After a high-pressure week of meetings, management and making connections, the best way to unwind is to plug in your headphones and allow a superb selection of tunes to take your brain far away from the world of work. Enter the Walpole Weekend Wind-Down: a monthly playlist of tracks created by one of our members or partners that will help you transition into an end-of-week headspace.
For our May edition, we enlisted the help of Jonathan Gibson, Director of House of Hazelwood, which bottles rare and aged whiskies from the private collection of the Gordon family (who are best known for owning Walpole member, William Grant & Sons). This year, House of Hazelwood is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Girvan Distillery by releasing a series of single grain whiskies called One For The Next, which are all drawn from casks laid down by Charles Gordon in 1964 (the distillery's first year of production). The company has just released Chapter One, a 60 Year Old single grain whisky, with the ambition to release a bottle every decade through to 2065, creating a set of five whiskies aged 60, 70, 80, 90 and finally the world's first-ever 100 Year Old Single Grain Whisky.
Several casks filled at the Girvan distillery in 1964, each tracing their roots back to Charles Gordon, will be combined for this project – and just 25 bottles of the 60YO whisky will be filled (so secure your bottle while you can). The remaining liquid will be filled into custom made European oak hogsheads commissioned by Charles Gordon’s niece Kirsten Grant Meikle and designed specifically to support long-term maturation into the distant future.
"Just as time can be measured in the maturation of Scotch Whisky, it too can be charted in moments of culture and music that span the decades," says Gibson of the project and the accompanying playlist he's created for us to celebrate it. "Inspired by the Gordon family’s drive to innovate across the scotch whisky industry, this carefully curated playlist celebrates the dreams and ambitions of this family business, reflected in our choice of music.
"Take in a sense of Charles Gordon’s rebellion in his drive to build Girvan distillery within record time in the 1960s, represented by Rebel, Rebel from David Bowie. Or perhaps, delve into the whisky itself, and experience the tropical notes of a blended malt distilled at the heart of the 1980s, titled Sunshine on Speyside with Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat. For every song selected, a story of scotch whisky lies in wait."
To demonstrate this philosophy, Gibson has selected three songs in particular that should be enjoyed whilst sipping one of the whiskies from the distillery's wider selection...
Whisky: 'The Transatlantic' 33YO Blended Grain Scotch Whisky
Song: Letter from America by The Proclaimers
"This whisky was inspired by the travels made to the Americas by Charles Gordon – who was integral to the laying down of the whiskies that we have in the House of Hazelwood collection today. A rare, delicious scotch blended grain that could easily be twinned, if sampled blind, with the finest of American bourbon. Sweet and woody, this drop will reward on every aspect of taste."
Whisky: 'The Eight Grain' 40YO Blended Grain Scotch Whisky
Song: Eight Days a Week by The Beatles
"This whisky celebrates all that aged grain whiskies can bring. This highly unusual release combines the distillery character of eight of Scotland’s closed and active grain whisky distilleries. Melding the rich and unctuous decadence and bright citrus notes characteristic of the component distilleries, this release is rare, unrepeatable, and utterly delicious."
Whisky: 'Sunshine on Speyside' 39YO Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Song: Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat
"Experience the tropical notes of a blended malt distilled at the heart of the 1980s, titled 'Sunshine on Speyside' while listening to Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat. Remarkable by virtue of its character, this astonishingly bright, beautifully aged Speyside Malt carries with it compelling notes of fresh pineapple, charred fruit, and old-fashioned sweet shops."
Pour yourself a dram, sit back and listen to the playlist of Sixties, Seventies and Eighties hits below...
