Inbox - December 14, 2012

With the Christmas festive period fast approaching, the whisky industry and related PR activity seem to be slowly winding down.  We on the other hand are well and truly wound up, with three of us selling bottles of whisky to hundreds of consumers and the other selling millions of pounds worth of shiny stuff online.

As a result, this week's Inbox is on the shorter side ... 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.  Without further ado, here is what has caught our attention this week ...

 

Glenfiddich - 125th Anniversary bottling
Christmas Day this year is a significant day in the history of whisky - it is 125 years to the day that William Grant first produced spirit through the stills at his now world famous Glenfiddich distillery on Speyside. To commemorate this event, the distillery are releasing a special limited edition single malt - the Glenfiddich 125th Anniversary. The whisky will only be available through the Travel Retail sector and is a slight departure for the brand, as it is a peaty version of the world's number one single malt.  Glenfiddich produce some peaty whisky each year for a week or two around this time of the year.  We went to a launch event in London last week (pictured, left) and the whisky is quite light, delicate and surprisingly smoky. A bottle will cost £70.

Glenglassaugh - Evolution taking place
The independent distillery of Glenglassaugh has announced the release of a new series of single malts celebrating the variety of single oak cask styles. The first bottling is the Glenglassaugh Evolution - Ex Tennessee Cask, which has been matured in a first fill barrel from the George Dickel distillery in Tennessee.  It has been bottled at the natural cask strength of 57.2% ABV and costs £49 a bottle.  The exact number of bottles is not revealed but is described as 'very limited'. Buy it from www.glenglassaugh.com.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society - Xmas offer 
Our good friends at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society have tipped us off about a membership offer that they are running for the Christmas festive period. The offer covers self or gift memberships and gives new members an extra 'Mighty Mini' in their welcome pack - the pack normally consists of four 20cl 'Mighty Mini' bottles which contain a selection of the Society's single cask whiskies (with this offer you therefore get five!), a book for tasting notes, a Society handbook and access to the Society's members rooms.  To take advantage of this extra Yuletide goodie, simply enter 'FREEMINI' in the promo code box when purchasing a membership on www.smws.co.uk.

Teeling Whiskey Co - Poitín reappears
The independent Irish whiskey maker has launched a version of poitín - the legendary Irish spirit traditionally made from grain or potatoes that is famed for its high alcohol strength.  The Premium Poitín is the Teeling Whiskey Co's modern take on the spirit, which was illegal for many years in Ireland.  It is a combination of double distilled malted barley spirit from copper stills and triple distilled spirit made from maize, which is produced in a column still.  The spirits are combined and bottled with no maturation, and at a strength of 61.5% ABV.  A bottle will cost €30 and will initially be available in Ireland, before going to other European markets and the USA next year.