in a rock glass. Flame the orange peel, add into the drink, stir and serve.

Garnish
flamed orange

GLENFIDDICH LIMELIGHT

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
1 lime peel

Method
Build without ice in a rock glass. Flame the lime peel, add into the drink, stir & serve.

Garnish
Slice of fresh ginger with the orange peel

GLENFIDDICH SOHO

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
1 orange rind with three cloves

Method
Build over cracked or crushed ice in a rock glass, stir and serve.

Garnish
Slice of fresh ginger with the orange peel

APPLE DECO created by Xavier Padovani

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
10ml honey syrup (mix 200 grammes of honey with 1 litre of warm water)
25ml fresh apple juice
12.5ml fresh lemon juice

Method
Build in a rock glass
Strain into an ice filled rock glass

Garnish
Apple sliver

GLENFIDDICH STARLIGHT created by Xavier Padovani

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
1 cocktail spoon of gomme syrup
2 cocktail spoons of eaux de vie de framboise

Method
Pour all ingredients in a boston glass, add ice, stir for 3mn, strain into an ice filled rock glass

Garnish
thin slice of star fruit

GLENFIDDICH AGAVE created by Xavier Padovani

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
2 cocktail spoons of agave syrup
2 pink grapefruit twist

Method
Pour all ingredients in a boston glass, add ice, stir for 3mn, strain into an ice filled rock glass

Garnish
Pink grapefruit twist

GLENFIDDICH DE VINE created by Xavier Padovani

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
2 cocktail spoons of crème de peche de vigne
2 cocktail spoon camomile syrup

Method
Pour all ingredients in a boston glass, add ice, stir for 3mn, strain into an ice filled rock glass

Garnish
Pink grapefruit twist

GLENFIDDICH PEARFECT created by Xavier Padovani

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
Dash of eau de vie de poire williams
1 cocktail spoon of honey
3 fresh pear slices

Method
Pour all ingredients in a boston glass, stir then add ice, stir for 3mn, strain into an ice-filled rock glass

Garnish
2 pear slices

GLENFIDDICH FUSION created by Xavier Padovani

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old Caoran Reserve
2 cocktail spoons of green tea cordial
5 or 6 fresh mint leaves

Method
Gently muddle the mint leaves with the cordial in a rock glass, add whisky, add the ice and stir for 2/3mn

BRITISH RAJ created by Oliver Stuart

Ingredients
45ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
10ml of lime juice
20ml star anise infused sugar
1 slice of fresh pear

Method
Shake and strain into an old fashioned glass over crushed ice

Garnish
star anise

JASMIN SOLERA created by Shaun Dolan

Ingredients
50ml Glenfiddich 15 Years Old
10ml Lychee Liqueur
10ml Jasmin syrup
2 dashes of orange bitter

Method
Shake all ingredients (short & sharp), strain over ice cubes in a rock glass

Garnish
1/2 peeled and seeded lychee

CAORAN CHAMPAGNE created by Vedron Milosevic

25ml Glenfiddich 12 Years Old Caoran Reserve
5ml Cointreau
20ml Strawberry puree
Champagne

Method
Shake the Caoran, cointreau and strawberry puree
Pour into champagne flute, top with champagne

Garnish
1/2 strawb and orange curl

Glenfiddich 15, 21 and 40 year old were all awarded a 'Best in Class' Gold at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) this week.

In addition, the 40 year old was awarded the Morrison Bowmore Trophy.

This competition carries a lot of clout within the industry as the panel is loaded with Master Blenders of distinction, our own David Stewart among them.

Each whisky is nosed and tasted blind and points are then awarded, so there is complete objectivity in arriving at their decision.

Well done to our two Masters of Malt, David Stewart and Brian Kinsman.

Ludo - Don, could you please tell our readers how long you have been working at Glenfiddich?

Don - I started my apprenticeship on December 25th, 1961.

Ludo – You started working with us on Christmas day!?

Don - In those years, Christmas was not a public holiday. I was 15 on December 18th and as such, I was allowed to leave school during the next break, which was Christmas. So on Monday 25th December, I reported for duty.

Ludo – Did you always want to be a cooper?

Don - Not really. The cooperage manager also ran the youth club, so when a position opened, he asked the kids if anyone would be leaving school over the Christmas period and if anyone would be interested in becoming a cooper. I raised my hand, spoke to my parents, started my apprenticeship a week later, and that’s been me since!

Ludo – Was it a long apprenticeship?

Don - Compared to today, absolutely! My first year was a probation year, which was basically a year for me to see whether I really liked the job and also for the company to decide whether they did like me. After that, there was another five years’ apprenticeship, which brought you up to the age of 21. Nowadays, you can become a fully qualified cooper in ‘just’ 4 years.

Ludo – Has a lot changed since you’ve been here?

Don - The tools are pretty much the same but the work has changed. When I started, my main duty was to rebuild the shook packs coming from the US. American whiskey casks now come to Scotland fully built but the idea, in those years, was to save space for transport. American whiskey casks would be dismantled in the US, before being put back together in Scotland.

Then came Dump Hogsheads and Distillery Puncheons a few years later. These were basically American whiskey barrels which we were asked to enlarge before they were filled with spirit.

Nowadays, the main responsibility of a Glenfiddich cooper is to check the quality of our casks and approve, discard or repair them if necessary.

Ludo – What was your proudest moment in your career?

Don - Generally, just doing what I do. There is a sense of belonging here, which is of course partly to do with the fact that we are a family-owned business.

More specifically though, I would have to say, the year 2004, when the company decided to bottle a Glenfiddich with my name on it. It was a Vintage Reserve from 1991. I had been involved in the barrel selection back in 1991 so when the company decided to bottle this vintage back in 2004, they called it the ’Don Ramsay’ dram.

Ludo – Have you kept any bottles?

Don - The family was very generous in giving me several bottles. I gave some to my sons and grandchildren but I also kept a couple of bottles for myself.

Ludo – your friend Dennis will reach 50 years’ service in September. Will you also make it to 50 years’ service?

Don - I’ll miss the 50 years by one week because I will reach 65 on December 18th 2011, but it really doesn’t matter. I already have a great sense of satisfaction from what I have done here.

Ludo – I have a final question which I also asked Eric and Dennis. If you could have a dram with William Grant, what would it be?

Don - Glenfiddich 15 Year Old! I think it’s a lovely drink. I was lucky enough to taste a few older Glenfiddichs but I really love the vanilla and sherry notes in Glenfiddich 15. However, I wouldn’t only just have one dram with William. The second one would be the Vintage Reserve 1991, of course!

Please use the comments form below if there are any more questions you would like to ask Don. Don will personally respond to you.

The idea of the walk is to raise awareness of the contribution that Coopers make to the whisky industry and members of the Distilling community will be invited to take part.

I think sometimes we forget the contribution of the Coopers, always hidden behind the scenes. Their work is very labour intensive and the Coopers use the same tools and skills that they would have in the last century. They also spend an incredible 5 years learning their craft before they become fully fledged Coopers.

Our Head Cooper at Glenfiddich, Don Ramsay went through a 6 year apprenticeship back in 1961 and has to be one of the most experienced coopers in the trade.

The walk will begin and end (appropriately) at Speyside Cooperage in the village of Craigellachie, along the way we will pass many Speyside Distilleries, including Craigellachie, Convalmore, Kininvie, Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Benrinnes, Glenallachie, Aberlour and Macallan.

We cross the Spey river in Aberlour via the suspension bridge before heading up the riverside to the Macallan beat. Later, we cross the river again at the famous Telford bridge built by Thomas Telford 250 years ago.

We have a few pleasant surprises planned for participants along the route, we’ll update you on the outcome!

Of course as well as myself we will have a Coopers presence from our own Cooperage at Glenfiddich, the only Distillery-based Cooperage still in operation.

Richard is keen that every participating Distillery bring a cask stave to the event and while the walk takes place Coopers at Speyside Cooperage will build a cask from the various staves. If you are in the area we would be happy to see you there, 10 AM start at Speyside Cooperage in Craigellachie.

Ian Millar

The panel, led by our Malt Master, David Stewart, consisted of Gavin Smith, a whisky writer who has penned tens of books on the subject; Prof. Walter Schobert, the accomplished German author and journalist is highly regarded throughout Europe for his deep knowledge of the whisky industry; Erkin Touzmohamedov, widely recognized as Russia's foremost expert on Scotch whisky and Jimmy Bradley; owner and head chef of two award-winning New York restaurants – the Red Cat and the Harrison.

The panel’s day started with a tour of our distillery, so it wasn’t until after lunch when the panel members were able to discover the six casks which had been pre-selected by David.

Warehouses are unique environments which in my view, beat any beach in the sun, but the overwhelming smell of thousands of casks, does not provide the best condition for a vintage selection, so after a quick nose at the casks in the warehouse, we decided to move to a more appropriate venue.

The camera crews were on standby to capture everybody’s comments and after 3 hours’ deliberation, the panel chose cask number 4414 for its ‘exceptionally rich and complex character’.

The official nosing and tasting notes will be released when the cask is emptied for bottling in the next few weeks but the words citrus, leather and malt were uttered on several occasions…

Please don’t ask me about the final strength yet as the angels will continue to take their share until the bottling day. Equally, I can’t confirm how many bottles will be released until we know exactly what is left in the cask. Please keep an eye on this page and I will provide an update as soon as bottling takes place.

Finally, a video of the selection will be posted on to www.glenfiddich.com in the next few days.

Best regards,

Ludo

PS: Keep scrolling down for more pictures of the selection day.

Peter is the great great grandson of William Grant, who along with his seven sons built Glenfiddich Distillery by hand in 1887.

Peter's father, grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather were all past chairmen of the company, the latter being William Grant.

Peter first worked at Glenfiddich in 1976 when just 17. He spent half of most holidays at the distilleries doing all the manual jobs both in process and barrel handling.

After finishing university Peter worked in food manufacture, marketing, and biscuit sales prior to going full time with William Grant & Sons in 1986.

He first joined as a brand manager and after three years, he transferred back to Scotland to look after the company’s cereal processing operations.

For the last three years he has been Director of the Supervisory Board of William Grant & Sons Ltd and a member of the family council with specific responsibility for the company’s charitable policy and group.

Peter represents William Grant & Sons on the Scotch Whisky Association Council and Scotch Whisky Centre Board.

Between 2002 and 2005 he led and completed the renovation and development of the visitor facilities at the Glenfiddich distillery. He is particularly pleased with the accolade of “Poshest loos in Scotland” for the reworked ladies facilities at Glenfiddich!

Please join me in wishing him every success.

Ian Millar

1975 Casks
Cask 287, filled on 15/1/75; Cask 4704, filled on 28/2/75; and Cask 4706, filled on 28/2/75.

1977 Casks
Cask 4084, filled on 1/3/77; Cask 4409, filled on 7/3/77; and Cask 4414, filled on 7/3/77.

Ian was clamouring around the warehouses this morning to try and take some pictures of the casks. As you can see, the 30+ years in our warehouses have taken their toll on the exteriors. I reckon the interior contents will look similarly aged!

Each cask will yield approximately 500 bottles, but we won't know the exact number until we actually empty the cask for bottling in August.

The selection panel sees a number of whisky experts joined by two chefs, one of which you may recognise for his work as a solo artist. They are:
Prof. Walter Schobert - Accomplished author and journalist who is highly regarded throughout Europe for his deep knowledge of the whisky industry.
Erkin Touzmohamedov - A well-respected tobacco and drinks writer from Moscow, Erkin is widely recognised as Russia's foremost expert on Scotch whisky.
Gavin Smith - Perhaps better known for his achievements in the music business, Gavin is a chef on the rise and can be seen working the kitchens of a north London restaurant.
Jimmy Bradley - Owner and head chef of two two-star New York restaurants.

We'll be giving them a warm welcome at the distillery during the first week in June, so come back and visit the Blog then and we'll have an update on how the selection went with behind the scenes pictures and full details of the cask lucky enough to be chosen as a Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve.

All the best for now,

Ludo

Cask 4084

Cask 4409

A word of warning though. Before you hit the download button - it can be distracting if, like me, you try to guess where all the pictures were taken. I’ve worked here for eight years but it seems I haven’t visited every place yet, as some of the pictures remain a mystery to me. I’ll need to have a word with John!

To download the Glenfiddich clock, please visit the 'Fiddich Fellowship website, which I introduced some time ago on this blog. The address is www.fiddichfellowship.com. Enjoy!

Best regards,

Ludo