Inbox - February 3, 2012

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 that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Within Inbox we 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 week again includes our new feature - Tweet of the week. This is our favourite piece of news or information that we have seen on Twitter recently. Here we go with this week's news ...

Dalmore - The one and only Zenith
The north Highland distillery of Dalmore, who are well known for their very old, rare and limited premium releases, have announced the launch of a single bottle whisky.  Named the Dalmore Zenith, it has been crafted from three very old whiskies distilled in 1964, 1951 and 1926.  These were brought together and married for a period of time in an ex-Oloroso sherry cask.  The Zenith is presented in a bespoke crystal decanter and a cabinet made from English oak and rosewood.

The sale of the Zenith is also unique as it is being auctioned exclusively through The Whisky Shop - the UK's largest specialist whisky chain.  The reserve price is £50,000 and sealed bids are currently being invited, with a closing date of 31 March 2012, and 10% of the final price will go to a nominated charity.  The decanter is currently traveling around The Whisky Shop's 18 UK stores on a national tour and you can follow its progress on the new Twitter feed - @dalmorezenith. If the full bottle is out of your league, then the chain are running a competition to win a 5cl sample bottle of the Zenith. For further information on the Zenith or to enter the 5cl competition - click here.

Glenfiddich - Rare 55 year old whisky for sale
Another auction of a rare old whisky is taking place next week on Friday 10 February.  The whisky is a bottle of the Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve, a 55 year old single malt that has been released to celebrate the life of Janet Sheed Roberts.  She is the grand daughter of Glenfiddich's pioneering founder William Grant and last August she celebrated her 110th birthday, making her the oldest person in Scotland.

There are only 11 bottles available of this whisky, one to signify each decade of Janet's life, and they are being sold individually at auction.  This will be the second bottle to go under the hammer, with the first one going for £46,850 late last year.  All proceeds will go to the charity Walking With The Wounded.  The exceptionally rare whisky is presented in a bespoke hand blown bottle in a silk lined leather presentation case.  It is hoped that the final price will be greater than that of Bottle No.1 when the auction takes place at The Honourable Artillery Company, London. For further information and tasting notes of the Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve - click here.

Glenmorangie - Scores a hole in one
The famous north Highland distillery of Glenmorangie have announced a three year partnership with The British Open golf tournament, starting with this year's event at Royal Lytham St. Anne's between 15-22 July.  The iconic event pulls in crowds of over 200,000 and is watched by an estimated worldwide audience of 450 million.  Glenmorangie will be 'the official whisky of the championships'.  Both the distillery and the tournament have proud histories dating back over 150 years and the pairing is being billed as 'the perfect partnership of two icons'.

Paul Skipworth, the President of The Glenmorangie Company, says, “Glenmorangie is proud to become a part of this amazing Championship, which will see our whisky showcased at each Open. Like The Open itself we believe in going the extra mile in the pursuit of perfection.”

The Whisky Round Table - Jan/Feb
The latest edition of The Whisky Round Table is now out.  The WRT is a group of whisky bloggers from around the world, of which we are delighted to be part.  Each month one of the bloggers plays host and asks a whisky related question to which the others reply.

This month's meeting is hosted by Keith Wood, who writes the excellent,  informative and incredibly in-depth website Whisky Emporium in both English and German.  Keith asked us for our thoughts on whisky festivals, which ones we plan to visit and what we look to get out of them.  To read the full question, plus our reply and those of our fellow Round Tablers - click here.  As from next month the Whisky Round Table will have a new format, but more news of that will follow on that shortly.

Tweet of the week
@TheBalvenieUK - A few videos featuring our very own @BalvenieNP talking to Patricia Richards about how to make scotch & The Balvenie. Watch - click here.