It is an ITP from Long Pond, a double retort distillation with an ester count on the light / light-medium scale.
Super many dried fruit aromas, spices, and a discreet ester profile of sweetness/acidity/bitterness. The barrel is so balanced with the Jamaican style. Most rum enthusiasts will appreciate this.
Around Ping – A Brief History of Juuls’ Prestige Bottling:
It must be said with a certain reverence. “Ping”…
A word shrouded in mystery, the mere sound of which can make mouths water and wallets spontaneously leap out of the pockets of spirit aficionados worldwide.
But what is the Ping series, and why does it deserve a place in your already overflowing liquor cabinet? In this article, we’ll unveil the full story behind our beloved “prestige” bottlings.
In the old days, Juuls bottled many casks, and although the ambition was always to bottle only the best, there were rare occasions when we came across a cask that was truly exceptional—one where rarity and quality combined to create something extraordinary. When such a cask is discovered, it deserves a little extra fanfare.
In 2005, our director’s 30th anniversary in the wine and spirits industry coincided with a near-miraculous find: the chance to purchase a bourbon hogshead of Ardbeg 1972.
It almost goes without saying how extraordinary a whisky that is. Expensive, naturally, but certainly not an opportunity to let slip away. It was decided that this extraordinary Ardbeg would be bottled to celebrate director Michael Madsen’s milestone. The name became Ping No. 1, as Ping was Michael’s nickname among friends.
The Ardbeg was accompanied by three other remarkable whiskies, all released in 2005 to mark the anniversary—one for each season of the year. Ping No. 2 was a Highland Park from 1977, No. 3 a Macallan from 1972, and No. 4 a Ledaig from the legendary 1973 vintage.
With this quartet of superb malt whiskies, the Ping series was born, and the style was unmistakably established: only the best of the best.
Since then, new spirits have occasionally qualified to bear the name. In 2007, Ping No. 5 appeared: a Mortlach from 1957, bottled after precisely 50 years of aging to celebrate Michael’s 50th birthday. In 2011, when he celebrated his 25th business anniversary at Juuls Vin og Spiritus, the search was on for four exceptional casks, this time not only in Scotland but also in the humid cellars of Armagnac. Among these four bottlings, a Jamaica rum from 1977 has become legendary.
The Ping series represents our absolute finest bottlings—the crème de la crème. Ping No. 1, for instance—this otherworldly Ardbeg—has, as of February 2020, an average rating of a staggering 94.58 points on Whiskybase.com, solidly placing it in the Top 100 highest-rated whiskies in the world. This stellar reputation has also led to significant value appreciation for nearly all these bottles, which were initially quite humbly priced. Ping No. 1 originally cost “just” 1,800 DKK, and people carried them off by the case at the fair in Kolding, where it was launched.
But times change, and finding extraordinary casks becomes increasingly difficult. Many distilleries have stopped selling to brokers, opting instead to bottle everything themselves. This trend is evident in both rum and whisky.
Fortunately, we still have contacts here and there, so we will do everything we can to ensure the Ping series continues.
