A couple of weeks ago we had a rather special event at Exel
Wines. We were exceedingly proud to host the launch of the revived Old Perth whisky. This whisky has been
recreated by local whisky blenders Morrison & MacKay
modelled on the legendary whisky formerly produced by Perth vintners of old,
Peter Thomson Ltd. They’ve done a fantastic job. Old
Perth is a blended malt in the Speyside style, containing malts from
the noughties, the nineties, the eighties and even the seventies! On
Thursday 18th April our shop was full of whisky-lovers and local
worthies to celebrate the return of Old Perth whisky, and taste a wee dram (or
several!).
The evening was a great success. To commence proceedings,
Peter MacKay of Morrison & MacKay, led a tasting of the Old Perth,
explaining how his company had brought the whisky back to life. We were then
honoured to welcome Michael Thomson, former director of Peter Thomson Ltd., who
was responsible for blending and selling the old incarnation. Michael spoke
engagingly on the heritage of this particular whisky and the history of
blending in Perth. Michael brought a wonderful circularity to the evening as
both Exel Wines, as a Perth-based vintner; and Morrison & MacKay, as
Perth-based whisky merchants, have picked up where Michael left off. It was
great to do so with his encouragement and support. The evening continued with a
tasting of Càrn
Mòr single malt whiskies led, once again, by Peter.
A bit of history: Perth is a city with an unrivalled
heritage of whisky blending. World-famous blends originated here: Bell’s, The
Famous Grouse and Dewar’s White Label are all Perth blends. Old Perth Scotch
sat comfortably among esteemed company. With the incorporation of Peter Thomson
Ltd. into Haddows Old Perth was taken out of production, meanwhile the other
Perth blends were gradually appropriated by multi-national drinks corporations
and they became removed from their town of origin. Perth, once a centre of
great whisky blending repute, no longer had a whisky to its name. It is,
therefore, befitting that Old Perth has been resurrected in the year that Perth
was granted its ancient city status, and that the company behind this
renaissance is based locally.
We would like to congratulate Morrison & Mackay on their
excellent whisky, and thank them for including us in their relaunch. We also
deeply appreciate Michael Thomson joining us for the event.
Great return. Well done
ReplyDelete