Friday, February 23, 2018

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (February 23, 2018)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. 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.  This is the news that has grabbed our attention this week.

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Balvenie


The Balvenie have announced an exclusive collaboration with iconic The Lanesborough hotel in London to showcase some of their finest single malt whiskies. The 2018 : The Year Of The Single Malt initiative will see exclusive events at the hotel throughout the year and allow guests at The Library Bar to enjoy the range of Balvenie whiskies, including the rare 50 years old and the oldest ever Balvenie to be released to date - the 1961 55 years old that formed part of the DCS Compendium Chapter 3.

A special cocktail has also been launched to celebrate the collaboration - the Gaspari Manhattan, which is exclusive to The Library Bar and made using Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 years old.


Fusion Whisky
The innovative whisky company of Fusion have teamed up with independent bottlers Adelphi to create their latest blend. The Winter Queen is a historic blend of Scottish and Dutch whiskies, which features whiskies made at Glenrothes, Glenrothes and Zuidam. It honours the legacy of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James VI and Queen Anne of Denmark, who was born in Fife but lived in The Hague in exile for over 40 years.

Winter Queen follows two similar releases from Fusion and Adelphi - The Glover combined Scotch and Japanese whiskies, while The E&K married Scotch and Indian whisky. Winter Queen is bottled at 52.7% ABV and there are just 866 bottles available via selected specialist retailers. Each bottle will cost £125.


Glendronach


The east Highland distillery of Glendronach has announced details of the latest batch in the Cask Release programme. Batch 16 features fifteen single casks each which have been hand selected by Rachel Barrie, the Glendronach's Master Blender. These range in age from 11 to 28 years and span a production period between 1989 and 2006.

Batch 16 includes whisky that has been maturing in Spanish oak butts and puncheons that have previously held Oloroso and Pedro Ximinez sherries. There is also one that has been matured in an ex-Port pipe. All are bottled at the natural cask strength, are non chill-filtered and of natural colour. Different casks are available to different worldwide markets, except the UK where all 15 will be available.

Details of each cask are listed below. No indication of individual prices were given in the press release.

  • 1989 CASK #5476 /28 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /49.9% ABV /546 Bottles
  • 1990 CASK #1014 /27 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /50.9% ABV /641 Bottles
  • 1990 CASK #7003 /27 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /55.3% ABV /617 Bottles
  • 1990 CASK #7902 /27 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /52.1% ABV /632 Bottles
  • 1992 CASK #103 /25 Years Old /Sherry Butt /56.7% ABV /513 Bottles
  • 1992 CASK #127 /25 Years Old /Sherry Butt /50.9% ABV /636 Bottles
  • 1992 CASK #334 /25 Years Old /Sherry Butt /58.5% ABV /592 Bottles
  • 1993 CASK #55 /24 Years Old /Sherry Butt /56.7% ABV /567 Bottles
  • 1993 CASK #445 /24 Years Old /Sherry Butt /52.4% ABV /649 Bottles
  • 1995 CASK #3311 /22 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /50.3% ABV /518 Bottles
  • 1995 CASK #4038 /22 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /55.1% ABV /681 Bottles
  • 2002 CASK #4648 /15 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /54.7% ABV /678 Bottles
  • 2004 CASK #3342 /13 Years Old /Port Pipe /55.4% ABV /643 Bottles
  • 2005 CASK #1451 /12 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /56.1% ABV /698 Bottles
  • 2006 CASK #1979 /11 Years Old /Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon /57.2% ABV /679 Bottles


Tomatin 
The Highland distillery of Tomatin have released the final two expressions in their Five Virtues series - Metal (pictured, left) and Water (pictured, below). These follow the Wood, Fire and Earth editions that were released at different points during 2017. Metal pays homage to Tomatin's 12 copper pot stills and has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. As with each whisky in the series, the packaging features original artwork by Eva Ullrich.


Water completes the series and is inspired by the Alt-na-Frith burn, which is Tomatin's private water source that is used by the distillery during production. The water is partcularly soft and this whisky has been matured in ex-sherry butts to give a rich and full flavour profile. The Five Virtues was created by Graham Eunson, the Distillery General Manager. The three previous editions have now sold out. Metal and Water will be available in selected specialist retailers and cost £50 per bottle.


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