Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky an…
Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information.
Here is the round-up of the news from this last week. There is quite a bit ...
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The Islay distillery of Ardbeg has announced an Ardbeg Committee exclusive that is pitched as the smokiest Ardbeg single malt ever - the Ardbeg Hypernova. The new whisky is an evolution of previous cult classic Supernova and shows peat levels in excess of 170ppm (phenol parts per million). This is over three times the regular level of Ardbeg spirit. The Ardbeg Hypernova is bottled at 51% ABV and will be available in limited numbers from the Ardbeg Committee part of the
Ardbeg website and Ardbeg Embassies around the world. Membership is free and open to all Ardbeg fans or peaty whisky drinkers. A bottle will cost £190.
Glendronach
The east Highland distillery of Glendronach has announced the latest limited edition release into its revered Grandeur series. The series showcases some of the oldest whiskies maturing at Glendronach. The Glendronach Grandeur Batch 11 has been created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glendronach, from a small batch of hand selected ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.
Grandeur Batch 11 has been bottled at 28 years old and at the natural cask strength of 48.9% ABV. The exact number of bottles in the batch was not revealed in the press release but they will be available in specialist whisky and luxury retailers worldwide. Each bottle will cost £700/ $785 US/ €805.
Gordon & Macphail
The family owned independent bottling company of Gordon & Macphail have announced a new series of rare whiskies - The Recollection Series - and the first three bottlings in the series. The three whiskies are all from closed single malt distilleries - Glen Mhor, Lochside and St. Magdelene. Each is a single cask selected from Gordon & Macphail's own maturing stocks by members of the family. All will be available from specialist and luxury retailers worldwide.
The Glen Mhor 1982 is bottled at 40 years old and at the natural cask strength of 50.8% ABV. It comes from a single re-fill ex-sherry hogshead, which has yielded just 174 bottles. Each will cost £2,250/ $3,500 US. The Lochside 1981 is also 40 years old and also from a single re-fill ex-sherry hogshead. There are 141 bottles at 49.2% ABV. Each will cost £3,200/ $5,000 US. The St. Magdelene 1982 is 39 years old and comes from a single re-fill ex-bourbon hogshead. There are 165 bottles at 54.8% ABV. Each will cost £2,250/ $3,500 US.
"Each remarkable expression is an unrepeatable moment in Scotland’s rich liquid heritage. Having carefully assessed the progress of each spirit down the decades, we it is the right moment to reveal these landmark single malts. We hope the annual series will excite single malt enthusiasts."
Stuart Urquhart / Operations Director at Gordon & Macphail.
Hibiki
The House of Suntory has announced the release of Hibiki Blossom Harmony. The new whisky is a limited edition blend that has been finished in Sakura cherrywood casks. The Spring time heralds the world famous Sakura cherry blossom in Japan and the casks have been made from those trees.
The Hibiki Blossom Harmony is designed to showcase this unique wood type and marries single malt and single grain whiskies from Suntory's Chita, Hakushu and Yamazaki distilleries before a finishing period in the cherrywood casks. It has been created by Shinji Fukuyo, the fifth generation Chief Blender at Suntory.
The Hibiki Blossom Harmony is bottled at 43% ABV and is available in selected specialist whisky retailers in the UK. A bottle will cost £175.
Ireland's biggest selling whiskey brand has announced the latest addition to its core range - the Jameson Single Pot Still. The releases celebrates the traditional whiskey style that is unique to Ireland and produced using a mix of malted and unmalted barley. The spirit has then been triple distilled. The Jameson Single Pot Still has been created by Kevin O'Gorman, the Master Distiller for Jameson, and has been matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. These have then been finished in three virgin oak casks made of American, European and Irish oak, before being married back together.
The Jameson Single Pot Still has been bottled at 46% ABV and is initially available in Ireland and the UK only. This includes at Dublin airport, the Midelton distillery and Bow Street in Dublin and at
Jameson online. A bottle will cost €60/ £52.
The Islay distillery of Lagavulin celebrates its continuing sponsorship of the Hebridean island's jazz festival with a pair of limited edition releases. It is the first time that they have bottle two whiskies for the annual event - one will be exclusively on sale at the distillery and the other to a wider audience. The distillery exclusive Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 14 years old (pictured, left) has been matured in re-fill American oak barrels before a five year finishing period in ex-brandy casks. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 55.4% ABV and there are just 3,000 bottles in the batch. The packaging features highlights from previous editions of the festival on the famous whisky island. A bottle will cost £220.
The second bottling - the Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 7 years old - is available for those unable to attend the festival (pictured,
right). It is on sale via
malts.com. It features a combination of ex-bourbon and re-fill American oak hogshead casks and is also bottled at the natural cask strength. This is 59.5% ABV. There are just 2,490 bottles and each will cost £95. Both bottlings are available on a first come, first served basis until sold out. Both whiskies were selected by Jordan Paisley, the Distillery Manager at Lagavulin. The Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival is now in its 24th year and has covered all areas of jazz over the two decades.
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