Prestige Whisky - the leading on-line whisky retailer

2010-06-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

Important News

2010-06-11T08:17:00.001-07:00

Please note that with immediate effect Prestige Whisky is no longer actively trading on-line.

News for April

2010-03-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

In the last month or so we've had an unprecedented increase in web traffic and orders. Because of this we're about to begin thinking about expanding the range and services we offers - more to come on this in April and May.

In the meantime we've just added the first in a new line of glassware - whisky glasses which will increase your drinking pleasure. You'll find the new Glencairn glasses on the home page at the PW website - look to the product list on the left of your screen and click on 'Glassware'.

Enjoy !

Ballantine's 1969

2010-03-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

We recently had a lady send a message to the info@prestigewhisky.com e-mail address about the above bottle of whisky - I just wanted to add a note to the blog to say that although we have tried to reply to the e-mail address given, it keeps coming back as rejected by the server.

If you still need assistance on this item please get in touch again on that e-mail address and we will endeavour to help.

A quick message to Mr Chris Holmes

2010-03-04T05:28:00.000-08:00

Chris

I received your telephone message this morning and tried to call you, unfortunately the message was garbled and the number I could make out was not you, please call again if you get chance.

As an aside the Glenlivet Archive (21 Years Old) is in stock and available - if you wish to order please do so via the website.

Apologies for not getting back to you - the limitations of technology I'm afraid

More winter madness ...

2010-02-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

If you are after a superb winter warmer that's perhaps right as an extra special gift, then try on the wooden boxed Glenlivet 21 Year Old we're just added to our website for the steal of £ 70.00.

Here's the pic :

Dalwhinnie Winter madness

2010-02-25T06:29:00.000-08:00

We've added the second new Dalwhinnie of the week to the website today.

You'll now find the Distillers Edition on the Highland and new whisky tab for a refreshing
£ 44.99.

Try this one if you like a spicy vanilla tint to your tipple.

New whisky now live

2010-02-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

We have some exciting new whisky hitting the www.prestigewhisky.com website in coming days, starting with a 36 Year Old Dalwhinnie - bob across there now to pick up this important expression for £ 399.99

PW News for February

2010-02-22T04:08:00.000-08:00

We've had to remove three whiskies from www.prestigewhisky.com as they are no longer available. Affected are the following expressions ;

Mortlach 1949
Strathisla 1949
Smiths Glenlivet

We dod however have a fantastic Glen Grant 1949 to part replace this loss - keep checking out the webstie for more details.

You'll also find a new Prestige Whisky Experiences partner added to the website today. This is Merus Deli - a fine coffee house and delicatesan in North Leeds. Situated along New Road Side between Horsforth and Yeadon, Merus is also close to Leeds Bradford Airport.

Please try and get along if you're in the Leeds area - definitely worth a visit for the true gastronought

English Whisky

2010-02-12T02:24:00.000-08:00

Following on from my recent post concerning the above, The English Whisky Company came back to us recently and I've learned that following an appearance on Radio 2 in November there has been a massive increase in demand for their Chapter 6, 3 Year Old Whisky expression.

As a result they now funnel all their stock to a distributor (our main one as it happens) however, there is no availability of this item at the moment - I'm reliably informed there are two bottles for sale in the UK - both ironically in Scotland.

However, the furore will die down as we move into the Summer and I'm expecting to begin listing this item in July or August.

Incidentally, Red Rose Whisky the other 'English' producer sell a five year old blend of Scotch Whisky - probably not something we'd plan to stock although if there is demand that might change.

THe Dalmore Selene

2010-02-11T03:03:00.000-08:00

The Dalmore Selene is a new expression created and approved by Richard Paterson. There will only be 30 limited edition Decanters produced for worldwide consumption making this one of those rare whisky 'events'. Expect them to increase massively above the retail price of £ 12,000 in coming months and years. Our supplier has one and only one bottle available and that is on a strictly first come first served basis. If you wish to buy contact us urgently and we will attempt to secure this very special item for you.

Here's the details from www.prestigewhisky.com

This is one very special bottle of whisky.

The Dalmore distillery is soon to release Selene, a stunning 58 Year Old vintage drawn from casks 1781 and 1782. Both casks were filled on the same day, 7th June 1951 and then left slumbering in the Dalmore’s warehousing until Richard Paterson deemed the time was right to combine their individual aromas, flavours and finishes.

Just 30 outstanding crystal decanters are available worldwide. Each has been crafted from the finest Portuguese mouth blown crystal and is enhanced with patient hand cutting, a solid silver stag and a beautiful, bespoke silver moon.

To find out more about this exciting whisky event please contact Prestige Whisky on 0845 6254395 or e-mail info@prestigewhisky.com

The Dalmore Selene is so rare that our supplier only has access to one decanter. We are therefore showing the bottle on our website but if you want to own this once in a lifetime piece of whisky history you must act quickly. Please contact us as above and we will check if the one decanter is still available.

If we are able to secure this item then we will proceed at normal and organise delivery for the very lucky purchaser.

How you search on www.prestigewhisky.com

2010-02-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

How you search on a website pretty much epitomises the success or failure of the web design process.

I think that it is true to say that we took a lot of time over getting the look, feel and search experience of Prestige Whisky as good as we could on the budget that was available at the time. We were extremely lucky that the designer we used (BWeb based in Woking who I have mentioned here before) was both patient and brilliant and I think that the result we created punches well above it's wait in a number of crucial areas outlined above.

However, since launch I've certainly got a bit lazy with regards the sites search function - basically knowing where everything sits on the site I tend to go straight to the item I want and by pass the search box (top right of the screen) altogether. When I do use it, it's to type the first three letters of a brand to get quickly to a item I know is there ('MAC' for Macallan, 'STR' for Strathisla etc). Yesterday morning though I had two calls from separate customers who'd both arrived at our site and used 'search' as intended - they were both independently looking for 40th birthday/anniversary gifts and rang to check stock availability (one bought, the other didn't). Both had searched using the magic box and come up with the whisky they wanted.

The ironic thing is that although it is perfectly possible to search by brand, year, age, abv, region - in fact practically anyway you can think up on the website none of this functionality we actually intended - we just got lucky with a good designer and really function website. In fact we expected at outset most visitors to search using the region tabs to the left of the screen - which to my knowledge very few people actually do.

English Whisky

2010-02-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

Over November and December we had quite a few requests from customers for English whisky. In particular I took half a dozen calls ironically when I was on holiday in the home of whisky (Scotland) over Christmas from customers disappointed that our extensive range didn't include any English expressions.

To be honest, English whisky had never really occurred to me - I was aware of it but had assumed that most people would be more interested in Scottish or Irish iterations. However, given we do have an (slowly) expanding whiskies of the world section at www.prestigewhisky.com I thought it would be worth giving English a go. I contacted the two live distillery businesses I knew of : The English Whisky Company and Red Rose Whisky.

I sent the same letter to both on the same day - outlining who we are, how we would want to work with them and offering them access to the site as we do with all our distillery partners. This was all in the last week of December. It suddenly occurred to me today that neither has replied.

I have e-mailed both again today, reminding them who we are and hopefully soon we'll be able to add some quality English liquid to the site.

I will of course keep you all updated.

Wander over to www.prestigewhisky.com for Lagavulin

2010-02-09T06:07:00.001-08:00

We've just added the IWSC award winning Islay, Lagavulin 16 Year Old at £48.99

Buy it before it runs out !

New items on www.prestigewhisky.com

2010-02-05T01:18:00.000-08:00

I've added some very exciting new expressions to the site this morning.

First up is the Scapa 16 Year Old at £ 48.99

This is a wonderful Island malt, a decent 'everyday' drink that would be ideal on a cold blowy evening.

Then The Balvenie 1978 at 53.8% abv

This excellent, prestigious, award winning distillation I see more as a celebration of something really special - a business deal, a retirement, a christening ?

Both are IWSC Award winning and represent excellent examples of their type importantly at totallt different ends of the pricing spectrum - hopefully we can tick the swift and clean Island malt to drink whenever you fancy and also the rare prestige of the Balvenie which is for special occasions or that ultimate gift.

Whisky news

2010-02-04T23:38:00.000-08:00

It looks like Edrington has finally got it''s hands on Cutty Sark as a deal has been agreed with Berry Brothers for them to pass the Cutty Sark brand to Edrington and the Glenrothes brand moves the other way (although the Glenrothes distillery itself will remain with Edrington). As you'd expect long term supply agreements are also expected to be in place.

This news isn't going to surprise insiders too much as I remember talking to an Edrington contact as long ago as October/November 2008 who said they were expecting to acquire the Cutty Sark brand for the Maxxium portfolio.

You can find full detail on the story at Scotchwhisky.net

New delivery terms and conditions

2010-02-04T03:46:00.001-08:00

We have now formally amended the T & C in line with recent EU delivery issues.

It's offically, five working days delivery time in the UK, up to six weeks in the EU and 8 to 10 weeks for the rest of the world.

Here's a screenshot of the new website Terms and Conditions at www.prestigewhisky.com :

UK Orders :

All of our mainland UK orders regardless of number of bottles have a flat charge of £ 8.95 per order

Delivery is usually within five working days. However, because some of our products are bottled to order it can take a little longer (perfection takes a little time). We will keep you fully informed if this is the case. Free gift cards are available if a present is going to take a while - contact us for full details.

Due to the nature of the whiskies we stock, limited bottlings and rare whisky can become unavailable very quickly. This is often outwith our control and we will always let you know as soon as we can when this happens following any order.

Please note that the 'Silver' Range is only available to UK purchasers.

Overseas Orders :

All Western EU/non mainland UK orders (e.g. Channel Islands, Northern Ireland etc) are £ 24.95

Other European orders will cost £ 29.95

European orders can take up to six weeks for you to receive your whisky. This is outwith our control and would ask you to bear this in mind when making your order.

Shipping to the USA and Canada costs £ 49.95

Other Worldwide orders £ 59.95

Orders outside the European Union can take between eight and ten weeks for you to receive tour whisky. This is outwith our control, please bear this in mind when making your order.

Please note that our silver range is only available to UK based customers.

For more information and details of extra insurance you can purchase let us know.

For orders to the USA, Russia, China and India we strongly recommend your purchase additional shipping insurance that we can provide you with.

Prestige Whisky work with an extremely professional courier business and will provide proof of dispatch upon request - please remember that we can't be held responsible for overzealous customs officials!

Please note that the payment of any levies,taxes or import charges for your orders destination country are the responsibility of the purchaser and Prestige Whisky in no way accepts this liability.

Where we think there may be issues as above we will get in touch to discuss the best options prior to dispatching your purchase.

International Deliveries from Prestige Whisky

2010-02-04T03:27:00.000-08:00

Over the recent festive period we had issues with deliveries into Europe. When the business was set up we expected deliveries into Europe to take around ten to fourteen days.

In December 2009 it actually took over three weeks. We had just chalked this down to either customs delays or simply the Christmas rush.

In fact we've now had one order in particular to Belgium outstanding since the 6th of January - a total of 28 days today. Obviously we're actively investigating the circumstances around this delivery with a view to establishing if this is a delay or a lost package. However I think it's important that we be honest with Prestige Whisky customers so I wanted to outline a couple of important issues around overseas postage.

Clearly we're reliant on overseas courier companies who receive handoff from our reliable UK partners. At the moment we actually pay more for mainland European package delivery than we charge on to our clients - there are a number of reasons for us subsidising this service but one thing is apparent that unless we were to hike the rate charged astronomically we aren't in a position in Europe to offer a reduced turnround on delivery times.

However, we are still keen to offer a service outside the UK, it just seems that cutomers may need to be extremely patient.

With this in mind, and we will update the website accordingly I have to warn overseas customers that it can take several weeks for consignments from the UK to arrive with them. Please bear this in mind when ordering.

Changes to the layout of the PW website

2010-02-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

This time there are no visible changes to the textual content or layout as such but we're just beginning to make use of the visual potential of some of the IT kit that we are now using - so we're hoping that the new images of products that we're now able to include within the blog make things look a lot better.

Hopefully readers are now enjoying the blog a little more - please feel free to contact us on info@prestigewhisky.com if you want to leave any feedback or ask questions.

New, low cost whisky

2010-02-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

New to the site you'll now find the Black Bottle 10 Year Old blend under either the new product tab or in the blended whisky section.

This is a lovely award winning whisky that would suit someone who is new to whisky or fancy trying something of an Islay type without perhaps so much peat flavouring.

Enjoy.

Award winning whiskies

2010-01-31T02:54:00.000-08:00

If you're in the market for exciting, flavoursome, award winning whisky then www.prestigewhisky.com should be your next web browse.

We're expanding our range weekly and at the moment we're focusing on adding award winning expressions.

On the front page of our site you'll see our 'new whisky' section bottom left of your screen - check out these four fantastic examples of IWSC award winning distillations :

The Bunnhabhain 25 Year Old
Hankey Bannister 40 Year Old
Macallan 12 Year Old
Talisker 57 Degrees

Click on any of the items to go straight into the full product page - in the tasting notes section you'll find out why the judges marked them all so highly.

All whiskies are available for delivery in the UK within five working days, so go on and treat yourself or maybe buy them for that special someone ...

New whisky now live

2010-01-29T07:50:00.001-08:00

If you're into fine Islay whisky, the have a quick trip over to www.prestigewhisky.com and you'll find our latest offering.

This is the 25 Year Old Bunnahabhain which is a beautiful example of Islay whisky and to cap it off a recent IWSC award winner as well. All this for £ 178.99

Prestige Whisky on Twitter

2010-01-27T02:16:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't found us there yet, we regularly tweet under the name whisky1 on Twitter. We're also featured in 17 Twitter lists and host our own whisky retailers list as well.

Coverage of PW is expanding and we're becoming a regular feature of the market place as we drive sales forward.

The Dalwhinnie 20 Year Old

2010-01-27T02:12:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to draw your attention to this wonderful whisky. It's available at £ 124.99 plus postage at www.prestigewhisky.com and has consistently proved to be one of our most popular products.

We think it's the combination of exquisite flavours and the brilliant Dalwhinnie brand - it's a fantastic whisky and well worth the pennies

Are you a business in the food and drink sector

2010-01-25T01:36:00.000-08:00

If you're a business operating in the prestige end of the food and drink business please feel free to get in touch - on our PW Experience tab we're always looking to feature the best of food and drink.

We'll allow you to create your own 'write up', feature your own images plus we'll also feature extensive blog and twitter coverage too.

The good news is that at the moment this is all free - it allows us to include mutual links between relevant industry websites - this is good for PW's google rankings, secondly it gives us extra material for the blog and lastly we are passionate about local business and want to help where possible.

Contact us on 07883 882064 or phil@prestigewhisky.com for more info

Potnetial new PW Experience partner

2010-01-25T01:34:00.000-08:00

We're in talks with a potential new PW Experiences partner (see the PW Experiences section at www.prestigewhisky.com).

They are a specialist coffee house/deli based in Leeds, going to visit the owner this morning and see if there is interest in being featured on the site and blog.

Will update asap

Updates to PW website

2010-01-14T02:25:00.001-08:00

Two changes to mention today. Overnight we have added the Hankey Bannister 40 Year Old to the Blends section of the website. This lovely whisky is available at £ 364.99 per bottle and is a Gold Award winner from the '08 IWSC.

In addition we have added in a new section entitled 'PW Experiences'. You'll find this new tab at the top right of our home page at www.prestigewhisky.com. The aim with introducing this section is to allow our customers access to not only the best in whisky to buy on the rest of the site but also feature some great whisky related tours, hotels and holidays. We're currently talking with our first potential marketing partner and full details will feature in PW Experiences when everything is agreed. Suffice to say we'll soon be enabling you to visit the spiritual home land of your favourite whiskies !

2010-01-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

Found this wonderful image on the internet of snow bound Britain, if anything can help keep out the cold it's a nip of whisky - see if there's anything you fancy at : www.prestigewhisky.com

Blog Tweaks

2010-01-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

We've just implemented a couple of tweakettes to the blog this morning.

The background is a little different and we're also trying a little lighter text - no real reason just a bit of a change for the New Year. There are also a couple of new pictures to make things more interesting and varied. Same old content though I'm afraid.

I would however like to take this opportunity to say hi to our new readers who've come via Twitter (I think there have been four or five since I last posted an update on Twitter about this blog) - so hi and enjoy.

We've also had a massive bump in readers at this blog. At the end of December when I last put together web stats we had had 850 visits, we're now up to 1220 - our feel is that in addition to our valuable customers who want to keep up to date, there is also now traffic from whisky industry observer and insiders - we will hopefully be featuring content that will interest everyone in coming months.

Please, please, please remember that although we massively enjoy writing this blog and Tweeting merrily away, it's not a charity so get across to www.prestigewhisky.com and buy something ! (only half-joking - we still have to pay the salaries of the Christmas Elves who did such a sterling job over the festive period. Of course we'll also need to begin budgeting for the Easter bunnies who will shortly be arriving at PW Towers to begin work as we move towards April.

Added this week

2010-01-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

The Talisker 57 Degrees, a super Island whisky for £ 50 plus P & P and also the Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Year Old.

Macallan has long been one of our favourite tipples and we strongly recommend this one at £ 35.00 plus postage.

Both are available at www.prestigewhisky.com

Over 1,000 followers on Twitter

2010-01-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

We have cracked the psychologically important barrier of 1,000 Twitter followers today - 1,022 at the last check and rising.

Importantly we're now also included in 12 Twitter lists, this has risen from 5 just before the Festive break. It seems that news of PW and this blog (with over 1200 views) is now rapidly becoming important to the scotch whisky industry.

We're hoping to bring you interviews and news from industry players in coming months too.

Watch this space !

IWSC Award winners

2010-01-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

Watch out for lots from our new IWSC range - you'll see them arriving in the first quarter of 2010 - all fine and sensational expressions - the very best of the best in the world of whisky.

The first is a silver award winner - the Talisker 57 Degrees, available for £ 50.00

Exciting Twitter news ...

2010-01-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

Exciting news from over at Twitter, our account whisky1 is about to go over the 1,000 follower mark - we currently have 998 - watch out for this milestone in the next couple of hours !

Bigger and better in 2010

2009-12-29T23:43:00.000-08:00

We've had a brief break from new media over the Festive period (not from work on the whisky website where it has been MANIC) but now we're back with avengence for 2010.

In coming weeks and months you'll see new stock, new suppliers, new marketing deals and announcements and a whole host of developments as we begin to build on the lessons learned in 2009 and progress from our business plan applied into 2010.

I'll do a full round up of where I think we are after our first year of begin live towards the end of December or early in January - suffice to say we are ahead of our projections on virtually all levels and keen to push on

Happy Festive Greetings !

2009-12-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

Following a fabulously busy and successful Festive period we've now stopped taking orders for Christmas delivery.

Between now and the 4th of January we are accepting orders as usual but within our usual five working day delivery where possible (given the bank holidays etc this may slip a little).

Have a great Festive break and enjoy your whisky !

Sorry John

2009-12-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

John

You rang me earlier today chasing a bottle of Macallan Amber, you left me a number and asked me to call back once I'd checked if it was available - it's not I'm afraid but the number you gave me doesn't have a voicemail attached to it and I've tried it three times this afternoon - sorry but I couldn't get hold of you - here's hoping you check out our blog or Twitter account !

Prestige Whisky

RSS Feed

2009-12-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

I think i may have blogged about the following topic before in the last few weeks - you'd think I'd be able to be bothered to locate and link to this item on my own blog - but I can't .....

Anyway, we currently have 9 subscribers to this blog (as shown when you search for 'Prestige Whisky' on the search function on google reader). I think I'd asked people to subscribe in a previous blog and see if we can up the numbers a bit.

However, despite the raging success of the website traffic at www.prestigewhisky.com; over 1100 visits to the blog and now nearly a 1,000 followers on Twitter we still can't get past 10 subscribers.

Come on, it's the festive period - subscribe via your favourite rss feed thingy and give us some more good numbers to end the year.

Ta !

Busy at PW towers

2009-12-15T06:34:00.000-08:00

We're beginning to see a large rush on orders for Christmas and in the UK you've got until Friday to make your order over at www.prestigewhisky.com.

For everywhere else I'm afraid the chances are that your order will now be coming across in either the two or three working days between the 25th of December and the New Year or in early 2010.

If you're in the UK and still need that special gift, feel free to drop us an e-mail at info@prestigewhisky.com or call on either 0845 6254395 or 07883 882064 and one of our Elves will be waiting to point you in the direction of the correct dram.

Enjoy !

Christmas Shopping Deadlines

2009-12-08T03:12:00.000-08:00

We wanted to let our blog readers know the relevant dates for guaranteed Christmas deliveries.

We don't use the Royal Mail, in actual fact we have a firm of very professional couriers that we partner with who offer us far more flexibility and support.

Our dates breaks down as follows :

For UK deliveries the last day for guaranteed delivery before the 25th is Friday 18th of December
For EU it will be the 14th of December
In the case of World wide deliveries anything on or before the 11th should be ok.

Although the website will be open and taking orders throughout the festive period and the whisky elves at PW towers will be available to answer all of your queries we won't be able to dispatch orders from the 24th of December up til Monday 4th of January 2010.

Enjoy Christmas !

Twitter widget

2009-12-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

Just an update - the Twitter widget problem is endemic with this widget and as such I've deleted the feed until the problem is resolved.

you'll need to actually go to www.twitter.com to find us - search under whisky1 and join the party !

updates ...

2009-12-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

Had a bit of a flurry of activity on Twitter in the past couple of days and we now have over 900 followers with more joining hourly - hopefully as we add more content in the site and blog as we move towards Christmas we should have more interest for www.prestigewhisky.com coming from Twitter.

On the subject of Twitter, I've deleted and re-submitted the Twitter widget on this blog as historically we've ended up a couple of times with other peoples Twitter feed - hopefully this is now resolved - fingers crossed.

Coming next week at PW - more whiskies as we move into the festive period proper - this week we're hoping to add IWSC Gold Award winners to the site.

We're also going to do a re-vamp of our promoted stock as well imminently.

1,000 visits to this blog !!!

2009-12-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

We've just passed the milestone of 1,000 separate visits to this blog.

Not sure who was the 1,000th person to visit but thanks anyway - big achievement for us.

On a different note, it seems that again the Twitter feed appearing isn't ours ! Please therefore ignore anything that appears until I blog again and confirm it's whisky1 talking.

New stock for Autumn

2009-11-26T03:58:00.000-08:00

Good morning, on this rainy and blustery morning we're pleased to announce six new expressions to www.prestigewhisky.com which are ideal to warm you up on this cold Autumn day :

Aberlour 30 Year Old
Authtentoshan 21 Year Old
Brora 21 Year Old
and a trio of Tomatins, the 25, 30 and 40 Year Old

All are available at lower than RRP prices at www.prestigewhisky.com

Enjoy !

PW Elite discount offer

2009-11-23T02:11:00.000-08:00

Remember that when you buy from us you'll receive a 5% discount voucher that you're able to use with your next purchase from us.

These vouchers are not time limited and are transferable so you can pass them on to friends or family to use in your place.

Each purchase gets you one and each voucher can be used once.

Postage

2009-11-23T02:08:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that I should probably confirm to our customers that Prestige Whisky does not use the Royal Mail to deliver our whisky, in fact we use a specialist courier who have worked with us since day one. They are based in the North of Scotland and in the run up to Christmas our five working day turnaround time on delivery should remain in tact.

Prestige Whisky on Face Book

2009-11-20T03:55:00.000-08:00

In case anyone has been wondering, I haven't been talking much about Facebook or updating it that often as there have been a couple of access issues and more recently problems uploading pictures (which to be fair aren't FB's fault). However if you are interested in visiting us here's the url to copy and paste

www.facebook.com/pages/Prestige-Whisky/141909982581

Is it me or is Facebook at bit too 'techy' to use easily ?

New stock for November

2009-11-20T03:36:00.001-08:00

After a really quiet month (I've been so busy with a variety of back office issues that looking for new website stock has really slipped) we are pleased to announce 5 new expressions for www.prestigewhisky.com.

These are all either Island or Islay and come in a wide ranging spectrum of price for you - so if you fancy something a little wind swept and flavoursome (to match the weather we're having at the minute) can I suggest :

Arran 10 Anniversary Malt (watch out for some exciting Arrna news coming in a few weeks all being well !) £ 89.99
Highland Park 1977 £ 295.00
Tobermory 32 Year Old £ 189.99
Bowmore Bordeaux £ 59.99
Bowmore White £ 2299.99

In terms of personal preference I'd probably suggest the Tobermory but of course for prestige it has to be the Bowmore White - a snip at just under £ 2,300

Blog subscribers

2009-11-19T02:36:00.000-08:00

On a whim I just checked in google reader how many people subscribe to our blog - at the moment it's only 9 people with one person subscribing to our retail whisky list on Twitter, not sure how many subscribe to or main Whisky1 Twitter feed but not many I'd suspect.

Given that we're nearly at 1,000 views of this blog in total I'd really love to have more subscribers and more interaction by definition with our customers - so do me a favour and go to your google account (or equivalent reader), click on reader and do a search for us under 'prestige whisky' then click subscribe.

As an aside we're also planning (thinking about) a PW podcast - if you're interested in hearing early versions please feel free to drop me an e-mail on info@prestigewhisky.com and I'll send it out to you when it's ready - putting it on the website and of course itunes should follow but I have to work out the kinks first so at the mo it will be a small podcast which should e-mail ok.

Our mission statement

2009-11-19T02:06:00.000-08:00

It says on our home page at www.prestigewhisky.com that our mission statement is : -

"We deliver a quality range of fine, rare and exclusive malt whiskies and blends.
Provide personal service for all of our customers.
"Quality whisky without compromise”."

This set of 'statements' is a legacy dating from when the website first launched and we (quite quickly) wrote a tranche of copy to go on the new site which we thought might attract and interest customers. Since then we haven't really reviewed much if any of the copy except to correct errors and typos etc
To be totally honest looking back at it now some of the copy seems a little pompous and overblown and of course as a new entrant in to the market I think it's also safe to categorise us a bit naive as well.

This morning I've been involved in a few admin type things and also been replying to potential marketing/business partner about some things and then my morning began get a little involved so I deliberately stopped what I was doing and happened to send out a tweet mentioning that if you wanted to get a feel for PW and our mission you should visit our blog.

This got me thinking about our mission as it is represented on our website (above) and is this really 'fit for purpose' now we're up and running fully with some understanding of where we find ourselves?

So looking at our mission statement - is it correct ? Well yes in terms of factual content. We do indeed deliver a range of good whiskies and we do provide a personal service for customers. I was never that sure what 'quality without compromise' actually was, but in so far as it sounds good and is probably impossible to actually achieve I like to think we give it a shot.

But sitting behind those statements is what we really, actually do wit this business - Yep, we sell good whisky and I think we do it well. In addition though, we want to entertain, educate, really do everything with a smile on our faces - not just when we're counting the cash but at every stage of the customer journey. Even when perhaps when we aren't able to do everything we'd like to do for people. (We specialise in rare expressions and because they are rare they run out. It's awful having to tell a customer we don't have the whisky they want especially as given the nature of on-line trading they have already paid us. However, it's a fact of our business and we have to take it on the chin - it also really hurts refunding the money - but that's life).

So although for now the mission statement is going to stay on the website, I more often think about our business in terms of the elevator pitch - when people ask me what my business is and how it looks this is what I say :

We're an on-line retailer of whisky. More than that we specialise in rare and exclusive whiskies for connoisseur, new drinker and gift purchaser alike. Our website is new and cool plus we use as much new media as possible to promote ourselves. Sitting behind everything is a genuine love for what we do and a desire to make whisky and the craftsmanship that it embodies a part of as many peoples lives as we can.

It's not very catchy but I think it covers some of the key themes.

By the way high there if you did follow the link from Twitter on our mission - sorry it's a bit more of an involved post than you were perhaps expecting but welcome to Prestige Whisky - please subscribe and feel free to comment on anything about us.

Email us at info@prestigewhisky.com

Update ...

2009-11-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

The really great website traffic continues unabated and we are on-going with a number of projects both behind the scenes and also more visible which will continue to drive productive traffic for www.prestigrewhisky.com.

Yesterday we had another set of record traffic and seo figures - fantastic news. However as intimated above we don't like to sit on our laurels and we're getting ready to announce a business partnership which will enable us to offer (working closely with a new partner company) access to some wonderful whisky experiences - ideal for Spring and Summer next year - watch for more details and links, photo's etc here, on our news section and via Twitter.

Work will soon re-commence on the addition of more excellent new whiskies to the site - exciting ranges to come for Christmas !

Weekend traffic

2009-11-15T22:35:00.001-08:00

Morning to all our regular readers, our Twitter followers and new customers and browsers from www.prestigewhisky.com.

Traffic to all of our media are exceeding expectations - last weekend as an example. We've had record traffic on the website every day since last Friday. In addition traffic via google equalled our previous record on Friday and then broke it both Saturday and yesterday. This meant as you'd expect that sales were again up - it looks like November will be a record month for us as we move towards Christmas.

Also on the up are our Twitter followers at 750 now and blog readers moving towards 1,000

So thanks everyone who is showing an interest, there's more good stuff to come from PW in the weeks up to X-Mas and beyond in terms of both media content and of course new expressions of whisky on the site.

News update for Monday 9th November 2009

2009-11-09T01:34:00.001-08:00

Morning all

Excellent traffic and sales on the website over the weekend, hope everyone enjoyed the second part of our jovial Christmas guide - we've actually now exhausted the source material for this but I enjoyed the comedy writing process so much that we may actually go for a third or even fourth part in the run up to Christmas - watch this space.

Wanted to mention the Twitter account, whisky one now has over 700 followers and we're included within six industry lists. Twitter is an exciting medium which allows us instant access to nearly 1,000 people at the of a switch - if any blog readers haven't begun to follow us yet I'd strongly suggest it.

Lastly, we've done some tweaking over the weekend which should increasingly allow search engines to find www.prestigewhisky.com more easily. This isn't something that will happen overnight but as a general principle it should now direct more generic searches like "highland whisky" to us at searches nearer to the first few pages of google and others.

This is the first major seo work we've done really since launch and in the way that work to date has put us ahead of targets (by around 10% so far) we're hoping that this work will help us go to the next level.

Theoretically, the work on the blog, Twitter and the website should all add to the beneficial effects.

The (Probably) most definitive (Ever) in the world Whisky gift guide to Christmas Ever from Prestige Whisky - Part Deux

2009-11-06T01:57:00.000-08:00

So, its getting a bit parky outside and as the cold Autumn evenings begin to close in you'll no doubt be thinking of Christmas gift shopping and of course writing that special letter to Santa.

As an aside make sure that on Christmas eve when you're bobbing out the kids stockings and placing the mince pies and whisky for Santa - for goodness sake make sure you don't put down either a blend or lowland/island malt for the big man. Remember he's from the far north and only Highland Whisky would do. Word around the North Pole is that he prefers the Glenglassaugh 40 Year Old - an award winning malt available from PW for a mere £ 1375.00 a bottle. Also, continuing the aside, Rudolph hates carrots, he much prefers a nice snifter of a smooth Island like the 30 Year Old Highland Park at £ 245.99 like along with Brocolli and Brussell Sprouts! Check out www.prestigewhisky for the Christmas crowds favourites.

From our extensive Scottish range we have carefully selected whisky from the tips of the Higlands and Islands to the more delicate and lighter Lowland (the toe of Scotland ?) styles with a smashingly superb crafted selection of malts and blends of all ages.

If you are looking for a special aged malt we have a superdooper search section on our site to locate the malt of age and distinction to match the perfect year,perhaps a birth date,wedding anniversary or retirement gift or even just a memorable year perhaps 1966 for those English football fans that are lucky enough to remember this most memorable occasion.

Whatever the occasion, joking aside we have a whisky to suit.

You can also contact our expert (don't you just hate that word?) team by phone or e-mail and we will gladly offer our free personal shopper service where we can carefully select the malt of choice by age,flavour,region or even by a memorable place in Scotland.

Now Christmas is clearly our busiest time of the year but even so we will be waiting eagerly to speak to our customers to help as much as we can to ensure you get the right gift in time for Christmas - but if you ring on Christmas day please don't be offended if the answer phone picks up the message.
Remember that even though our Prestige Whisky Office Gremlins get paid in ceiling wax and bits of string it is written into their contract that we have to give them Christmas day off - it's something to do with cross-species solidatary with the Christmas Elves. As a result the Gremlins Christmas Party is usually a sight to behold.

With over 15 years experience within the whisky industry we are only a call or e-mail away to finding that special personal Yuletide Whisky gift for Christmas. To make the most perfect present why not take advantage of our personalised calligoraphy service where we will design a bespoke message to complete that perfect gift selection.

We look forward to welcoming customers old and new to help with making that memorable present even more special.

To contact our team call us on: 0845 6254395 or simply e mail us from any global location (even Scunthorpe) by e-mailing:

info@prestigewhisky.com

Our site for all our customers is: www.prestigewhisky.com

We look forward to your call or e mail.

Prestige Whisky | info@prestigewhisky.com

Exciting news

2009-11-05T02:52:00.000-08:00

Moving towards Christmas we are working on a new media project with a distillery partner, details to begin being announced soon.

As per previous blogs we now have calligraphy available to compliment our gift selection.

This week we've installed thousands of pounds worth of new ITsystems with a powerful dedicated new computer to handle our increasing processing requirements both for the site and our administrative processes. Thanks to our web designers BWebsites for their support during the transition.

The second part of our tongue in cheek Christmas gift guide hits this blog tomorrow so watch out.

Most excitingly of all website traffic has just gone insane with yesterday being our highest ever volume of traffic to the site with an increase of over 8% in a single day.

Very exciting !

Calligraphy now available

2009-11-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

We've had a number of requests to 'extend' the whisky gift experience. So now we're offering a unique service.

For £ 59.95 you can now order a hand painted, fully 'illuminated' gift scroll which includes your message and full details of your whisky and the distilleryt it's from.

We're bringing this to you in partnership with a professional calligraphist and lead in times mean that we need to allow two to three weeks to get your scroll to you.

Order early for Christmas - at the moment you'll need to contact us on info@prestigewhisky.com for details or to order but once we assess demand we will add a 'buy now' tab and also possible take on the calligraphist on a part time basis ourselves - so the more interest the more likely the £ 59.95 might fall a little.

Each scroll takes up to three hours to complete.

Contact us for more information

New Highland Expressions

2009-11-02T06:38:00.001-08:00

Just added today are the following new expressions :

Glenmorangie 30 Year Old
Glenury Royal 50 Year Old
Glenury Royal Cask Strength 36 Year Olf
Oban 32 Year Old (great whisky, great price!)
Royal Lochnagar Select Reserve

All available at www.prestigewhisky.com

Recent updates

2009-11-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

On Friday we added a couple of new Campbeltowns and Highland expressions to the website.

We also sold out of the Brora 30 Year Old, 2005 release - apologies to that customer in Germany who just missed out !

www.prestigewhisky.com has now been updated accordingly.

The Economy - PW overview

2009-10-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

It's interesting to note that reviewing the news media in the last couple of weeks (and I'm obviously talking broadly about the UK based media, although I suspect this pattern is also beginning to show through in the United States as well)you can begin to see stories about 'green shoots' emerging within the economy.

Although it seems that this has been one of, if not the longest recession on record we don't really seem to have hit the deep slumps of 'Depression' - this may be because the world economies intervened in their various banking sectors in time - there are positive signs emerging.

Firstly the consumer confidence indicators are starting to pick up in the run up to Christmas and the housing market, which dropped then stabilized relatively quickly now seems to be driving some value again. Anecdotally I would comment that it has been a while coming but I'm now seeing removals vans regularly parked up outside houses on a Friday morning (the traditional 'moving day' within the UK) - this is a sight that almost disappeared in my area when the credit crunch bit - but this morning on the route of a five mile drive I saw three such vans.

It seems to me though that there are three main drag factors to the economy : -

1)Strikes - in the UK we have a series of national postal strikes as well as numerous local council and public sector disputes - two large ones in my own county alone. Possibily the bad feeling within these workforces is caused by employers taking the opportunity to use the recession as a pretext to imposet harsher conditions or pay. I mean my council tax went up (again) this year by more than inflation - so why can't the workers have a decent pay increase ???

2)Length of recession - although the recession in both the UK and US is now I believe 'officially' over - it has proven to the longest on record - from a confidence point of view it takes a while for economy and public perception to improve.

3)Patchy recovery by sector - as ever, industry and manufacturing are always likely to suffer during recession. They struggle anyway in light of massively cheap labour and cost bases overseas and anything which buggers up their finally balanced cost and output factors like a recession affects this kind of business disproportionately.
In addition this time round a number of financial services and service sector businesses have been adversley affected too although it remains to be seen how quickly they recover as we move forward.

It seems that again the retail sector will be expected to drive the recovery forward into 2010.

What is the Prestige Whisky take on this ?

Well we launched the business at the height of the recession and were in the fortunate position to have ready access to the capital required without having to leverage our finances too hard. Trade has already exceeded our initial expectations and moving towards X-Mas 2009 we're confident that our proposition works and works well and that for 2010 we can drive forward to some of our business plan targets early.

So here's to a bumper 2010 for everyone and hopefully the recovery will persist.

The (Probably) most definitive (Ever) in the world Whisky gift guide to Christmas Ever from Prestige Whisky - Part Un

2009-10-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

'Ello, HardWorker1 from Prestige Whisky here, it's getting close to a certain gift related, over-eating time of year and in the retail trade apparently we have to try and convince people to buy stuff from us to give to other people - personally, I think you should just buy whisky and keep and drink (responsibly) it yourself. But Hey, I didn't create either a post industrial capitalist society or 2,000 plus year old religion with obligatory messiah whose birthday happens to fall at the end of December (is it a co-incidence that David Beckhams birthday is in late December - I don't think so!) - so here's the first of our two part (maybe three, haven't decided how far I can spin out the list of recommendations yet to be honest). celebration of Prestige Whisky, the (Probably) most definitive (Ever) in the world Whisky gift guide to Christmas Ever

As ever it's only October and I'm about to write the following words in anger : -

"Christmas fast approaches"

There, I did it, it's now in print and I can't go back on it. So with that one big elephant in the room 'outed' lets crack on with selling you guys some real quality whisky for Christmas !!!

As Christmas fast approaches more and more of our customers and potential customers (i.e. the ones who don't know it yet) are on the look out for that unique and perfect gift to buy for their loved one.

Have a think about it, is a tie,set of hankies (handkerchiefs for the Americans amongst you) some socks or the perfect (Hi Karate - yes I am showing my age here!) aftershave really going to cut it?

Well Ebeneezer, have you really thought about what you'd like your nearest and dearest to think about their gift ? After all, people might say that it's the thought that counts but in the real world it's actually about quality, innovation, and moolah (only joking - although we do have some real quality stuff at reasonable prices lol !) so why not consider that perfect different gift of a unique bottle of single malt or blended malt whisky. Now given that I run an on-line whisky business I bet you're really surprised about that gift recommendation aren't you ?

Here at Prestige Whisky Towers we have very carefully selected a multi award winning range of single malts and unique blended whiskies from Scotland and indeed malts and blends from as far afield as Japan, the USA and Wales (that's right, we've gone as far as popping down the M4). Which reminds me of a very silly joke about how you get two Whales in a mini which I won't proceed with as it will only serve to confuse our overseas readers.

Onto business and getting serious about our marketing, as many of you know we (that's the royal 'we' and I actually mean you, I personally never go into those types of places) can easily take a trip to our local supermarket (I'm obviously not talking Aldi here though) and find the usual mass market malt collection of a maximum of ten malts (Balvenie, Glenfiddich and possibly Jura but that's about it) but the stuff in the Hypermarkets will never have that real appeal of becoming a proper collectors piece or indeed be a malt that one can boast is one of a very limited edition from some of the worlds best malt distilleries in the world. Most importantly for us, the supermarket level stuff doesn't promote the following comments or questions :

"Wow, really cool bottle!"

"I've heard of this brand but it's 40 years old, what does that mean?"

"It tastes great but who the hell are Glendullan ?"

You see, as we've said before at PW, it's not just about making that sale for us. Sure we'd like your hard earned pennies but not if you want to buy off the shelf whisky that (with respect - 'cos some of the lower priced blends are actually excellent and should be drunk and enjoyed along with the finest of malts) just isn't special. you see we want to give you the wow factor, the thirst (pardon the pun) for knowledge about your whisky and the excitement of seeing your giftee as they first set eyes on something that isn't socks or Auntie Beryls false teeth that Uncle Bert thought was a novelty beer bottle opener and wrapped by mistake without his reading glasses on.

PW Top Tip 1 for Christmas - if you have to invite Uncle Bert and Aunt Beryl on Christmas day, make sure that you don't have any decent expressions on hand - you know they drink it like pop and don't appreciate your £ 180 Glenlivet 25 Year Old (also available incidentally within the Speyside section of www.prestigewhisky.com)

Anyway, where was I ..... ah yes, here at PW Towers, we have carefully chosen a selection of whiskies that in many cases are in very limited suppy,some are very rare indeed! You're going to have to be quick then - our on-line servers are now waiting for throngs of you to log on.

THE END OF PART ONE

PS.

Wow, that was both entertaining and informative to write (actually, since I already knew all that stuff it wasn't really that informative but I do now have a deep understanding of the save process on google docs - so I have grown both as a person and comedian as well).

Watch out next week for part two of this exciting and information article where I might actually get around to talking about actual whisky.

Christmas Whisky gifts

2009-10-29T06:34:00.001-07:00

Just a word of warning - our irreverent and hopefully amusing Christmas Whisky Gift Guide begins tomorrow here at this blog, it's witty and refreshing look at the kinds of whisky you might want to buy from us for your nearest and dearest this Christmas and remember that we don't use the Royal Mail so stuff you order from us will actually arrive unlike all those postcards you're sending and the things you ordered off Amazon.

Watch this space

New world whiskies

2009-10-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

As promised, we've extended our range of world whiskies to include :

Tyrconnell 15 Year Old
Wild Geese 4th Centenniel
Hakushu 12 Year Old
Hibiki Blend 17 Years Old
Penderyn Malt

Great expressions from all over the world aimed at all budgets !

Titantic Twitter Task

2009-10-20T23:46:00.001-07:00

Or the three T's project as I'm calling it.

We're finding web traffic rising well and I think it's partly down to increased Twitter and marketing activity. So I'm publishing my short and medium term Twitter goals to our readers.

Step 1 Reach 700 followers by end of 22/10/09
Step 2 Reach 1,000 by 26th October
Step 3 5,000 by 25/6/10
Step 4 10,000 by 25/6/11

How can I help I hear you cry ?

Well if you haven't already go onto Twitter, find Whisky1 (the PW account) and click follow us - then re-tweet about us to all of your own friends/followers - if just one follower from each of our 750+ blog readers follows Whisky1 then thats's another 750 followers and w're chasing step 3 in one fell swoop.

Unsurprisingly I will probably bang on about this alot in coming posts !

Thanks in anticipation

Morning to new readers

2009-10-20T23:41:00.001-07:00

Behind the scenes Prestige Whisky is now marketing to other retail partners clients - so good morning to new readers who've found the blog by virtue of one of our Amazon or Ebay partners - I know you're out there.

Have a flick through the back catalogue of blog posts and see what we're about. If you have any queries or want more info on whisky gifts, whisky in general or what Prestige Whisky can offer then feel free to e-mail us on info@prestigewhisky.com

Update for Wednesday

2009-10-20T23:35:00.001-07:00

Been a bit quiet on the blog/Twitter recently - a function of both testing on the PW website and other interests getting in the way of allowable time for social media.

However, time seems to be freeing up now - so you'll find a few tweets coming through in the next few hours/days - we're up to well over 600 followers now which is more than respectable within the whisky sector - the challenge being to strike a balance between commercial expediency - i.e. telling people about new stock items etc. and being interesting/fun. I'm wanting to work towards 1,000 followers which puts us in the premier league of drinks industry Twitter accounts and builds towards my stated target of 10,000 followers within two years. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated and I'm going to start asking for assistance both here and on the T account for people to tweet on to their followers and see if we can get some organic growth going.

Incidentally we've had over 750 distinct visits to this blog so this forum is moving along well.

Although the number of visits to www.prestigewhisky.com is much more commercially sensitive and I can't really reveal exact numbers here. However, we are way ahead of the business plan in terms of website traffic (by around a factor of four in fact with conversion ratios going exactly to plan.)

Two excellent new whiskies of the world

2009-10-20T04:04:00.000-07:00

We have this morning added two fine new expressions to the www.prestigewhisky.com website.

Firstly there is a 15 Year Old Kilbeggan Irish blended whisky and then also a 14 Year Old Malt from Tyrconnell.

Watch out for more whiskies of the world and other new stock coming in the next few weeks - all ideal birthday, anniversary and Christmas presents.

New stock updates - whiskies of the world

2009-10-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Just to update people - if you go to www.prestigewhisky.com and visit the 'Whiskies of the World' tab to the left of the screen you'll find two great new American bourbons.

Firstly there's the Jack Daniels Single Barrel - 45% abv and a snip at £ 40.99 - ideal for any cowboy friends !

Then there's the Award Winning Van Winkles, Pappy Van Winkle aged for an unprecedented 20 Years for £ 105

Enjoy !

Find the perfect birthday or anniversary gift ...

2009-10-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

If you're after just the right bottle of whisky for that special person, you just need to go to www.prestigewhisky.com and search either by year or the persons age or the number of years for an anniversary and our quick search engine will bring up all the options that fit your parameters.

Alternatively if you'd like to discuss your requirements or just want some pointers feel free to ring on 0845 6254395 or e-mail on info@prestigewhisky.com

We're always here to help !

The Prestige Whisky guide to the Whisky Regions of Scotland – Part 5

2009-10-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the fifth and sadly last of our Whisky Regions guides. It's been a fun stroll through the beautiful distillery countryside of Scotland and hopeful the information has been of some use.

What I'd like to do as a last summary is to list all of the whiskies we've featured as fine examples of their particular region but then also make some additional recommendations by highlighting one particular distillery from each region as well and giving you a little background by way of some distillery notes.

First up, here's our recommendations list pulled together. I have also taken the libertyy of including the price of each of these fine expressions as you'll find them at www.prestigewhisky. Here you'll find them all available direct to your door.

Highland Dalmore King Alexander III at www.prestigewhisky.com for £ 123.99

Speyside Glenlivet 12 Year Old £25.99
and the Macallan 21 Year Old £121.00

Island Isle of Jura, Paps range, 'Mountain' £95.00

Islay Ardbeg 10 Year Old £32.99

Campbeltown Glen Scotia 12 Year Old £23.99

Lowland Rosebank 1991 £44.99

So if you'd like to try any of these feel free to drop into the main site and have a browse. In most cases we also stock these expressions older, bigger borthers - if you have any specific brands or distilleries you're interested in feel free to contact us on either 0845 6254395 or info@prestigewhisky.com

To finish, lets move on to highlight our favourite distilleries.

I'd like to focus on the following :

Glenglassaugh, Highland
Island, Highland Park
Speyside, The Balvenie
Islay, Bruichladdich

Glenglassaugh Distillery Note, from Glenglassaugh Managing Director Stuart Nickerson :

Our distillery purchased by the Glenglassaugh Distillery Company ( which is owned by a Dutch registered investment company called Scaent Holdings) on 29th February 2008, after lying silent for 22 years. The previous owners, The Edrington Group, had not invested in the production plant or the buildings during that period although they were still using a large warehouse for storing casks from other distilleries. Since purchasing the distillery we have invested heavily, around £1.0m in refurbishing the distillery and it was officially opened on the 24th of November by Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond. The first distillate from the new distillery was produced on the 4th of December and on 16th December we filled our first casks.
In addition to the distillery we also purchased all of the Glenglassaugh stock which Edrington owned, which unfortunately was not very much. However we do have enough to allow us to release a 21 year old product, once only, and then have small amounts of 30 year old and 40 year old for sale each year for the next 10 years.
In 2009 we have launched three separate products, all of limited supply. All of the products come from individual casks, are non-chill filtered, non-coloured and are bottled at the distillery.

As you'll see from the above. Glenglassaugh was re-opened formally fairly recently and it's one of the distilleries that we really love to deal with. At the moment you'll find the 21 Year Old, 30 Year Old and the grand daddy of them all the 40 Year Old all for sale within our Highland section at www.prestigewhisky.com.

Highland Park Distillery Notes :

Highland Park, the most Northern of all Scottish distilleries dominates both the city of Kirkwall and the famous Scapa Flow. At the end of the 18th century, preacher Magnus Eunson who was a famous smuggler, is supposed to have distilled spirit on the place of the current distillery. He was hiding stocks of illegal spirit under the pulpit in the church.
The current distillery was built in 1825 by Robert Borwick, but it soon became the property of John Robertson. Later on the ownership of the distillery has been shared between Borwick and Robertson, until the last retired. After the death of Robert Borwick, his son George became manager of the business until 1860. Since, Highland Park has been owned by different people and in 1890 James Grant, owner of The Glenlivet formed a partnership with William Stuart, owner of Miltonduff. The production capacity was doubled in 1898,
Highland Park is part of the composition of Long John amongst others.

One of the better known and more popular Island distilleries, Highland Park always scores highly in Prestige Whisky taste tests.

The Balvenie, distillery notes, largely taken from the Balvenie website :

BALVENIE CASTLE lent its name to the adjacent farm, Balvenie Mains. It also lent some stones to Balvenie New House, a replacement dwelling rather easier to heat and maintain than a medieval fort. After several decades the house itself stood empty, but soon developed a new role as the heart of a brand-new distillery from which the first spirit flowed on May Day 1893.
The basement became a warehouse, the first storey a malt floor and upstairs a loft to store the barley from the fertile thousand acres of Balvenie Mains.In the 1920s they built a new maltings right next door, using stone blocks from the now levelled New House. Little else has changed over the years.
They’ve added stills, but they’re the same special shape. They have matured their malt in many different casks and pioneered new expressions, but it’s still the same spirit that goes in. They’ve added people, but the unique atmosphere remains the same.

The exceptional quality of the single malt from The Balvenie is greatly due to the know-how of the craftsmen who create the whisky. Nearly all the operations in the process of making whisky happen within the distillery, from malting to repairing the casks. The Balvenie even has it's own cooperage.
The Balvenie is quite different from Glenfiddich, even if both distilleries belong to the same family. (The Balvenie has belonged to the Grant family for 5 generations).
The greatest part of the production is marketed as single malt, and the remaining is used in the Grants and Clan MacGregor blends, belonging to the same company.

Widely regarded as THE iconic Highland/Speyside distillery brand and a constant presence in the top five whisky brands almost forever. You'll find (a) the Balvenie on the whisky shelf of most restaurants and supermarkets and rightly so.

Bruichladdich Distillery Notes – from the companies website :

On the remote Atlantic Isle of Islay a small, privately-owned Scottish distillery produces artisanal Single Malt Whisky as it was in 1881.

Here, the islanders’ art of distilling is still connected to its agricultural roots, with organic and heritage barleys grown
on selected farms for ultimate individuality. Microchip-free distilling in tall narrow-necked stills followed by island maturation
and natural bottling produces a spirit acknowledged as the purest in Scotland. This sophisticated, complex, multi-layered
whisky is uniquely Islay-bottled to maximise the creamy texture and long finish - the ideal wine-drinker’s dram.

100% Islay From barley to bottle. Savour the flavour.

An Islay distillery which although small is understandably proud of its heritage - all hail the laddie !

Okay, that is all we have on whisky regions - we hope that you've found this series both interesting and informative and that it drives you to learn more about the wonderful world of whisky both Scotch and otherwise.

We would welcome any comments that you might have and of course our offer of a free copy of all five articles and a distillery map stands - just e-mail info@prestigewhisky.com if you'd like to receive them.

More PW news - 8th October 2009

2009-10-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

A few quick updates this morning.

Firstly, remember that the fifth and final part of our whisky regions articles goes live on this blog tomorrow morning at 9.00am

Secondly just a reminder about our Elite discount/loyalty scheme. Every time you make an order at www.prestigewhisky.com you'll receive a 5% voucher that we will apply (subject to our Terms and Conditions) on the next purchase you make with us. Full details are at www.prestigewhisky.com under the 'Terms' tab at the top of your screen.

LAstly, remember if you need a special gift for a birthday or anniversay (or even for a client or employee) search in our quick search box at the top right of the screen by year or age.

Prestige Whisky News - 7th October 2009

2009-10-07T03:36:00.000-07:00

Morning to all.

Just wanted to give a couple of bits and bobs of updates today. Firstly, we added three new expressions yesterday :

Miltonduff 1969
Glenrothes (bottled by G & M) 1969
Jura Superstition

All three are available at www.prestigewhisky.com

Second, excitingly I just put the finishing touches to the final part of our Whisky Regions article, this episode pulls everything together and provides a bit of top and tailing to the series.

As an aside, regular readers of the blog will have seen the true customer service case study that I ran through yesterday - interestingly the client did make an order yesterday evening - ironically he chose something completely different from the two recommendations I made - still I do feel vindicated.

Lastly I just wanted to remind people that if you're looking for a birthday or anniversary whisky gift then just go to www.prestigewhisky.com and do a quick search (top right of your screen) by year (e.g. 1969) or age (e.g. 21) to find the perfect corresponding bottle. We're finding this new functionality on the website a real boon for people.

Prestige whisky for gifts

2009-10-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

Visit www.prestigewhisky for all your whisky gift needs !

If you're after that special whisky gift, Prestige Whisky has an extensive range of exclusive single malts arranged by whisky region. For more information see our exclusive whisky regions article here at our blog.

You'll also find some very select fine whisky blends in our blend section underneath the regions to the left of your screen(at www.prestigewhisky.com).

Our silver range of whisky includes 25 affordable malts aimed exclusively at the gift sector.

Finally browse our growing whiskies of the world section for something more exotic.

Whether you're looking for a present for yourself or gift for a friend, loved one or valued client/employee make sure you check out our range of 200 wonderful whisky expressions geared towards any whisky gift need.

If your whisky gift is for a birthday or anniversary why not try using our quick search selection to get the right year or age. Simply key in the relevant number to the top right of your screen.

If you can't find exactly what you need give us a call on 0845 6254395 to speak to one of our experts who will point you in the right direction or source that more exclusive malt or blended whisky for you, this is of course a free service.

For all your personal and corporate whisky gifts choose Prestige Whisky

Customer Service - a tale of contrasts

2009-10-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

First of all the story I am about to tell is true and happened to me today.

I've had a problem with my kitchen tap. It'd been leaking and I finally got around to trying to source a replacement washer and some advice this morning. Went to a shop local to myself that was recommended to me. The person serving could not have been more unhelpful. She couldn't be bothered to discuss my problem and when challenged simply recommended I look on the internet (funny owning an on-line business myself I'd never have thought of that!) her closing statement was that she wasn't a plumber and only sold the taps - well not to me she isn't. Even if she couldn't help she could have left me feeling at least like she was interested. This was ironic as at some point in the near future I may re-do my bathroom - I won't be going to that bathroom/kitchen/plumbing outlet now will I ?

Later the same day (about an hour ago in fact) a PW customer rang checking if we had an item in stock. Unfortunately we didn't. However, as this was an urgent birthday gift I have sourced him a couple of alternatives, tracked down tasting notes, emailed them across to him and also placed both items on the website. Lastly I just texted him to let him know the items are available if he would still like to order.

Sorry if this makes me sound 'big headed'. My point is simply this. As well as having my name over the door at Prestige Whisky I'm obviously a regular consumer myself and I require certain minimum standards or I walk - plain and simple.

I don't know if the PW client I spoke to today will buy from us or not - I hope he will but I don't necessarily expect him to.

However, and this is vital - he should expect the same high standard of support I tried to give him this afternoon every time he talks or interacts with my business and as long as my name is over the door - he will !

New 1969 Expressions

2009-10-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

We have just added two exciting new expressions to www.prestigewhisky.com

First of all we have the 1969 Miltonduff - a simple yet tasty Spey.

Then the 1969 Glenrothes, bottled by Gordon and MacPhail - a more complex and spicy little whisky which is superb value for money (not to imply of course that the Miltonduff isn't !!!).

Both are at the top of our Speyside selection (or search in the quick search facility top right of the website) and priced at £ 99.99 plus postage - well below RRP.

Enjoy ....

The Prestige Whisky guide to the Whisky Regions of Scotland – Part 4

2009-10-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to issue 4 of the Prestige Whisky guide to Scotch Whisky regions.

In recent days we’ve had an excellent response to our articles and if you’d like a pdf copy of the distillery map of Scotland that we’re recommending then feel free to e-mail through to :

info@prestigewhisky.com

Today we will be discussing perhaps the lesser known and certainly under appreciated regions of Islay and Campbeltown.

Islay whiskies tend to be heavier in style and many malts from this region will be typically more peaty and smoky with a hint of sea salt. Reading tasting notes on 'typical' Islay expressions you will often hear them described as being 'of the sea' or 'reminiscent of the seaside'.

A really good example of Islay Malt would be the famous Ardbeg, we feature the 10 Year Old expression within our Silver collection (http://www.prestigewhisky.com/acatalog/Prestige_Whisky_Silver.html)

Here's some thoughts on the Ardbeg,

Quite sweet on the nose, with soft peat, carbolic soap and Arbroath smokies. Intense yet quite delicate on the palate, with burning peats and dried fruit, followed by sweeter notes of malt and a touch of liquorice. Extremely long and smoky in the finish, with a fine balance of cereal sweetness and dry peat notes.

( Extract for tasting notes from whisky pages) Gavin D Smith and Tom Cannavan

Moving on to Island whiskies, there are many palate styles here and but reasonably typical and a brand new favourite our ours would be the Isle of Jura Paps, new 'Mountain' expression. Again available within our Island section.

Colour: Warm and glowing with subtle hints of ripe barley.
Nose: Fresh and appealing with nuances of tangerine and spice. The floral aromas are at the heart of the bouquet where the scents of rose petals, hyacinths and honeysuckle are fused together in perfect harmony.
Taste: Take a generous measure and slowly add a small trickle of cool still water. Hold it long in the mouth to unlock its delightful hidden secrets. Soft chewy caramel, fudge, Madeira cake and ripe apples have been lovingly blended together.
Finish: Barolo is more commonly known as 'The Wine of Kings'. A lofty status equalled only by that of our own Sacred Mountain.

Finishing with Cambeltown whiskies - sadly there are now only 3 distilleries currently operating in this region : -

Springbank,Glengyle and Glen Scotia.

For this section I wish to present to you a fabulous cheeky malt, the Glen Scotia 1992..

Nose: Initial sweetness, light and delicate in character. With
banana influences and a delicate briny edge.

Palate: Mouth coating, rounded with a subtle spice. Becomes
sweet and creamy.

Finish : Long and nutty.

With water

Nose: Fresh influences, heavy sweetness and citrus
fruit notes - lemon and limes.

Palate: Defined vanilla element, sweet - reminiscent of an ice
cream soda.

Finish: Drying

Body: Medium

Having taken a whistle stop tour around the fine distilleries of Scotland and the Isles I think it's about time to pause and recap. So that's the end of the tour for now. I'm off to pour myself a glass of the Glen Scotia '92 - a whisky I find nice and light to enjoy before a meal or perhaps following a light supper just as the light begins to fade over the horizon on a blustery Autumn day. Next time in the fifth and final instalment of our guide I will be recapping on where we've travelled and drawing your attention to not only the regional recommendations we've made but also a couple of other whiskies that perhaps lead on from this.

Remember as well that if you've enjoyed the guide we're offering (free I might add) a word version of all five articles along with a pdf of our favourite whisky distillery map of Scotland to anyone who e-mails and requests it from info@prestigewhisky.com

Whisky Regions update

2009-10-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

Remember that part four arrives tomorrow morning and part five (the last one) hits your blog feed at 9.00am next Friday.

If you want a word copy of whole article and a pdf of our whisky distillery map then e-mail us at info@prestigewhisky.com

Once the regions project is finished we will begin to talk about our next feature which will be built around one of our distillery partners and promises to be an exciting insight into the wotld of a working Scottish distillery - a must for connoiseurs and new whisky drinkers alike.

Fine new blended whisky and malt whisky available now

2009-10-04T04:01:00.000-07:00

If you’re in the market for some wonderful whisky for yourself or as a whisky gift then look no further than www.prestigewhisky.com

You’ll find fabulous new blends at a range of prices from £ 16.95 for our 8 Year Old Isle of Sky right up to £ 799.99 for it’s ‘big brother’ the 50 Year Old and everything else inbetween.

New to our range of blended whisky this morning are :

Isle of Skye 8 Year Old
Ballantines 21 Year Old
Grants 25 Year Old
Johnnie Walker Blue Label (a very special mix and a PW recommendation!)

Plus three fabulous expressions from Whyte and Mackay the 22, 30 and 40 Year Old. In particular if you’re looking for a mid rang whisky gift – and a lovely blend certainly suits most whisky drinkers – then look no further than the Whyte and Mackay 30 Year Old or the Walkers Blue Label.

In addition to these fine new blends we also have a new Brora 30 Year Old – the 2005 release and always a favourite brand – the Highland Park 18 Year Old – at only £ 58.99 another superb whisky gift idea and one that I’d recommend for a new drinker. I always tend to give Island malts to introduce new drinking friends to malt whisky.

You can find the blends by going to :

www.prestigewhisky.com and then clicking on the ‘Blended Whisky’ tab to the right of the screen or search by specific name on the quick search facility to the top right of the screen.

The Brora is a Higland and the Highland Park is under Island – alternatively use the quick search as above.

You can also find details of these latest additions to the site on Facebook and Twitter as usual.

Please feel free to leave comments via info@prestigewhisky.com or on the blog or Facebook comments areas.

Facebook links

2009-10-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Just to let people know, if you visit the news section of www.prestigewhisky.com there is now a link to our Facebook page.

Prestige whisky for gifts

2009-10-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

I have just posted the following onto our Facebook page and wanted to update people here as well - it's just a reminder of some of our basic information.

It refers to our Facebook page which can be found at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prestige-Whisky/141909982581

"If you look at the 'for that special gift' photo album you'll find details of some of our most popular whiskies ranging in price from £ 40 to £ 1400 !

Each Expression comes to you from our distillery partners by specially selected courier (so no postal strike issues for presents or Christmas).

We abide strictly by the EU rules on distance selling and as the leading specialist retailer in the whisky gift sector we are totally transparent about all of our transactions. You can find full details within the website conditions or contact us on info@prestigewhisky.com or 0845 6254395 or 07883 882064.

Postage within the UK is £ 8.95 per order (no limit to the number of bottles per order). All deliveries come to you within 5 working days and each time you make a purchase you'll recieve a voucher from us for 5% off your next purchase. This Elite loyalty voucher is also transferable - feel free to pass it to your friends or relatives."

I'm finding Facebook quite a good looking addition to the PW suite of on-line media and would appreciate peoples comments.

Interactive Communications

2009-10-02T05:05:00.001-07:00

Given the recent addition of Facebook to our online media repertoire I thought it was a good time to re-list the variety of methods to interact with and get hold of, Prestige Whisky.

1) First of all there's the website itself : www.prestigewhisky.com

This is our on-line shop specialising in rare and exclusive whisky for both yourself and any special gift requirements.

2) The blog - if you are reading this then you probably know where we are :

www.prestigewhisky.blogspot.com

3) Twitter

We tend to trail special offers, news and of course new blog posts here. You'll find us by doing a search under our name : Whisky1

You can also find our more recent Tweets on the top right of the blog itself

4) Telephone

Landline 0845 6254395
Mobile 07883 882064

5) E-mail

Either info@prestigewhisky.com

or phil@prestigewhisky.com

6) Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prestige-Whisky/141909982581

This is brand new to PW this morning and as I've blogged about previously is a totally new venture as historically I've never really been a fan of this social media site - but 300 million people can't all be wrong !

Having looked briefly at Facebook it may be that there's facility to start a forum for PW fans/customers via Facebook which is something I will look into. If anyone has any suggested topics we might discuss I'm happy to facilitate this.

Facebook !

2009-10-02T03:52:00.001-07:00

In an surprising move, Prestige whisky has now joined the 300 million plus people on Facebook. You can find us at www.facebook.com/pages/Prestige-Whisky/141909982581.

The Facebook business page is still very much a work in progress but hopefully it can start to give a whole new audience of people access to the website.

Girvan Distillery - a retrospective

2009-10-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Girvan Distillery:

Prince Charles Opened the Girvan distillery in 1963 and it operated actively for around 12 years through the 1960s and early 1970s. Girvan was a lowland malt distillery on the same site as the Ladyburn grain distillery and in its years of production created much excitement amongst malt lovers including the release of its official bottling of the rare malt in 2000.

No doubt the Girvan and Ladyburn distilleries were built to make Grants as self sufficient as possible - both of these brands/distilleries are owned by William Grants.

Prestige whisky has the rare opportunity to offer a limited release of 1964 Girvan first batch single grain whisky which offers an exquisite whisky offering.

The whisky is not overly complex but a good example of grain whisky and on the nose has spicy and rich notes, the body is surprisingly rich for a grain whisky and the palate offers up a sweet chocolate taste.

The finish is smooth and yet strikingly bold and is a real little cracker!!

The ABV is 48% and one may wish to add a light dash of water to bring out the phenolic of this formidable whisky.

Check out our whisky range on www.prestigewhisky.com

The Prestige Whisky guide to the Whisky Regions of Scotland – Part 3

2009-09-29T23:54:00.001-07:00

The Prestige Whisky guide to the Whisky Regions of Scotland – Part 3

Having taken a brief romp through the joys of Lowland whisky last time, it’s time to get on to what most people – rightly or wrongly – consider to be the main event, first Highland Whisky and then the Speyside “sub-region”.

Many people think these regions hold some of the best examples of Scotch and the simple predominance and volume of malts and distilleries within them mean that there are dozens of fine expressions to be had. We really are in the ‘heartland’ of Scotch Whisky production.

So let’s kick off with the Highlands.

Highland whiskies tends to be slightly heavier in style compared to the softer lowland or Island varieties. A a fine example of this would be the Dalmore King Alexander 111 – one of PW’s all time favourites !

Here are it’s tasting Notes :

It has a nose with plums, bilberries and a little caramel. On the palate the berries and sweet flavours from the bourbon barrel offer a delightfully complex taste.

Obviously, the King Alex is available at www,prestigewhisky.com

Moving into Speyside, whiskies from this region tend to be more floral and fragrant in style and we offer the most choice of malt whisky from this region – again due to the sherr volume of exquisite malts that are available.

For our selection from this region I’ve chosen the Glenlivet 12 YO from our excellent value ‘Silver’ collection as the perfect example of a quality affordable single malt whisky.

The 12 Year Old is an award winning balanced malt offering fruity and floral flavours. Oak is present but in the distance. This classic Speyside conveys beautiful images of a fertile orchard, blossoming at springtime and laden with juicy ripe fruit at summertime. Nose and palate offer a warm experience of Speyside's fresh and fragrant air. The single malt to choose for a relaxing moment.

The Speyside Regions of Scotland produce some real whisky gems. Many of the more well know distilleries and brands hail from near the Spey river not least of all the Macallan.

Their Distillery is located in the Scottish Highlands within Banffshire and has produced some of the finest malts since 1824.

One of the best Macallans is the Macallan 21 which is a true classic malt.

The Macallan 21 is a 43% spirit and is a light amber colour.

On the nose it is intense and rich with hints of vanilla and passion fruit.

The palate reveals a soft yet spicy twist with just a hint of orange and peat

The finish is long with just a hint of oaky wood smoke.

You will not be dissapointed with this classic gem of a malt which is a perfect treat or gift for the whisky lover or connoisseur of whisky.

That’s all for now, next time we’ll move on to the Island and Campbeltown regions to finish up our whistle stop tour of fine Scotch whisky.

See you all soon – we’re aiming for next Monday with part four, the penultimate edition of our guide.

Prestige Whisy Guide to Whisky regions

2009-09-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

To keep you all updated, edition 3 of our featured article will be arriving at 9.00 am tomorrow morning with issue four on Monday 5th October.

The final edition which pulls everything together comes along on Friday the 9th.

The response to this series of articles has so far been very positive and we're hoping to hold similar events on an on-going basis.

Once the five parts have 'aired' on line we will be offering a full transcript of all the articles plus the whisky region map that we've recommended as an e-mailable free extra. Let us know at info@prestigewhisky.com and we'll add you to the growing list to send this out to you once the final fifth edition goes live at the back end of next week.

Birthday searches and SSL security

2009-09-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

If you've dropped by www.prestigewhisky.com recently you'll see a couple of changes to the home page.

We talk a little bit about the SSL encryption we're using provided by our payment gateway - RBS Worldpay. We've always used this to ensure maximum protection for our customers but a couple of people have pointed out that mention of payment security is 'hidden' away in our terms and conditions - we thought it pretty important then to make sure all our customers know that they are 100% secure when they shop with Prestige Whisky - feel free to contact us for more information if you like the techy stuff !

Also on the homepage now are details of our revised quick search facility. If you'd like to locate a whisky for a birthday or anniversary simply type in either the year ore age/anniversary (e.g. 30 years) and our system will bring up a range of suggested whiskies that might fit.

Given that we now have pushing 200 fine expressions with many more to be added in coming weeks this facility will also help you locate anything within the site - you can also search by brand or distillery.

Enjoy !

Structural changes to the website

2009-09-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

If you visit www.prestigewhisky you will find some small amendments that have now gone live.

You will see a slightly more streamlined range of tabs both at the top of the page and down the left hand side.

The changes have been to make the site a little cleaner to look at and accommodate the amalgamation of our terms and delivery tab into one section - now called 'Terms' and more importantly to enable the inclusion of a special promotional feature tab.

To us at Prestige Whisky our website is as much about the love of whisky as it is about the sale of it. But we are now getting some really exciting expressions that we'd like to feature more heavily on the website. The new 'Promotions' tab is a representation of this. you'll find as our inaugural promo items the following three excellent expressions :

The Glen Ord 30 Year Old, special release
The Dalwhinnie 20 Year Old 2006 release
The Highland Park 25 Year Old

These are all excellent value single malts discounted and hard to get hold from top whisky distilleries. All for under £ 170 - ideal for gifts or that chilly Autumn evening.

Obviously as we change or update the promo page we will update here and on the site.

Aug/Sept 2009 Whisky Magazine

2009-09-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

If you have access to a copy, I'd recommend flicking to page 50 of the most recent edition of Whisky Magazine as they have an excellent article on the new Jura Paps range click on Prestige Whisky to visit the site and then just click into the Island section you'll see to the left.

Prestige Whisky News - 28th September 2009

2009-09-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of things to report this morning.

Firstly you'll see the second part of our exciting whisky regions article immediately below this post. The enxt section is due to arrive at the blog on Wednesday morning and you will of course be able to buy all the example whisky we include within this feature at www.prestigewhisky.com

Secondly, we have enabled a feature over the weekend to enable you to search within our 'quick search' function (top right of the screen at www.prestigewhisky.com) for a specific year - enter any year that we hold an expression for of that vintage and the whisky will now come up. This means it's even easier to find the right whisky for that special birthday or anniversary.

The Prestige Whisky guide to the Whisky Regions of Scotland – Part 2

2009-09-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

Last time we gave a quick overview of this subject and tried to add some context to what is potentially quite a complicated subject.

Let’s dive in to the main body of this subject.

These regions break down as follows :-

· Lowland
· Highland
· Speyside
· Islay
· Island
· Cambeltown

Let’s start with a center through each of these areas. Obviouly the name comes from the area of Scotland in which the distillery is placed. We have quite a good map in pdf format which might be of interest to readers. If you’d like a copy e-mail us at info@prestigewhisky.com and we will send through a copy. Alternatively have a look at the following website :

www.whisky-pages.com/whisky-regions

This has a pretty simple representation of where everything sits geographically.

Typically lowland style whiskies tend to be quite light in character and taste soft on the palate. A good example is the Rosebank 1991. It’s lighter and softer than you might expect and you’ll find it’s tasting notes below : -

Nose - Sweet toasted malt, laced with floral & dry grass aromas
Body - Clean
Palate - Spicy-cedarwood and cracked peppercorns
Finish - Slightly drying with a delicate floral edge

Next time we’ll move on to Highland and talk about one of my personal favourites, the Dalmore King Alex III.

The Whisky Regions - part 2

2009-09-27T03:45:00.000-07:00

Watch out for part two of our new whisky regions feature which hits this blog tomorrow moring.

The Prestige Whisky guide to the Whisky Regions of Scotland - Part One

2009-09-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

Even with a little knowledge of Scotch whisky, the wide variety on offer in the market today can be a little daunting for the neophyte whisky drinker.

To try and help our customers on the Prestige Whisky website we’ve lined up our main range of whisky in region order. Each of these regions brings a slightly different character profile to your drinks cabinet. In the next few days we’ll be running through these whisky regions to give you a little bit more of a feel for what to expect from the personality of the regions as well as give some fine examples from our own range.

Experts differ over how many regions there really are and how far you are able to sub divide or break them down. So for example. The Speyside region sits squarely within the normally defined Highland region. But most if not all experts would classify a Spey separately from a Highland.

Island and Islay all hale from the Western Islands but have definite flavour characteristics that set them apart and Campbeltown, despite being halfyway between high and lowlands in the West shares some characteristics with Island and Islay malts.

Confused ?

If so we’ll try to clarify a little and give you some pointers as to which region is for you and maybe which of our extensive range might be of interest to you.

That's the end of the first part of this multi 'episode' guide to the world of Scotch. In future articles we will be examining the regions and in each case giving recommendations of fine examples you might enjoy.

Watcch out here, on Twitter and at www.prestigewhisky.com for more information. The enxt article should go live on Monday 28th September.

Elite Discount

2009-09-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of noise in our inbox about our new Elite 5% discount offer - just to remind everyone that with each purchase you'll receive a voucher for a 5% discount from your next purchase at www.prestigewhisky.com, it's as simple as that.

Remember this voucher is also transferable so you can pass to a friend or relative to use as well.

Watch out for our new Whisky Regions series here at the PW blog - hopefully this will help you choose which whisky you can use your voucher on !

Enjoy !

Easier navigation at www.prestigewhisky.com

2009-09-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

We have made some minor changes to www.prestige whisky.com this morning.

You'll now find a call to action (highlighted in red) on most of the major tabs directing you to either the Elite 5% discount section or the new Silver range or both !

The idea is to give two or three click navigation for visitors to critical areas of the site to ensure that they get to where they need to be quickly.

Let us know what you think.

New feature to the blog

2009-09-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

In the next couple of weeks we're going to be running a major new feature on the whisky regions of Scotland.

This series will be aimed mainly at new drinkers to give them some background on what can be a very confusing number of whiskies that are available all with different characteristics and flavours.

The first introductory article will be published towards the end of this week and the follow ups including relevant tasting notes and Prestige Whisky recommendations will be published regularly in intervals.

Keep checking back for announcements of the next edition of this important article here and on Twitter (where you'll find us under the name whisky1)

Problems with Twitter on the blog

2009-09-22T11:12:00.001-07:00

I've just noticed that someone elses Tweets have been appearing within this blog for the last couple of days.

Not quite sure why this happened. I've deleted this feature pending my working out exactly what happened.

In the meantime you can read our real tweets directly at Twitter where our name is whisky1, I don't think there was any problem with the erroneous Twitter in terms of offensive content but apologies that it wasn't us !

I'll add the Twitter tool back on as and when I can fix the problem.

Silver Range up to strength

2009-09-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

More details to follow on specifics and a link later but if you visit www.prestigewhisky.com you'll find our range of affordable, branded whiskies under the Prestige Whisky Silver tab.

There are 24 wonderful expressions to choose from including the Balvenie, Macallan and Glenfiddich.

Linking to Prestige Whisky

2009-09-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

If you're active within the Scotch Whisky community either as a retailer, podcaster,drinks producer, brand owner etc feel free to get in touch with Prestige Whisky on info@prestigewhisky.com or leave a comment below.

One of our goals is to increase the publics knowledge and awareness of scotch and we think using this blog and website as a way of increasing traffic with our peers is a great idea.

Get in touch

Prestige Whisky.

Reader Comments

2009-09-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

I have just updated the comments section of the blog to allow comments by anyone who reads the blog.

You'll need to complete a random work checker to ensure we don't pick up loads of spam
but feel free to leave comments about this blog, the Prestige Whisky website or Twitter activity, you'll find us under whisky1

Thanks

Links to and from www.prestigewhisky.com

2009-09-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me that there isn't a formal link from www.prestigewhisky.com back here and vice versa.

So today I've added a link at the bottom of the about us page on the website that comes straight here and hopefully if you click www.prestigewhisky.com it will link back to the site too.

I'd be grateful if people could test this out for me !

Thanks

Prestige Whisky Elite Discount Scheme

2009-09-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

As well as getting our new Silver range up and running today we are also beginning the roll out of our new Elite Loyalty/Discount scheme.

We've been trying to look at a way to reward all the loyal customers who have supported Prestige Whisky since our launch earlier this year. We'd also like to offer something extra as we move towards Christmas. So I've been working on a price/offer structure that works both for us as a business and also for our customers.

So, with immediate effect anyone ordering from us, from any range will receive a free 5% discount voucher to use with their next purchase with us. The voucher is transferable - we don't care who uses it. But each one will only work once. Even better news, if you buy from us and use a voucher you'll get another for your third order and so on.

Full details are available under the Terms tab at www.prestigewhisky.com

As a last point, I really don't want to let down any of our existing customers. With this in mind even though the offer opens for new orders from today. I will be sending 5% Elite vouchers to every customer who has bought whisky from us since we launched - existing customers should expect an e-mail in the next couple of days.

If any clarifiaction is needed feel free to drop me a line at info@prestigewhisky.com

Prestige Whisky Silver arrives at last ..

2009-09-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

We've been trailing this for a while but we've finally had chance to begin loading the first tranche of our new Prestige Whisky 'Silver' range.

The first nine whiskies in this range are now live and available, check them out at :

www.prestigewhisky.com/acatalog/Prestige_Whisky_Silver.html

This a series of specially selected mass market liquid which is aimed at everyone and not just the connoisseur. In other words if you want to try a little more of an unusual tipple that you won't find amongst the six or seven decent malts that your local supermarket carries then look to either our 'Silver' tab or alternatively our 'Whiskies of the World'.

Here you'll find quality expressions from some of the finest distilleries around priced between £ 20 and £ 50. So our new range is ideal for that bottle for yourself for the weekend or for that present for your husband/dad/brother/uncle etc.

At the moment the silver range of whisky is only available to UK purchasers. The rest of our range is available worldwide. (Overseas customers can contact us on the e-mail address below as we can supply these whiskies worldwide at slightly different prices).

For more information contact us at info@prestigewhisky.com

We're also about to launch a new Prestige Whisky Elite loyalty scheme - so watch out for more.