Three bottles of the Banffshire blend to come under the hammer

The first few bottle of a unique whisky will come under the hammer in February.

Members of the Banffshire Branch of NFU Scotland toured their county in October 2013, collecting malt whisky donated by all of the 28 working distilleries within Banffshire to create the ‘dream’ dram for whisky aficionados.

Members of the branch struck on the idea of crafting this one-off blend to celebrate NFU Scotland’s centenary and to recognise the close links between the two main industries in their county – whisky and farming.  

The distilleries who donated whisky to the Banffshire Centenary Blended Malt include many of the most famous malts in the world, helping to produce one of the most unique and valuable drams ever created in Scotland’s long history of whisky-making.

With only 40 bottles available, the first two bottles will be auctioned at NFU Scotland’s annual dinner – being held at the Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews on Monday 10 February.  

A delegation from Banffshire branch were in Edinburgh today (Monday, 27 January) to enter a bottle of the blend in the specialist whisky auction being staged by auctioneers Bonhams on Wednesday, 26 February.

Funds from the sale of the blend will go to support the work of NFU Scotland’s Centenary Trust.

Speaking from Edinburgh, Branch chairman Angus Smith said:

“In marking 100 years of NFU Scotland, we wanted to produce something unique that captured the importance of farming and the whisky industry to Banffshire.  With the support of the county’s many distilleries, we have done just that.

“The Centenary Blended Malt is in the bottle and the tasting notes suggest that we have captured something that is truly special and worthy of its place in Scotland’s proud history of whisky-making.”

Notes to Editors

• In creating The Banffshire Centenary Blended Malt, members of the branch toured the distilleries in Banffshire on Thursday, 3 October and Friday, 4 October, 2013 using a Landrover, a vintage tractor and a vintage lorry to carry the cask. Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead, joined the cask on the final few legs of its tour.  The journey ended at Glenfiddich distillery where Mr Lochhead and the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire, Clare Russell, poured the final litre of malt into the cask.
• The first two bottles of The Banffshire Centenary Blended Malt will be auctioned at NFU Scotland’s annual dinner, Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews on the evening of Monday, 10 February.  A third bottle has been entered into the specialist whisky auction being staged by Edinburgh auctioneers Bonhams on Wednesday, 26 February.
• The tasting notes are as follows:
  • Colour - Barley fields in August sunshine.
  • Body - Fantastic purity with a satin smooth texture, it’s a mature, mellow spirit full of characters in the coming together of so many distillates. It has created a totally unique flavour experience which is both intriguing and delicious.
  • Aromatics and palate - It opens on barley and breakfast cereal intertwining wonderfully with freshly picked summer flowers. Then, given time and appreciation, the vanilla sweet oak offers crème brûlée, hazelnut, digestive biscuits and syrup drizzled almonds. But there is so much more evolving and it is on the palate that you get the real sense of just how good this is. The taste buds are loving the flavours of soft fruits; apricot, pear stewed apple, candied almonds, cherries and honey and marzipan cake. The flavours are simultaneously delicate and potent considering the complexity of so many great spirits. The balance is perfect as is the finish which lasts long after the glass is empty. Like a classic tweed many threads come together to produce a complex, decedent, beguiling spirit. It is a credit to all the distillers involved.
  • Finish - The flavours are like true friends; very rare and valued.  When will we see it’s like again?
• More information available at the website: www.banffshire-centenary-blend.co.uk

Ends

Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006