Inbox > October 21, 2011

Welcome to Inbox - our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has recently found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will 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 if you want to. Here we go with this week's whisky news ...

Bowmore > Islay Taste Map launched

This Autumn, Bowmore - Islay's oldest single malt whisky dating back to 1779 - has collaborated with whisky writer Martine Nouet to create the Islay Taste Map. In a bold move to support the Islay category as a whole, the map is the ideal guide to the complex and varied characters of Islay’s eight distilleries - Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin & Laphroaig. It has been launched as an educational tool for both the on-trade and off-trade, and will be available for consumers to access online from November. The map brings to life the elements Earth, Air, Fire and Water using colour-coordinated taste profiles to illustrate how each of the elements is reflected in the whiskies from each distillery. The map also explains the character profile and whisky tasting notes for expressions from each distillery. In development for over a year, the map has been created with Martine Nouet, an Islay resident.

Glen Garioch > New 25 years old vintage launched

The Aberdeenshire distillery has announced its latest small batch vintage expression, the Glen Garioch 1986 - the fifth special addition to the Glen Garioch single malt range. Just 3,000 bottles are to be released in Canada, France, Netherlands, the UK and the US. To celebrate the release Glen Garioch has linked up with Mellis Cheesemongers to partner the dram with a specially selected cheese which complements and enhances the flavour - Criffel, voted Best Scottish Cheese at the 2011 Cheese Awards. The Glen Garioch 1986 will retail at £125 from selected specialist retailers. John Mullen, the Glen Garioch Brand Manager says, “Our small batch casks are handpicked at the peak of their perfection and are selected to display the quality of liquid produced by our artisan Highland distillery. The 1986 adds new flavour and depth to our limited edition range. With a cask strength 54.6% ABV and non-chill filtration, it’s firmly aimed at the whisky connoisseur.”

Glengoyne > New visitor centre opens

The Glengoyne distillery, located near Loch Lomond in Scotland, is celebrating the launch of a brand new shop and visitor centre. Over £300,000 has been invested in the visitor facilities, with further renovations planned in 2012. This comes in addition to £200,00 spent on renovating the Manager’s House in 2007 and £2.5 million spent on operational upgrades to the distillery such as new warehousing and stills. The features inside the new shop include a tasting area and a ‘Pour Your Own Dram’ facility, where guests can fill and label their own bottles direct from an exclusive single cask, before declaring it in the Customs book. The cask currently available is an American oak first fill ex-bourbon hogshead from June 2000, cask number 1016, which is priced at £75.00.  Further info can found on www.glengoyne.com.

Glenrothes > Vintage Maker 2012 competition

Following the success of this year’s Whisky Maker competition, which attracted close to 10,000 entries, the Glenrothes has announced the launch of Vintage Maker 2012. There will be three separate competitions resulting in four winners each from the UK, the USA and from the rest of the world. The winners will be recruited to work as The Glenrothes Vintage Makers to create the Glenrothes Vintage 2012.

This will involve learning the art of making The Glenrothes and spending time working at each stage of the production process - this includes testing the purity of the water source, milling the malt, mashing, adding yeast to the washbacks and overseeing fermentation, distilling new make spirit in copper pot stills and making casks at the cooperage. The winners will also nose single malt from maturing casks to assess whether the contents are of the quality and maturity expected and will stay in Rothes House, a private home belonging to the family that owns The Glenrothes. The competition will run until 31 January 2012. For further information and to enter, go to www.theglenrothes.com/vintagemaker.