Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (October 18, 2019)

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.

Review - Whiskymaker's Reserve No.1

This whisky is the first every single malt to be given a wider release by the Lakes distillery. The Whiskymaker's Reserve No.1 is the first part of a planned wider range of whiskies from the English distillery and they will appear as and when stocks mature. It follows the distillery's 'sherry led style' and has been matured in three types of oak cask - made from American, French and Spanish oak - and these have previously held Pedro Ximinez sherry and red wine. These have then been married together by Dhavall Gandhi, the whiskymaker at the Lakes, who describes it as "an artistic exploration of oak and blending; of flavour evolution and the definition of a house style".

Review - Diageo Special Releases 2019

It is that time of the year again - Diageo, Scotland's largest whisky producer, has unleashed the 2019 edition of its Special Releases programme. The annual bottlings are designed to highlight rare or old whiskies from within Diageo's extensive portfolio of maturing stocks and are eagerly anticipated each year since the programme was first started with just three expressions in 2001.

This year is one of the smaller recent collections and sees just eight bottlings with a theme of 'Rare By Nature' running through them. As with all previous years the whiskies are all bottled at their natural cask strength. This year's whiskies have been selected by Dr. Craig Wilson, one of the Master Blenders at Diageo.

Review - Midleton Very Rare 2019 Edition

This whiskey is the latest in the long line of super premium releases by the Irish brand of Midleton. The Very Rare 2019 Edition is the 36th whiskey released in the annual range and features single pot still and single grain whiskeys that range in age from 13 to 34 years. For this year's release they have all have been matured exclusively in lightly charred American oak ex-bourbon casks and then married together by Brian Nation, the Master Distiller for Midleton, who picks them from a small pocket of rare stock that is maturing only for the Very Rare expression.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (October 11, 2019)

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.

Review - Cù Bòcan Signature Malt, Creation #1 & Creation #2

Cù Bòcan is the peated single malt brand from the Highland distillery of Tomatin distillery. The name comes from a local legend in which the Cù Bòcan, a ghostly canine-like creature, appears and causes havoc once every generation before mysteriously disappearing in a puff of blue smoke.

It has been on the market since 2013, but a major relaunch was recently announced. The relaunch involves new bottle designs and packaging, designed by Thirst Craft to 'show the qualities of the contemporary spirit', along with two new core range products. Cù Bòcan is produced using lightly peated Scottish barley for a short period during the winter months each year at Tomatin.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (October 4, 2019)

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.

Review - Glen Moray 21 years old Portwood Finish

The Glen Moray 21 years old Portwood Finish is the new premium addition to the Speyside distillery's Elgin Heritage Collection. It joins the 12, 15 and 18 year olds in the range. The whisky is one of the final creations of Graham Coull, the Distillery Manager at Glen Moray, before he moves on to pastures new. This has seen the liquid matured in ex-bourbon casks before a final period in ex-Port pipes from Portugal.

Review - Method & Madness 'Wild Cherry Wood Finish' and 'Acacia Wood Finish'

These two new whiskeys are the latest additions to Irish Distillers' experimental Method & Madness range of whiskeys. Both continue the brand's tradition of using unorthadox casks for maturation. Both are single pot still whiskeys with one being finished in casks made from cherry wood and the other in casks made from acacia wood. Both are also bottled at 46% ABV.

The Method & Madness range was launched in 2017 carrying the tag line of 'when knowledge and discovery collide'. The range is designed to push the boundaries of Irish whiskey and showcase some of the most innovative work that the blenders, coopers and distillers are producing. It also aims to combine the creativity of the whiskey makers and enthusiasm and fresh ideas of their apprentices. Many of the experiments are taking place at the Midleton Micro Distillery in Co. Cork.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (September 27, 2019)

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.