Friday, March 20, 2020

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (March 20, 2020)


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.

In these unprecedented times, and for the foreseeable future, there may not be much brand news or many (if any) new releases. However, we will bring news whenever there is any and also be updating the blog regularly with reviews and tasting notes, while also working on a series of ideas to help bring more activities to those in quarantine or self-isolation at home. Watch this space and our social media channels, which are listed below.

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Product News


Tullibardine
The Highland distillery of Tullibardine has bravely soldiered on and announced the release of a new addition to their Fine Aged Collection - the Tullibardine 15 years old. The new release features some of the oldest single malt produced since the distillery reopened in 2003 after a 10 year closure. This has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks which have then been hand selected for the bottling by Keith Geddes, the Master Distiller at Tullibardine. The Tullibardine 15 years old is bottled at 43% ABV. No indication of price was given in the press release.


Other News

Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As the pandemic spreads we are seeing daily and ever evolving impacts on all aspects of society and our daily lives. The whisky industry, and in particular the associated hospitality industries, have been hit hard and not escaped the consequences.

Whisky festivals rely on large gatherings of people sharing a collective experience and some of these were the first to go in the UK. Popular regional festivals such as Feis Ile on Islay, the Speyside of Speyside and Campbeltown Malt Festival have all been cancelled, while singular events such as Whisky Live in London, the Whisky Lounges in Bristol, London and Edinburgh plus many regional shows have been postponed with alternative dates being arranged for later in 2020.

Hundreds of brand, retailer and whisky club tastings and master classes have fallen by the wayside, although many have already begun or are planning online interactive broadcasts to reach their consumers and customers on platforms such as Facebook Live and YouTube.

Mackmyra UK held the first of a planned weekly online tasting last night, with others planned for Germany & Sweden.

Distillery visitor centres have now univerally closed to the public for the foreseeable future in the UK with Glenfiddich, one of the biggest, leading the way last week. Many distilleries are still in production with some switching to produce higher strength alcohol for sanitary purposes that will be donated to key areas of society such as hospitals and vulnerable citizens.

Pubs, bars, restaurants have been left in limbo after the UK Government advised people to not visit them, but fell short of telling establishments to close outright. The result has been devastating - we have heard of many already choosing to close either permanently or indefinitely and making staff redundant.


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