Laphroaig - BourbonSphere

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

Laphroaig’s Barry McAffer to Leave Islay

Native Ileach Barry McAffer has announced his plans to leave Laphroaig Distillery, where he has been the distillery manager since 2022. McAffer departs after 13… Read More

Native Ileach Barry McAffer has announced his plans to leave Laphroaig Distillery, where he has been the distillery manager since 2022. McAffer departs after 13 years at Laphroaig, where he rose through the ranks from the malting floor to assistant manager, and was promoted to distillery manager upon John Campbell’s departure at the end of 2021.

“It’s been an incredible journey, but now I feel the time has come for me to explore new opportunities beyond my native Islay,” McAffer said in a letter to members of the Friends of Laphroaig affinity group.

McAffer will remain at Laphroaig through next month’s Feis Ile open day. His successor has not been announced.

Berry Bros. & Rudd Selects And Releases 24-Year Old Laphroaig

London-based spirits merchant Berry Bros & Rudd selected and released a 24-year-old whisky from Islay distillery Laphroaig to commemorate BB&R’s 325th anniversary. Along with the Islay characteristic peaty notes – here identified as bonfire ash, coal soot and, of course, peat smoke – the Laphroaig 24-Year-Old is also said to offer notes of mango, pineapple […]

The post Berry Bros. & Rudd Selects And Releases 24-Year Old Laphroaig first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..

London-based spirits merchant Berry Bros & Rudd selected and released a 24-year-old whisky from Islay distillery Laphroaig to commemorate BB&R’s 325th anniversary.

Along with the Islay characteristic peaty notes – here identified as bonfire ash, coal soot and, of course, peat smoke – the Laphroaig 24-Year-Old is also said to offer notes of mango, pineapple and vanilla.

Only 232 bottles of the Laphroaig 24-Year-Old are being made available via the official Berry Bros & Rudd website [www.bbr.com] $1010 per bottle.

The post Berry Bros. & Rudd Selects And Releases 24-Year Old Laphroaig first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Northern Ireland’s Distilling Resurgence

There was a time when Belfast and the surrounding counties led the world in whisky production. Several factors led to that tradition all but disappearing… Read More

There was a time when Belfast and the surrounding counties led the world in whisky production. Several factors led to that tradition all but disappearing over the last century, but now, the six counties of Northern Ireland are bringing new life to their distilling heritage. We’ll visit several of the country’s distilleries on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Chivas Brothers faces holiday strikes by distillery and bottling plant workers, while UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has given the country’s distillers a break by freezing excise taxes.

Episode 1032: November 26, 2023

Inbox | The Week’s Whisky News (November 24, 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 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 this week's whisky news ...

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Berry Brothers & Rudd

The esteemed London wine and spirits merchant of Berry Brothers & Rudd have announced a special limited edition Scotch single malt to help commemorate the company's 325th anniversary. The single ex-bourbon barrel has been hand-selected by Lizzy Rudd, the Chairperson of BB&R. This cask has yielded just 232 bottles.

The spirit was distilled at the iconic Laphroaig distillery on Islay and filled to cask in 1999. The Berry Brothers & Rudd 325th Anniversary Laphroaig 1999 will only be available at BB&R's London store or via www.bbr.com. A bottle will cost £800.

"We started bottling casks under our own label in the early 19th century, so to celebrate our 325th anniversary we wanted to offer something truly exceptional. This exclusive bottling from Laphroaig is a testament to our long-standing commitment to curating the finest spirits."
Lizzy Rudd.

Glenturret

The Highland distillery of Glenturret has launched the third and final bottling in its Manager's Dram series. The Glenturret Manager's Dram Release No.3 has been crafted by Ian Renwick, the Distillery Manager, and is a marriage of peated and unpeated Glenturret single malts. These have been aged in both European and American oak ex-sherry casks, and American oak ex-bourbon barrels.

The new whisky is bottled at 47% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It follows on from the Manager's Dram Release No.1 from 2021 and Release No.2 from 2022. The Glenturret Manager's Dram Release No.3 will retail for £175 and is exclusive to the visitor centre shop at the distillery.

Laphroaig

The famous Islay distillery of Laphroaig has launched a new limited edition rare single malt that will be the inaugural bottling in a new series. Laphroaig - The Archive Collection 36 year old has been matured in American oak ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to second-fill ex-Oloroso sherry hogsheads. The Archive Collection will showcase and commemorate some of the skills of the distillery's whisky makers.

This first release in the series was distilled and filled to cask in 1985 and has then matured for over three and a half decades. It represents one of the oldest Laphroaig single malts to be released by the distillery in over 20 years. Laphroaig - The Archive Collection 36 year old is limited to just 400 bottles and these will be available in specialist and luxury retailers worldwide. Each bottle will cost £3,750/ $US4,750. The next bottling is expected in 2024.

"The Archive Collection is the pinnacle of our range and showcases our passion and craftsmanship in every bottle we produce. This exceptional spirit balances the depth of character and the unique flavours that can only be found in the rarest of Laphroaig whiskies."
Barry MacAffer | Distillery Manager at Laphroaig.

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Signed, Sealed, & Delivered: A Look at Contract Distilling

What do you call a distillery with no brands of its own? A contract (or custom) distiller creates whiskies for its clients, and many of… Read More

What do you call a distillery with no brands of its own? A contract (or custom) distiller creates whiskies for its clients, and many of Kentucky’s largest distillers have often sold excess capacity by distilling for others. Bardstown Bourbon Company pioneered the current wave of contract distillers in Kentucky, and co-founder David Mandell is now one of the partners behind the new Whiskey House distillery. It will focus exclusively on custom distilling for its clients, and David Mandell will explain why on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Midleton Distillery’s brand-new visitors center is closed after this week’s flooding caused extensive damage, while time is running out to avoid a return to tariffs on exports of American whiskies to Europe.

Episode 1027: October 22, 2023

Laphroaig Adds 36-Year-Old To The Wall

Beam Suntory-owned Islay distillery Laphroaig has released a limited edition 36-year-old single malt whisky as the first addition to their new Wall Collection, which emphasizes the role of peat in Laphroaig whiskies. Laphroaig The Wall Collection: Peat Edition is a 36-year-old single malt matured in a cask that previously held younger, heavily peated Laphroaig, bottled […]

The post Laphroaig Adds 36-Year-Old To The Wall first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Laphroaig The Wall Collection: Peat Edition is a 36-year-old single malt matured in a cask that previously held younger, heavily peated Laphroaig, bottled at 42.5% alcohol by volume [85 proof] and is said to offer notes of cinnamon, honey, leather, passionfruit, pineapple, strawberry and vanilla.

Only 200 bottles of Laphroaig The Wall Collection: Peat Edition 36-Year-Old are being made available for $5,485 per bottle.

The post Laphroaig Adds 36-Year-Old To The Wall first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Ardray Arrives In The USA

Beam-Suntory-owned Ardray – a blended Scotch whisky – has officially arrived on USA shores after previously only being available in London and Shanghai. Ardray blended Scotch whisky is a blend of whiskies from Beam-Suntory-owned distilleries including Ardmore, Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch and Laphroaig combined with Edrington-owned brands Glenrothes, Highland Park, The Macallan and others and […]

The post Ardray Arrives In The USA first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Beam-Suntory-owned Ardray – a blended Scotch whisky – has officially arrived on USA shores after previously only being available in London and Shanghai.

Ardray blended Scotch whisky is a blend of whiskies from Beam-Suntory-owned distilleries including Ardmore, Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch and Laphroaig combined with Edrington-owned brands Glenrothes, Highland Park, The Macallan and others and was bottled at 48% alcohol by volume [96 proof].

Ardray blended Scotch whisky is being made available in the USA – albeit only in Los Angeles and New York – for $85 per bottle.

The post Ardray Arrives In The USA first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Eight Special Single Malts…and a Cowboy Bourbon

We’ll have a double feature on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth, as Diageo’s Dr. Stuart Morrison joins us to detail this year’s Special Releases series –… Read More

We’ll have a double feature on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth, as Diageo’s Dr. Stuart Morrison joins us to detail this year’s Special Releases series – including a Lagavulin finished in tequila casks – and Donnis Todd of Texas’s Garrison Brothers Distillery gives us a preview of this year’s Cowboy Bourbon. It’s an uncut, unfiltered whopper of a Bourbon at 70.45% ABV! In the news, the TTB avoids being caught up in a U.S. government shutdown after Congress passed a short-term budget extension. Kentucky regulators want to shut down two of the state’s biggest buyers and sellers of vintage spirits over liquor law violations, and Scotch Whisky tourism has recovered from the pandemic.

Episode 1024: October 1, 2023

Whisky and Music Come Together in Rhythm & Booze Records

Whisky and music go perfectly together, but Felipe Schrieberg and Paul Archibald are taking the volume up to 11 with Rhythm & Booze Records. They’re… Read More

Whisky and music go perfectly together, but Felipe Schrieberg and Paul Archibald are taking the volume up to 11 with Rhythm & Booze Records. They’re combining an independent record label with an independent bottler and making whiskies to match their music, which can be streamed using a QR code on each bottle. We’ll talk with Felipe Schrieberg on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth and share tasting notes for their debut release, Rhythm & Booze Records Release #1. In the news, Molson Coors has acquired Blue Run Spirits to expand its presence in the whisky business, and we’ll talk with David Coors and Blue Run’s Mike Montgomery about the deal. David Beckham is splitting with Diageo’s Haig Club Scotch Whisky brand, and there’s a new Elijah Craig Bourbon out to celebrate next month’s Ryder Cup.

Episode 1017: August 13, 2023

Photo courtesy The Rhythm & Booze Project.