DATE ARCHIVES : June 23, 2021

Glenfiddich 26 Year Old Grande Couronne

Glenfiddich is always producing those perfect drams to accompany those elegant times in your life…or maybe just those times you are feeling fancy! This Grande Couronne is no different!

This bottling is the distillery’s newest edition to their Grand Series, and quite literally the “crowning glory” to that series. Seeing as the name means “Big Crown” in French. The Grand Series was created as an opulent line-up to accompany significant moments that are cause for celebration. But like I said, you can crack this open if you are feeling fancy and want to sit out on your back deck in a tuxedo!

With the Glenfiddich Gran Cru having been finished in French cuvée oak casks and the Gran Reserva finishing in Caribbean rum casks, it is no surprise they had something special for this one. After having spent most of its life in American and European oak casks, the whisky is then transferred into carefully chosen rare French Cognac casks. The Cognac adding that much more elegance to the whisky.

Glenfiddich’s own Malt Master, Brian Kinsman had this to say:

“The Grand Series perfectly encapsulates Glenfiddich’s spirit of innovation and our ability to experiment with aged liquid and intriguing finishes. Grande Couronne is the latest to exemplify that approach.

It is the only Glenfiddich single malt that has matured in American and European oak casks and finished in rare French Cognac casks. The length of the finish, two years, is highly unusual and adds extra layers of sweet toasted oak and velvety aromas of café crème, brown sugar and soft spice.”

As with any of Glenfiddich’s limited release, the Grande Couronne comes in a beautiful display box with a rotating stage for the bottle! Masterfully designed with gold leafing and inside the box is like an itsy bitsy Louvre with renaissance inspired paintings.

So if you are looking for a very special gift or a whisky for that next big occasion, this might be for you!

Elijah

Let me introduce you to Big Ben Pipes.

It goes back to the end of the 19th century when Elbert Gubbels Sr. opened a shop focused on tobacco pipes and other smoker accessories. The smoking business grew to the point that in 1924 the company was transformed into a wholesale trade business. Because of the lack of tobacco pipe manufacturers in the Netherlands, Gubbels imported pipes from Europe, primarily France and England.


During the German Invasion that occurred in 1940, the Gubbels family had difficulties importing products from Europe. Mr. Gubbel wanted to cut ties with his suppliers and have his tobacco pipe production. With the ending of World War II, his dream came alive.

In 1946 the Gubbels Family opened their first factory. After a successful expansion, Mr. Gubbels quickly realized that his brand needed an international name to appeal to the European market. He bought a small trade company in Amsterdam, which owned the rights to the brand Big Ben that was well established in the international market.
From that point, Big Ben pipes and the Gubbels family became a recognized brand that everybody knew.

With the opening of the new factory in Roermond in 1974, Her Majesty Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted the title “Royal” to the Gubbels Company. Hence, its official name became Elbert Gubbels & Zonen – Koninklijke Fabriek van Tabakspijpen (Elbert Gubbels & Sons – Royal Dutch Pipe Factory). Following the new title, the company went through a new rebranding to negate the belief that the company’s origins were English becoming Royal Dutch.

To this day, the Big Ben Pipes are made in Holland. Most of them are fitted with 9mm Filters. It stands for innovative designs and outstanding quality. Because of their reliability and intriguing styles, Big Ben is the first pipe for many new pipe smokers and the favourite of many.
As you can see from the pictures, these pipes are classic and somehow future forward with their style and palette colour.

Head over to our Big Ben page and browse our collection.

Christian