Behind the Scenes at a Spirits Competition

Ever wanted to find out how a spirits competition works? This week, we’ll take you inside the recent American Craft Spirits Association’s annual judging of… Read More

Ever wanted to find out how a spirits competition works? This week, we’ll take you inside the recent American Craft Spirits Association’s annual judging of craft spirits to show you how the judging process works. It only takes a couple of minutes for trained judges to assess a whisky’s aroma, flavor and finish and determine a score. In the news, American electoral politics could affect the price you pay for whiskies in the future, no matter where you live in the world. 

Links: American Craft Spirits Association | Jim Beam | Maker’s Mark | Old Forester | Woodford Reserve | WhistlePig Whiskey | Douglas Laing & Co. | Bladnoch | The Glasgow Distillery | Kingsbarns Distillery | Glengoyne | Mossburn Distillers & Blenders | ImPex Beverages | Jameson | Old Potrero | The Whisky Exchange | The Macklowe | Ardbeg | Wayne Gretzky Estates | Eden Mill Distillery

Inbox / The Week’s Whisky News (October 27, 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 this week's whisky news ... 
 
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Glenallachie
 

The Speyside distillery of Glenallachie has revealed the second trio of bottlings in its limited edition Wine Cask Series. For each bottling the rare oak casks used have been sourced and selected by Billy Walker, the Master Distiller of Glenallachie, and feature three fine wine producers from France, Italy and Portugal. Initial maturation was in American oak ex-bourbon barrels in each case, before a finishing period in the red wine casks.

The Glenallachie 11 years old Premier Cru Classé Cask Finish has influence from French oak barrels previously used to age Bordeaux red wine. The Glenallachie 10 years old Grattamacco Cask Finish features ex-Super Tuscan wine barriques sourced from a prestigious organic winery in Italy. The Glenallachie 9 years old Douro Valley Cask Finish sees the whisky part-matured in barriques from one of Portugal's most esteemed wine making regions. There are just 10,800, 15,600 and 12,000 bottles available respectively.

The three bottlings in the Glenallachie Wine Cask Series Batch 2 will be available globally through specialist whisky retailers. All are bottled at 48% ABV and are non chill-filtered and of natural colour. The Glenallachie 9 years old Douro Valley Cask Finish will cost £57, Glenallachie 10 years old Grattamacco Cask Finish £58 and Glenallachie 11 years old Premier Cru Classé Cask Finish.


 

Mossburn
The independent distillers and bottlers of Mossburn have announced the launch of a new series of whiskies, and the inaugural whisky in that series. The Mossburn Cask Collaboration Series kicks off with the limited edition Mossburn Speyside 12 years old Foursquare Rum Cask Finish sees Mossburn's blended Speyside malt matured in ex-bourbon casks, before a finishing period in ex-rum casks from the Foursquare distillery in Barbados. Forthcoming releases in the series will see similar casks from around the world used to finish their blended malts, and these are expected annually. 
 
The Mossburn Speyside 12 years old Foursquare Rum Cask Finish bottling is released at the natural cask strength of 57.7% ABV. There are just 10,000 bottles and these will be available globally via specialist whisky retailers. A bottle will cost £65/ $US80.


Port Askaig
 

The Islay single malt brand of Port Askaig, which is owned by Elixir Distillers, has announced a total revamp of its core range. The trio of new whiskies come with the new tagline of The Gateway to Islay. The range kicks off with Port Askaig 8 years old (pictured, above centre), which features an intricate marriage of cask types. Initial maturation is in ex-bourbon casks with an extended five year finish in a selection of ex-bourbon and toasted American oak barrels, plus ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry butts and re-fill hogsheads. A bottle will cost £50.

Two other limited edition batched whiskies will join the 8 years old - Port Askaig Cask Strength (pictured, above left) and Port Askaig 17 years old (pictured, above right). The Cask Strength will evolve with each batch with Batch #01-2023 aged in first-fill toasted ex-bourbon barrels and re-fill American oak hogsheads. Each batch will never be made from more than 60 casks. It is bottled at 59.4% ABV and will cost £65.

The 17 years old rounds off the range and is planned to be an annual release. Each batch will consist of just 9,000 bottles. The first batch has been matured in American oak ex-bourbon casks and bottled at the natural strength of 51.8% ABV. Each bottle will cost £125. All three expressions are both non chill-filtered and of natural colour, and will be available globally from late-October.


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Review / Torabhaig Allt Gleann Batch Strength

This whisky is the latest limited edition single malt whisky to be released from the Hebridean distillery of  Torabhaig (pronounced tora-vaig). the newest distillery on the isle of Skye. The Torabhaig Allt Gleann Batch Strength is a cask strength …


This whisky is the latest limited edition single malt whisky to be released from the Hebridean distillery of  Torabhaig (pronounced tora-vaig). the newest distillery on the isle of Skye. The Torabhaig Allt Gleann Batch Strength is a cask strength version of their popular Allt Gleann bottling, which was first released in 2021. Allt Gleann translates as 'old glen' from the local Gaelic dialect. The whiskies featured in Batch Strength were distilled in 2017 and 2018, and filled to ex-bourbon barrels. It forms part of The Legacy Series alongside the original Allt Gleann expression and other bottlings. Torabhaig Allt Gleann Batch Strength is released at 61.1% ABV and will be available in selected world markets, plus at the distillery shop on Skye. A bottle will cost £75/ €85/ $US89.  

The Torabhaig distillery was founded in 2016 by Mossburn Distillers. It is housed in old farm buildings dating back to the 1820s and located in the village of Sleat on the south western tip of Skye. Production started in January 2017 and the visitor centre opened a year later in March 2018. They use barley peated to level of 55-60ppm (phenol parts per per million), which puts it on par with some of the heavier Islay malts. Batch Strength features barley with a higher level of 78ppm in the barley. The annual capacity is half a million litres, but they are currently operating around the 400,000 litre mark.

Our Tasting Notes

The colour is vibrant pale gold and the nose is a mix of sweet and smoky aromas. The peat smoke feels sooty and shy, while the sweetness is confected. Aromas of damp moss, dried grass and bonfire embers mingle with marshmallow, honey and vanilla icing sugar. Something mineralic also sits in the background.

On the palate this whisky feels instantly oily in texture and mineralic in feel. The smoky and peaty notes are to the fore and dominate early proceedings. There are plenty of charred and sooty notes. They are supported by dying bonfire embers, hot charcoal, damp moss and dried hay or grass. There are also softer smoky notes in the background, which are reminscent of burnt heather.

Some much needed sweetness battles through the smoke and provides some welcome balance. The confected notes from the nose are evident, especially the icing sugar and marshmallow, and are joined by some lovely butterscotch and heather honey characteristics. There is also a good shot of vanilla essence and this seems to bind the elements together. A late hit of white pepper gives further power, as does some tart green apple.

The finish is spiky, hot and spicy. The white pepper increases and is joined by some green chilli-like heat. The sweet characteristics go rapidly to leave the mineralic, spicy and peaty notes to do battle. This gives you plenty to think about as the finish becomes incresingly dry, ash and hot.

What's The Verdict?

This Batch Strength version of the Torabhaig Allt Gleann certainly packs a seriously peaty punch. It is youthful and full on, but with plenty of character and potential. Torabhaig is one of the new artisanal distilleries in Scotland that is on our radar and the couple of whiskies that we have tried to date have not disappointed. It will be interesting to see what a bit of extra age and time in oak does to these whiskies. We look forward to finding out.


“Do You Even Like Whisky?”

Women still face huge barriers to equality within the whisky industry, according to a new survey from the Our Whisky Foundation. The survey found high… Read More

Women still face huge barriers to equality within the whisky industry, according to a new survey from the Our Whisky Foundation. The survey found high levels of unconscious bias and sexual harassment along with a perceived lack of respect for women working in the industry. We’ll discuss the survey’s findings with Becky Paskin of the Our Whisky Foundation on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Heaven Hill’s new Bardstown distillery reached a major milestone this week, while the Bourbon Women honored this year’s Women in Whisky Award winners. 

Episode 1020: September 3, 2023

Links: Our Whisky Foundation | Heaven Hill | Witchburn Distillery | Chivas Brothers | Pernod Ricard | Glen Grant | The Distillers’ One of One Auction | Bowmore | Uncle Nearest | American Distilling Institute | Bourbon Women | Caisteal Chamuis | Hemingway Rye

Photo by Jo Hanley courtesy of Our Whisky Foundation.

Inbox / The Week’s Whisky News (May 26, 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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Glen Moray
The Speyside distillery of Glen Moray has announced a new permanent addition to their core range - the Glen Moray Twisted Vine. The whisky has been matured in ex-Cognac casks made from French oak and is the latest release from the distillery to be from an 'unorthodox cask type', something that Glen Moray has a reputation for. The packaging shows a gnarled vine with golden grapes against a blue background. The new single malt is supported by an advert campaign and bar activations in four UK cities. Glen Moray Twisted Vine is bottled at 40% ABV and will be initially available in UK specialist retailers and selected markets. A bottle will cost £28/ $US35.
 

 
Lochlea
The Lowland distillery of Lochlea has launched its inaugural cask strength single malt. Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 1 has been aged in first-fill ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks in a ratio of 70:30. These were selected by John Campbell, the Master Blender at Lochlea. All barley used to make Lochlea is grown on the Ayrshire farm where the distillery is located making it a true grain-to-glass operation. The Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 1 is bottled at 60.1% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is launched on May 31 and will be available through selected specialist retailers in selected global markets. A bottle will cost £65.
 
"Our Cask Strength Batch 1 enables our quality to shine through in every dram, showing an amplified version of our signature Lochlea style for those whisky-lovers looking for  a bold, yet elegant spirit made with a contemporary approach alongside respected traditions."
John Campbell.


 
Milroy's
 

Milroy's, the oldest independent whisky specialist retailer in London, has announced the release of the inaugural batch of bottlings in their new Soho Selection of single casks. The news comes ahead of Milroy's celebrating its 60th anniversary next year. Each whisky is bottled to give complete transparency on the cask maturation journey. Each is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. They will be available exclusively from Milroy's in London and via www.milroys.co.uk. Details of the five casks are below :
 
  • Ben Nevis 7 years old/ Re-fill ex-bourbon cask/ 57.1% ABV/ 353 bottles/ £99.95
  • Ben Nevis 10 years old/ First-fill French oak ex-Oloroso sherry hogshead, re-racked from re-fill ex-bourbon hogshead/ 57.1% ABV/ 278 bottles/ £99.95
  • Caol Ila 14 years old/ First-fill ex-Palo Cortado sherry octave cask, re-racked from re-fill ex-bourbon hogshead/ 53.8% ABV/ 60 bottles/ £129.95
  • Glentauchers 12 years old/ First-fill ex-Manzanilla sherry hogshead, re-racked from re-fill ex-bourbon hogshead/ 56.3% ABV/ 251 bottles/ £119.95
  • Speyside Distillery 23 years old/ First-fill ex-fortified South African wine butt/ 56.8% ABV/ 300 bottles/ £99.95
 
 
Mossburn 
 

The independent bottlers, distillers and blenders of Mossburn have announced four new cask single malt releases. The Vintage Casks 2023 Edition were carefully sourced from four of Scotland's lesser known single malt distilleries and were curated by Neil Macleod Mathieson, the Master Blender for Mossburn. All are non chill-filtered and of natural colour. They will be available in selected specialist whisky retailers globally. Details of the four casks are below :
 
  • Benrinnes/ Vintage Casks No.31/ 14 years old/ Moscatel Finish/ 54.9% ABV/ 1,800 bottles/ £75
  • Teaninich/ Vintage Casks No.32/ 13 years old/ Red Wine Finish/ 56.2% ABV/ 1,900 bottles/ £77
  • Blair Athol/ Vintage Casks No.33/ 12 years old/ Bourbon Cask/ 54.5% ABV/ 1,900 bottles/ £75
  • Strathmill/ Vintage Casks No.34/ 12 years old/ Virgin European Oak/ 46% ABV/ 1,700 bottles/ £65


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Inbox / The Week’s Whisky News (August 12, 2022)

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.
 
________
 
 
Johnnie Walker
 

The famous Johnnie Walker Blue Label has announced a new limited set of bottles showing what some of the world's greatest cities may look like in the year 2220. There are ten such bottles and famous world cities such as Bangkok, Berlin, London, Mexico City, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei are all included with their own bespoke designs. 

The ten designs have been created by renowned digital artist Luke Halls, who has reimagined how each city may be in 200 years time. The most radical and futuristic of the designs features a human city established on Mars (pictured, above). Each city will also be brought to life by scanning the packaging with your phone. The new designs will be available worldwide via specialist whisky and luxury retailers.

 
Mossburn
 

Independent bottlers and whisky producers Mossburn Distillers have added two permanent additions to their Mossburn whisky range. The pair appear in the new Signature Cask Series, which is designed to showcase the archetypal styles of Scotland's regions. The first two bottlings are blended malts - one from the Speyside region and one from the Islands. Both have been blended and created by Neil Macleod Mathieson - the whisky maker for Mossburn.

The Mossburn Signature Cask Series - Islands (pictured, above left) has seen the whiskies involved initially matured in re-fill ex-bourbon barrels before being blended and then finished in a hybrid cask. This has been built using first-fill ex-bourbon staves and heads made from virgin European oak. A bottle will cost £45/ $55 US.

The Mossburn Signature Cask Series - Speyside (pictured, above right) has seen whiskies matured in re-fill ex-bourbon barrels, then blended together and finished in a hybrid cask. This time the cask is made of ex-Oloroso sherry butt staves and heavily charred virgin American oak heads. A bottle will cost £42/ $51 US. Both expressions are bottled at 46% ABV and are non chill-filtered and of natural colour.


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Inbox / The Week’s Whisky News (February 4, 2022)

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 ... 
 
________
 
 

Caol Ila
The Islay distillery of Caol Ila has continued its 175th anniversary celebrations with the release of a limited edition single malt - the Caol Ila 24 years old. The distillery was founded in 1846 and therefore the anniversary was last year, but the release was delayed by the ongoing Covid pandemic. The whisky is created from casks hand-selected by Sam Hale, the Distillery Manager at Caol Ila, and his team. There are just 3,000 bottles and they are released at the natural cask strength of 52.1% ABV. 
 
The Caol Ila 24 years old 175th Anniversary Edition will be on sale at selected specialist retailers within the UK, via www.malts.com and at the Lagavulin distillery shop (this is due to ongoing renovation works at Caol Ila as it prepares to become the fourth and final Johnnie Walker Four Corners of Scotland centre). A bottle will cost £295.
 

 
Johnnie Walker
 

The popular blended Scotch brand has announced the release of three limited edition whiskies to mark Chinese New Year. One is a special bottling of the prestigious Blue Label, with two further expressions in the super-premium John Walker & Sons range. All three editions feature artwork from Chinese artist Shan Jiang that is inspired by the Year of the Tiger and other Chinese fables. 
 
The Blue Label and XR21 are repackaged versions of the regular bottlings, while the King George V has been created for the release. It features a collection of rare and old whiskies including the closed Islay distillery of Port Ellen.

The Johnnie Walker Blue Label Year of the Tiger Edition is bottled at 40% ABV and will cost £195/$265 US. The John Walker & Sons XR21 Lunar New Year Edition is also 40% ABV and will cost £100/$135 US. The John Walker & Sons King George V Lunar New Year Edition is bottled at 43% ABV and will cost £545/$740 US.
 

 

Mossburn
Independent bottlers and whiskymakers Mossburn Distillers have announced the launch of two new blended malts under the Caisteal Chamuis name - the 12 years old Sherry Barrelled and the no age statement Double Barrelled. The range is named after the ancient Caisteal Chamuis (Castle Camus in English). The ruins are located on the southern tip of the Isle of Skye and close to Mossburn's single malt distillery of Torabhaig. Both whiskies are heavily peated and bottled at 46% ABV.

The Double Barrelled has been matured in first-fill American oak hogsheads before being transferred to smaller ex-bourbon barrels for a finishing period. It has been created using single malts from Islay, Orkney and Skye. A bottle will cost £39/$53 US.
 
 
The 12 years old Sherry Barrelled features single malts from Islay and Orkney, all of which have been matured in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. A bottle will cost £49/$67 US. Both Caisteal Chamuis blended malts will be available in selected world markets including France, Germany, the UK and the USA.
 

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Allotment Drams / Jameson Black Barrel Proof & Caisteal Chamuis

We have a couple more episodes from our Allotment Dram video review series for you. In both we take a look at a new product that has recently been released on to the market. First watch as Matt talks about the Jameson Black Barrel Proof, a high strengt…

We have a couple more episodes from our Allotment Dram video review series for you. In both we take a look at a new product that has recently been released on to the market. First watch as Matt talks about the Jameson Black Barrel Proof, a high strength version of the popular Black Barrel from the leading Irish whiskey brand.

Then on his next visit Matt pops the cork on Caisteal Chamus, a heavily peated blended malt that uses only single malts from Hebridean island distilleries. Watch both episodes to discover more about the bottlings and to hear his thoughts and tasting notes.

To keep up-to-date with our latest video content or to watch older episodes of the Allotment Dram, then please subscribe to our YouTube channel - click here






#AllotmentDram

 

Caisteal Chamuis – Heavily Peated Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

Here at Whisky Boys HQ we received a wooden box containing A bottle of Heavily Peated blended malt and all the ingredients to make an Old Fashioned. My plan is to...
thanks for reading Whisky Boys Whisky Blog

Here at Whisky Boys HQ we received a wooden box containing A bottle of Heavily Peated blended malt and all the ingredients to make an Old Fashioned. My plan is to...

thanks for reading Whisky Boys Whisky Blog

Review / Torabhaig Allt Gleann

The Allt Gleann is just the second ever single malt release from Torabhaig (pronounced tora-vaig), the newest distillery on the isle of Skye. This follows the inaugural Legacy Series 2017 bottling that was released earlier this year in February and sol…


The Allt Gleann is just the second ever single malt release from Torabhaig (pronounced tora-vaig), the newest distillery on the isle of Skye. This follows the inaugural Legacy Series 2017 bottling that was released earlier this year in February and sold out immediately. Allt Gleann, meaning 'old glen' in Gaelic, is the second of four planned releases for 2021 and 2022 in The Legacy Series. The new whisky has been created from just 30 first-fill and re-fill ex-bourbon barrels that were distilled and filled in 2017. It is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. Torabhaig Allt Gleann is available from the distillery shop and via selected specialist whisky retailers. A bottle will cost £50.

The Torabhaig distillery was founded in 2016 by Mossburn Distillers. It is housed in old farm buildings dating back to the 1820s and located in the village of Sleat, close to the mainland ferry terminal on the south western tip of Skye. Production started in January 2017 and the visitor centre opened a year later in March 2018. They use barley peated to level of 55-60ppm (phenol parts per per million), which puts it on a level with some of the heavier Islay malts. The annual capacity is half a million litres, but they are currently operating around the 400,000 per annum mark.

Our tasting notes

The colour is pale lemon yellow and the nose is powerful and peaty. The hefty peat smoke rises from the glass and has a distinct earthy and seaweed-like quality to it - think of damp moss, dried kelp and bonfire embers. Underneath are further aromas of green grass, crisp apple, malted cereals and a whiff of salty brine.

On the palate this whisky feels robust and hot. Peppery spices and that punchy peat smoke lead the way. The combination has a hot, acrid and savoury feel to it. Black and pink peppercorns mix with green chilli and clove, with the ashy ember-like smoke drifting around them. There is also the damp earth and moss from the nose, plus the dried seaweed and salty sea spray and brine. It grips the tastebuds and becomes a little chalky and flinty with time. A distinct underlying note of malted cereal is also evident.

Then comes some much needed sweetness to temper the robust savoury notes. These are barely detectable to begin with but evolve as the savoury notes mellow a touch. Vanilla and honey come through first, followed by white chocolate and coconut cream. Then comes a hit of sweetened cooked fruits - imagine baked apple with bitterscotch sauce and poached pear with milk chocolate.

The savoury nature returns for the long finish as the sweet and fruity characteristics fade after their brief appearance. This brings back the warmth and spiciness taking the whisky in a drying and peppery direction once again.

What's the verdict?

It is always interesting to taste a whisky from a new distillery, so we were delighted to receive this sample from Torabhaig. This is a very expressive whisky for one so young and has a feisty and fiery edge to it. The peat smoke and savoury notes dominate but it shows potential. For us, these notes need taming a little to give balance and make this an easier whisky to digest and enjoy.

Torabhaig should also be congratulated for putting this whisky out at a competitive and accessible price. This is not always the case with new distilleries when they release early limited editions, so £50 for a bottle (if you can get hold of one) is an excellent price. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Torabhaig and how their whiskies will evolve with a bit of extra time in the cask.