Inbox - October 26, 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 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.  Here is the news that has attracted our attention this week ...

New release - The Entertainer by Compass Box

Compass Box, the artisan whisky company, have teamed up with Selfridge's, one of the UK's leading department store chains, for their latest release. The Entertainer has been created to celebrate the life of Gordon Selfridge, the legendary founder of the department store. It can be purchased exclusively in one of their four department stores in Birmingham, London (Oxford Street) and Manchester (Exchange Square or Trafford Centre), or via their website www.selfridges.com.

Have just tried - Royal Household

A couple of months ago Matt C and I were invited to a tasting hosted by Diageo to showcase some of the very successful blended whiskies they have for sale in other markets aside from the UK. One of the whiskies we both took a shining to was Royal Household, part of the Buchanan’s stable of blends, a very successful range that sells in the millions in territories such as South America and Asia.

Inbox - October 19, 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 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 week's Inbox is a bumper edition, so let's get cracking with the news ...

Have just tried - Thomas H. Handy Sazerac

Thomas H. Handy is an American rye whiskey which is made at the Buffalo Trace distillery.  It is a whiskey that has been the centre of attention during the last week, as the Batch 2011 has claimed the prestigious accolade of 'Whisky Of The Year' in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2013, the latest edition in the best selling series.  Traditionally, winners of this award sell out fast so it may already be too late to grab one.  However, we were lucky enough to track down a sample ...

Great places to drink whisky - Japan

Japan is arguably the home of the whisky bar. There are huge amounts of them all over the place, particularly in Tokyo. Consequently, when my girlfriend and I decided go on holiday to Japan, I immediately began looking into what whisky bars I could drag her along to and spend stupid amounts of money in.

Inbox - October 12, 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 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 week's edition features the first mention of Christmas ... the countdown has truly begun!

New release - Lord Elcho 15 years old

The Lord Elcho 15 years old is a new release by independent spirits company Wemyss Malts. It is the company’s first foray into the world of premium blended whisky and compliments their range of single cask malt whiskies and award winning blends. The whisky is named after Lord Elcho, the eldest son of the 5th Earl of Wemyss, who was a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 1700s. He went into the Battle of Culloden at the legendary Prince’s side and following their catastrophic defeat he was stripped of title and land, before being exiled to France.

New release - Arran 'Robert Burns'

The Robert Burns is a new single malt bottling from Isle of Arran Distillers.  The whisky pays homage to Scotland's famous poet, who lived within view of the island, and wrote such legendary literary works as Address To A Haggis, Auld Lang Syne and Tam o'Shanter.  The distillery are patrons of the Robert Burns World Federation and the whisky is a mix of different ages of Arran malt matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.  It has been bottled at 43% ABV, is priced around £30 and available to buy from specialist whisky retailers and www.arranwhisky.com.

Inbox - October 5, 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 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 week's edition features news on a new single cask Indian whisky, a new whisky bar in New York and our favourite whisky book ...

New releases - Diageo Special Releases 2012

Each Autumn there is always a ripple of anticipation around the whisky industry as they wait to see what Diageo, the multi national drinks company, are to release in their annual Special Releases programme.  This programme highlights some of the most exceptional single malt stock from within their portfolio of 28 working distilleries, plus remaining stocks from those which have been closed. Some of these stocks have dwindled to almost critical levels.

New release - Glen Garioch 1995 Vintage

The Glen Garioch 1995 Vintage is the latest release in the east Highland distillery's popular small batch single malt programme. It is the sixth special addition to the Glen Garioch range. It was produced and filled to cask just months before the distillery was mothballed (this is the term used when production ceases at a distillery, but the equipment remains intact) in October 1995.  Some of the other whiskies in the series have been very good, so we were excited to try this new expression.