Inbox | The Week’s Whisky News | October 18, 2024

Welcome to Inbox – our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to the WFE email. We started Inbox several years ago as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from arou…



Welcome to Inbox - our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to the WFE email. We started Inbox several years ago 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 a round-up of this week's whisky news.
 
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The Lowland distillery of Bladnoch, the most southernly in Scotland, has announced the line-up for their annual Peated Collection. The Bladnoch Peated Collection 2024 Edition features four whiskies using peated malt during production and has been created by Dr. Nick Savage, the Master Distiller at Bladnoch. This includes the annually released Alinta Reserve, plus three single cask expressions - these are all selected from a rare peated malt production run that happened in 2009.

The 2024 release of Alinta Reserve features only ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry cask matured spirit and is bottled at 46.7% ABV. The three single casks are the Peated Single Cask 2024/01 matured in ex-Tokaji dessert wine casks from Hungary and bottled at 51.7% ABV, Peated Single Cask 2024/02 matured in ex-bourbon barrels and bottled at 55% ABV, and Peated Single Cask 2024/03 matured in ex-rum barrels and released at 54.2% ABV.

All bottlings are non-chill filtered and of natural colour. The Alinta Reserve will cost £120 per bottle and the Peated Single Casks £200 each. They will be available in limited numbers in selected world markets and via the Bladnoch website.
 


In a similar move to Bladnoch, The Glasgow Distillery Co. have released three limited edition peated single malts into their Glasgow 1770 Small Batch Series. The Glasgow 1770 Islay Cask Finish (57.3% ABV/ 303 bottles) and Madeira Cask Finish (58% ABV/ 298 bottles) have both seen initial maturation in virgin American oak casks before respective finishing periods in ex-peated whisky casks from Islay and ex-Madeira casks from the island of Madeira. 
 
The Glasgow 1770 Marsala Cask Finish (60.2% ABV/ 860 bottles) has undergone a full seven-year maturation in ex-Marsala casks from Sicily. All are non-chill filtered and of natural colour. All three bottlings will be available from The Glasgow Distillery Co. website and selected specialist retailers in the UK. Each will cost £59.



Mossburn, the independent distillers and blenders, have announced the second bottling in their Cask Collaboration Series - the Mossburn 12 years old Domaine Dupont Calvados Cask Finish. This follows the inaugural release that saw collaboration with Foursquare rum. The blended malt features only single malts from the Speyside region of Scotland aged 12 years and above. These were aged in ex-bourbon barrels before marrying and placement in French oak ex-Calvados casks from the renowned Domaine Dupont in Normandy, one of France's finest producers of apple brandy.

The new bottling is released at the natural cask strength of 57.2% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are just 7,500 bottles and these will be available in selected global markets, plus the UK and USA. A bottle will cost £65/ €80/ US$90.



The Isle of Raasay distillery has launched the second bottling in its Dùn Cana single malt series. The Dùn Cana Sherry Quarter Cask Release: Second Edition features both peated and unpeated spirit in a ratio of 53% to 47% respectively. These have been matured separately in ex-American Rye casks before undergoing a second maturation in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry quarter casks (125 litre capacity) for six months. It is bottled at 52% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are 15,000 bottles in the release and each will cost £85.


A Green Fuel Source for Distillers?

Beam Suntory has successfully tested the use of green hydrogen as a fuel source for directly-firing stills, and is part of a pilot project to… Read More

Beam Suntory has successfully tested the use of green hydrogen as a fuel source for directly-firing stills, and is part of a pilot project to create a hydrogen conversion unit that could be deployed at remote distilleries. We’ll learn more about the potential of hydrogen as a fuel source for distillers on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Laphroaig is looking for a new manager, while R&B Distillers has received planning approval for a new distillery in Campbeltown, Scotland and Dr. Bill Lumsden of Glenmorangie makes a surprising admission about this year’s Ardbeg Day release. 

Episode 1053: April 21, 2024

Links: Beam Suntory | Laphroaig | Isle of Raasay Distillery | McConnell’s Irish Whisky | Overholt Rye | Bulleit | Ardbeg | Glenmorangie | Royal Salute | Bladnoch | Cù Bòcan | Callington Mill Distillery | The Cabrach Distillery | American Craft Spirits Association | Dewar’s | New Riff Distilling | Hard Truth Distilling

Inbox / The Week’s Whisky News (May 12, 2023)

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 whisk…



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 week.
 
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Big Peat
The award-winning Islay blended malt of Big Peat has revealed details of its annual bottling for the Fèis Ìle festival on the famous whisky island. This year's limited batch is named The Smokehouse Edition and comes in at a strength of 48% ABV.  It is also the first ever expression of Big Peat to be finished in ex-red wine casks. Big Peat is created using only single malts from Islay. Brand owners Douglas Laing & Co. will also be supporting local businesses with Big Peat at several events during the festival. Big Peat The Smokehouse Edition will be available in selected specialist retailers in Asia, Europe and the UK, and via www.douglaslaing.com. A bottle will cost £65/ €75.

 
Bladnoch
 

The Lowland distillery of Bladnoch has announced the release of a new series of whiskies that celebrates the nuances of the whisky making craft. The Dragon Series consists of five single malts with each bottling showing a pivotal moment in the production process. The collection draws inspiration from the Dragon Curve, a fractional curve in mathematics that suggest a stable and predictable pattern but often gives other outcomes.

The expressions are divided into five iterations. The 1st Iteration : The Field - Field to Distillery tells the story of barley sourced from local farms and the malting process. The liquid has been matured in re-fill ex-bourbon casks and is bottled at 46.7% ABV. The 2nd Iteration : The Spirit - Malt to Spirit captures the essence of mashing, fermentation and distillation within the distillery. It has been matured in first-fill and re-fill ex-bourbon casks and is bottled at 48.3% ABV.

The 3rd Iteration : The Casks - Tree to Cask considers the art of coopering and the oak used to make the barrels for maturation. It has been matured in a combination of American oak first-fill ex-bourbon and first-fill ex-sherry casks made from Spanish oak, and is bottled at 49.9% ABV. The 4th Iteration : The Ageing - New to Mature focusses on the unpredictable nature of spirit maturation. It has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and ex-red wine hogsheads, and is bottled at 51.1% ABV.

The 5th Iteration : The Decision - Complexity to Simplicity looks at role of the Master Blender and their work in the sample room, which determines when the whisky is ready. This has been matured in a combination of ex-Tokaji sweet wine casks from Hungary and Spanish ex-sherry casks. It is bottled at 53.1% ABV.

Each bottling in the series will cost £110 with the entire set of five selling for £550. The Dragon Series will be available in specialist whisky retailers in selected global markets, plus from the distillery shop in Wigtown and via www.bladnoch.com.

 
Isle of Raasay 
 

The privately owned Isle of Raasay distillery has launched a distillery exclusive bottling to celebrate a recent award. The distillery was the winner of the coverted Tourism Destination of the Year 2022 at the Scottish Whisky Awards. For the limited edition release the distillery team, led by founder and Master Distiller Alasdair Day, selected ex-sherry and ex-Manzanilla Pasada casks. 
 
These were filled with lightly peated spirit and the whisky has been bottled at the natural cask strength of 63.5% ABV. The Isle of Raasay - Tourism Destination of the Year Edition will be on sale at the distillery shop and also exclusively to their online club members. There are just 2,500 bottles and these will be available to purchase from May 17. Each will cost £95.

 

Kilchoman
The family-owned Islay farm distillery of Kilchoman have announced the release of two Spring limited editions - the Kilchoman Cognac Cask Matured and Fino Sherry Cask Matured. The Cognac Cask Matured (pictured, left) is the first ever Kilchoman expression to feature maturation in ex-Cognac casks. These were sourced from Cognac house Tonellerie Bossuet in France. Heavily peated (50ppm) spirit was filled to these casks in 2016 and have matured for a minimum of six years. It is bottled at 50% ABV and there are just 15,100 bottles.


The Kilchoman Fino Sherry Cask Matured (pictured, right) is just the second ever release to feature ex-Fino sherry butts. These were selected by founder Anthony Wills and Robin Bignal, the Production Manager at Kilchoman. Just 20 butts were used and these were sourced from Bodega Jose y Miguel Martin in Jerez, Spain. They were filled with heavily peated (50ppm) spirit in 2018 and matured for a minimum of five years. There are just 15,650 bottles and these are released at 50% ABV. Both bottlings are non chill-filtered and of natural colour.
 
 
"The Cognac casks selected allow our fruit-driven, citrus spirit style to balance with that of the Cognac oak. There is a delicate balance to be found that ensures flavours from the spirit and the cask are easily detected. 
The Fino Sherry maturation works incredibly well with our classic Kilchoman character. Fino is another example of sherry casks working together, not against, our spirit.”
Anthony Wills.

 

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Isle Of Raasay Reveals Single Cask Single Malt

London-based bottler Berry Bros & Rudd has released a single cask single malt from Scotland’s Hebridean Isle of Raasay Distillery, which only recently began production in September 2017. The 2017 Raasay single cask #23 spent three years in a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, then was split for six months into two sherry casks – ex-Oloroso and […]

London-based bottler Berry Bros & Rudd has released a single cask single malt from Scotland’s Hebridean Isle of Raasay Distillery, which only recently began production in September 2017.

The 2017 Raasay single cask #23 spent three years in a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, then was split for six months into two sherry casks – ex-Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez (PX) casks – before being bottled at 56.1% alcohol by volume [112.2 proof] and is said to contain notes of apricot, orange, peat smoke, Sauternes wine and spice.

Only a mere 240 bottles of 2017 Raasay single cask #23 are being made available for $155 per bottle.