Normally I stick with Vegas sweepstakes, but this one was too amazing not to post about. Take a picture, win the contest, get a great trip. Here's the contest details:

First Prize

Scotland – The Ultimate Road Trip

Win our competition and you and a partner will embark on an incredible 10 day trip across Scotland.

We’ve designed this trip as a visual feast of Scotland’s most stunningly beautiful natural landscapes, taking you leisurely from our historic capital, Edinburgh, to The Macallan’s spiritual home on Speyside and off the beaten track to Applecross before driving through the majestic Great Glens by Loch Ness and through dramatic Glencoe.

You’ll stay in our best city hotels and even in a 15th Century castle. You’ll sample the delights of Scotland’s larder, dining at award-winning restaurants. You’ll even sea kayak amidst abundant wildlife off Wester Ross.

And of course you’ll be The Macallan’s guest at the exclusive Easter Elchies House where you’ll sample the famous ‘Six Pillar’ dinner and receive a personal tour of the distillery. We think this is the Ultimate Road Trip.

Second and third place prizes are nice cameras, and third place is a 12 month Digital Camera magazine subscription.

The contest runs until July 29th, 2011, and you can enter it HERE.

I'm sold just on the look of the bottle. The only issue I have is the $16,780 price tag. It is 50 years old though, which isn't exactly something you can go grab at your local store.

Here's the details:

Orkney’s mythic distillery is releasing their oldest and most prestigious dram yet: the Highland Park 50 year old, available exclusively at Harrods until the end of October.

Inspired by the elemental forces of Orkney and designed by renowned jewellery designer Maeve Gillies of MaeVona, New York, each of the 275 bottles produced is crafted by hand from sterling silver.

Bottled at 44.8% abv, Highland Park 50 year old is a vatting of five refill oak casks distilled in 1960. Its natural mahogany colour, rich and spicy tannins, and muscovado sugar flavours makes this Highland Park single malt an exceptionally fine whisky that builds on the world-class reputation of its award-winning distillery.

If you want to take a look at it, or have the cash to buy one, you can check it out at the Harrods site HERE.

Of course if for some odd reason you don't want them to send you great stuff, you can opt out of the whole email thing, and just sign up for the money.

I completely missed how much long this contest is going on. Hopefully you have some time to enter, but I'd get over there as soon as you can, just to make sure.

Black Bull 40 Year Old, the flagship of the Black Bull range is a superior blend of the finest Single Malt and Single Grain whiskies available from Scotland’s premium Distilleries. The spirit in this very first bottling of Black Bull 40 contains whiskies ranging from 40 to 44 years old from the following distilleries: Bunnahabhain, Glenfarclas, Glenlivet, Glenburgie, Highland Park, Miltonduff, Springbank, Tamdhu and Invergordon.

Black Bull 40 year old is 90% single malt and 10% single grain and is bottled at cask strength. The spirit is completely natural, without chill filtration or added colourant. 

You can read more about it, and find out where you can buy some, at the site HERE.

In 2008, Ardmore Traditional Cask redefined the Single Highland Malt Scotch experience in the United States. Masterfully crafted from the only Highland distillery that consistently peats its barley, Ardmore weaves bold smoky flavor notes historically associated only with Islay malts into the rich Highland malt experience. Expanding on this unique combination of flavors, Ardmore will unveil a limited edition 30 year old in 2009 available only in the United States. Aged in former bourbon barrels and handmade quarter casks, the new ultra-premium Scotch bears the same name and pedigree as its predecessor, but reveals a distinctive finish and rich, complex flavor all of its own. Only 230 cases, with each bottle individually numbered, will be available.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Bright Gold
Nose: Without water, the peat smoke is not apparent as only the full rich intensity appears.
Adding water allows the many layers of complexity to come through. The immediate aroma is fragrant rather than powerful and the scents of roses and violets blend with a slight citrus note that masks the gentle peat smoke.
Body: Full, round and soft
Palate: At bottle strength, the peat comes through as a dryish liquorice tang. When water is added, the peatiness is smoothed and softened by a cream toffee and flower gentleness.
Finish: Quite dry and very long lasting

Macallan has released a special 57 year old single malt whisky. It comes in a Lalique's Finest Cut crystal decanter, and will be available by special order beginning in October. 

"In homage to the beauty of Lalique's Finest Cut decanter, we chose a particularly rare 57 years old Macallan single malt whisky," says David Cox, Director of Fine & Rare Whiskies for The Macallan. "It is the second oldest The Macallan whisky ever released, only surpassed in age by the legendary 1926, a 60 year old bottled in 1986."

The decanters are, of course, a limited edition with only 400 being made, and costing around $15,000.

A giant bottle of single malt 14-year-old Tomintoul Speyside Glenlivet Scotch has made the Guinness Book of Records.

The almost 28 gallon bottle (105 liters) was hand filled, and then sealed with a huge cork that had to be hammered into place.

Duncan Baldwin, Tomintoul Distillery’s brand development director, said: “We are delighted to have been successful in achieving this record as ratified by Guinness Book of World Records.

“It was quite nerve-racking, filling and labelling such a large vessel by hand and especially so when sealing the bottle with the largest cork I have ever seen as it had to be hammered in with a mallet but the exercise went very well.

“It should be a great talking point for Tomintoul Distillery, the village and its visitors.”

The bottle will be on permanent display at the Clockhouse in the village square at Tomintoul village.

Your own piece of history

You may have read how the Johnston brothers had to fight three times to protect our precious and unique water supply. The final solution involved buying the land that our water ran through. So we decided that every Friend of Laphroaig should have (for their lifetime) their own personal square foot of Islay from a portion of this land. Each plot is registered and you may visit it (or view your plot on our members website). And more importantly collect your rent from us – a dram of the finest!

But Friends of Laphroaig is about much more than owning land – like Islay itself, it’s about a community – and what a community. Over the years we’ve witnessed some extraordinary events on the hallowed turf. A wedding between two FOLlowers, the scattering of a member’s ashes, even a Japanese ceremonial garden!

But the real day-to-day Laphroaig community lives right here on the Internet. With our new web site we have taken up many of our 'Friends' suggestions and once again expanded the password-protected area. Your Friends section includes:

    * My Plot – Here you can to contact like-minded Friends. Whether they share a common interest, live in your hometown, or are 'virtual' neighbours on the plot next door to yours! You can also see aerial photographs which show you exactly where your personal square foot is, and you can see who your plot neighbours are and send messages to them!
    * FOL Bureau – Here you can nominate your own friends to become 'FOLs', you can print off your own personalized FOL Business cards, and you can download our special 'Tasting Pack' to help guide you through a whisky tasting session. Here you can also find a copy of your certificate of land ownership with Laphroaig, so you can print it off whenever needs be.
    * Distillery News – For up to date reports of all news, progress and events occurring at the distillery
    * Chat – An easy to use chat area where are friends from around the world meet and discuss.
    * Members Shop – You can buy whisky and merchandise at a special discount and purchase some items that non-members can’t buy at all
    * Charity Auction – FOLlowers are exclusively allowed to bid for special items – all proceeds go to our nominated charity.
    * World of FOL – A hub for FOLs around the world where you can share news and views that relate only to your own area.
    * Writers Corner – Let’s hear about your first Laphroaig or the strangest place you've come across our whisky!
    * Friends Photos – A very popular section where FOLs can upload their own pictures to share
    * Send an E-card – Whether you wish to send a birthday greeting, a Christmas card, a Valentine or a simple hello, here you can find a good selection of E-cards to send out.
    * Lottery – A randomly generated plot number lottery with one catch – the winner has to log in to the FOL site in order to claim their prize. Check back regularly to see if you're the lucky winner!
    * Tasting Wheels – Keep track of all the different bottles of Laphroaig you've tasted here. You can also view other FOLs tasting opinions in our Tasting Library.
    * Visiting Laphroaig – all the information you need to make the 'ultimate pilgrimage' to meet us (and collect your rent, of course!). You can now book online – Click here
    * Caption Contest – We run a range of caption competitions over the year – a new one each month!
    * And much, much more, the list is always expanding as you send in your suggestions.

So there’s never been a better time to join – we now number over 250,000 in over 150 countries worldwide!

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Created in 2003, DEWAR`S 18 was awarded a Gold Medal by Whisky Magazine at itsWorld Whisky Awards and was named Gold (Best In Class) Medal Winner at the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Rare whiskies were carefully selected for DEWAR`S 18 Founder`s Reserve, and the Master Blender took painstaking care in managing the time-honored marrying process that lends refinement to the exceptional blend.

Each bottle of DEWAR`S 18 is individually numbered, and the perfect serve is in a rocks glass with one ice cube. Suggested retail price is $80.00.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the world's foremost authority on single cask, single malt whisky.

Membership opens the doors to a whole new whisky adventure, giving access to an exclusive selection of rare whiskies.

Society membership is wrapped up and presented in the Society’s fabulous Membership Box, which includes four carefully selected 10cl single cask, single malt whiskies, a member's handbook, and a membership card, which grants access to the Society’s whiskies all year.

Members can attend whisky tastings around the UK and in its venues in Leith, Edinburgh and London and they also receive the Society’s glossy magazine, Unfiltered, which provides an entertaining insight into the world of whisky.

All you need to do is hit the site HERE to enter.