One year, wow! If we were a whisky rather than a blog, we would still be considered a spirit drink. But hey… even that 54-year-old Bowmore they have on display in the distillery’s beautiful tasting bar has not always been of biblical age. Having our first anniversary – or barleyversary as we like to call it – is an achievement we are very, very proud of. And it is also reason to celebrate. Thus, we reached out to our friends in Douglas Laing, Bruichladdich, Bottle Market, Wolfburn and Bremer Spirituosen Contor who gladly sponsored five awesome whiskies for our BarleyMania Birthday Bash ’17! With these killer prizes looking for new owners, it is now up to you, our dear readers, to go and get ’em!

by Tobi & Aaron

Event: BarleyMania Birthday Bash ’17
Objective: Have a virtual dram with us! Post a photo of a whisky you’d like to share with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the handle @barleymaniablog and the hashtag #barleyversary17 in the description. *
Prizes: The Epicurean (Golden Bottle), Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2010 (Signed), Mackmyra 5yo Single Cask (Fair Bottling), Wolfburn Batch 128 (Signed), Akashi Blended
Sponsors: Douglas Laing, Bruichladdich, Bottle Market, Wolfburn, Bremer Spirituosen Contor
Event time: Thursday, October 12 till Thursday, October 19. Entries posted later than October 19 at 11:59pm (CEST) can no longer be considered.
Open for…: Whisky fans from all over the world who are of legal drinking age in their home country.
Selection of winners: Winners will be randomly selected and announced on BarleyMania’s Facebook fan page on Sunday, October 22 at 8pm (CEST).
Note: Check the privacy settings for your entry post and make sure we can find it via the normal hashtag search.
Terms and conditions: Click here for the terms and conditions of the BarleyMania Birthday Bash ’17.
Any more questions?: Post them in the comments and we gladly answer them!

* As tagging fan pages in Facebook posts does not really work on mobile, you do not have to include the handle @barleymaniablog in  Facebook posts compiled on your phone or tablet. In that case, only using the hashtag #barleyversary17 is fine.

The Epicurean – Golden Bottle
(sponsored by Douglas Laing)

Cheeky, smart and dapper, The Epicurean is the Lowlands expression of Douglas Laing’s popular Remarkable Regional Malts range. Bottled at 46 per cent without food coloring or chill filtration, this elegant blended malt is made, among others, from whiskies distilled at Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie. In typical Lowlands fashion, The Epicurean is a light, fruity and floral dram that can be enjoyed at any given occasion. In celebration of our first anniversary, the wonderful people of Douglas Laing dug particularly deep into their treasure vaults and produced a special treat for you guys: One of only four (!) golden bottles of The Epicurean. As these golden bottles never went on sale, this is your very rare chance to get hold of an impossible-to-find collector’s item!

Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2010 – Signed by Allan Logan
(sponsored by Bruichladdich)

Terroir matters. Progressive hebridean distillers Bruichladdich firmly believe that not only the “how” plays an important role in the making of a good whisky but also the “where”. For their unpeated Islay Barley 2010, the celebrated distillery only used crops grown on their home turf Islay – with Optic and Oxbridge being the names of the two varieties of barley from which the spirit is made. The result is a fresh and floral single malt Scotch whisky that is mighty proud of its island heritage. It is fruity, malty, zesty, bold and really damn good. The special bottle Bruichladdich sent us for our BarelyMania Birthday Bash ’17 is signed by Production Director Allan Logan, who wishes the lucky winner “Slainte Mhath”.

Mackmyra 5yo Single Cask – Bottle Market 2015 Edition
(sponsored by Bottle Market)

Thanks to its great organization, friendly atmosphere, excellent line-up and cool location, the Bottle Market in Bremen is one of the best whisk(e)y fairs in Northern Germany. The BarleyMania team has been there two times already and we cannot wait to return in the coming month, when the next iteration of the event takes place on the premises of Bremen Fair from November 17 to 19. When we invited the organizers of Bottle Market to join our anniversary party, they gladly chimed in and sent us one of their rare fair bottlings from two years back: A 5-year old single cask Mackmyra bottled at 55.4 per cent and matured in special 30 liter casks made from ex-bourbon wood and svensk oak! All in all, a mere 96 bottles of this whisky ever got filled!

Wolfburn Batch 128 – Signed by Shane Fraser 
(sponsored by Wolfburn)

Akashi Blended
(sponsored by Bremer Spirituosen Contor)

Bremer Spirituosen Contor is the German importer of a broad variety of high-profile whisk(e)y and spirit brands, including Douglas Laing, Writers Tears, Paul John and Bib & Tucker. Over time, we met them at quite a few events where we always had great fun (and a lot to drink) at their booth. For one of our lucky winners, they sponsored a bottle by another brand they distribute across Germany, namely Akashi from Japan’s White Oak Distillery. Their signature Blended whisky is a light, delicate and well-balanced pour matured in ex-Bourbon casks and finished in virgin oak casks. If you already are a fan of Japanese whisky, you will know just how good of a drop this is. And if you have not yet fallen in love with whisky from the Land of the Rising Sun, Akashi Blended will convert you with the very first sip!

Douglas Laing @ Web: http://www.douglaslaing.com/
Bruichladdich @ Web: http://www.bruichladdich.com/
Bottle Market @ Web: http://www.bottle-market.de/
Wolfburn @ Web: http://www.wolfburn.com/
Bremer Spirituosen Contor @ Web: http://www.bremerspirituosencontor.de/