It’s time for #WhiskySanta to reveal the first ‘Super Wish’ of 2025…
Ho-ho-ho! Yes, things are really heating up now! (Or should that be cooling down? More of a snowflakes and snowmen thing Christmas, isn’t it?)
If you’re still getting up to speed, head over to my #WhiskySanta page first, or indeed read my first blog post of the year.
All done and ready? Super sleigh! So you’ll know I’m giving away all manner of treats with Master of Malt orders (and even picking up the entire tab for many!), as well as granting your Christmas wishes across social media too. But there’s more – this Santa likes to keep a few extra presents up his sleeve…
Of course, what I’m referring to is my famous Super Wishes!
Want a bottle of Tamnavulin 31yo 1991 Gordon & MacPhail? Make a wish!
#WhiskySanta’s Tamnavulin 31yo 1991 Gordon & MacPhail Super Wish
This year, we’re kicking off with something special from an independent bottler: Tamnavulin 31 Year Old 1991 (cask 9040502) from Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice range, worth an impressive £725. Independent bottlers open up the world of whisky, making it a bigger, better, and altogether more merry place filled with countless opportunities for exploration. I doff my luxurious silk velvet hat to their vital brilliance.
Gordon & MacPhail isn’t just any indie bottler, though. Established as a grocer in 1895, apprentice John Urquhart would take the reins as they increasingly specialised in whisky, filling different distilleries’ new make into their own casks, and ageing them entirely in their own warehouse with full control from day one. Incredibly, four generations of Urquharts later, that’s how all their bottlings are still created.* They recently released the oldest single malt ever, an 85-year-old Glenlivet.
The Connoisseurs Choice Tamnavulin single malt I have here was aged for a still incredibly impressive 31 years, spent entirely in a beautiful refill sherry puncheon. It was distilled back in 1991 (I remember the auspicious day well, good ol’ omniscience), bottled at 51.7% ABV, and just 418 bottles have ever existed. Think Autumnal spice, apple, hazelnuts, vanilla fudge, blackcurrant, black pepper, slightly herbal. It’s a season-appropriate banger, and it could be all yours!
Now that’s how you kick Christmas up a notch. Your move, Bublé.
What is a Super Wish?
“But #WhiskySanta, it’s been a year, how do these Super Wish things work again?”
Quite so!
Making a Super Wish essentially works exactly the same as all the other Ask #WhiskySanta wishes on social media. The main difference is that you know somebody wishing for this specific (and exceptional!) £725 bottle between now and Friday will definitely have their wish granted. You’ll know your socials of choice:
- Instagram? Head to Master of Malt’s Insta Stories to grab a screenshot you can post to your own (or see the post on the MoM feed).
- Twitter (X?!) or Facebook? You can make use of the handy big red button that says “Ask #WhiskySanta” on the Tamnavulin 31yo 1991 Connoisseurs Choice page. A box will pop up ready to send you onwards to post your wish – just be sure to include #WhiskySanta (and obv make sure it’s public).
Don’t delay! You need to get those wishes in by 23:59 GMT Thursday 13 November. The reindeer are unionised, and they require adequate notice. The winner will be announced on Friday 14 November.
Good luck! And remember, you can still wish on social media for any delicious treat on the Master of Malt site. (The Ask #WhiskySanta buttons mentioned above feature on every page for your ease, and MoM will post plenty of other wishing inspo on their Insta Stories too.) I’ll be granting wishes every single day from now until Christmas Eve, so don’t miss out!
#WhiskySanta
*Last year, G&M actually announced they were no longer going to fill casks with spirit from distilleries they don’t own**, ending this extraordinary multi-generational tradition. Although they still have oodles of stock that’ll last for decades to come, it does nonetheless make these bottlings all the more special.
**They own Benromach and The Cairn (which is a new one, founded in 2022)