Inbox - May 23, 2014

Welcome to this week's Inbox.  For those that have recently discovered us, 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 received. 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 caught our attention from this week ...

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Ardbeg - Auriverdes is coming
Next week sees the annual Feis Isle event take place on the famous whisky island of Islay.  One of the highlights of the week long festival is the release of the annual Ardbeg Committee bottling.  This year's is named Auriverdes (meaning 'gold and green' - this is the nickname of the Brazilian footbal team, who host this Summer's World Cup) and is to be available on Ardbeg Day at the festival (May 31).  All marketing has a distinct football theme and here is the promotional video to whet your appetite ....

Diageo - Feis Isle bottlings
As mentioned in the Ardbeg news above, next week sees Islay host its annual Feis Isle event.  Diageo, which own the Caol Ila and Lagavulin distillery on the island, have announced their special limited edition bottlings for the festival.  The bottling from Caol Ila (pictured, left) was distilled in 2002 and was matured in re-fill American casks.  These have been hand selected by Distillery Manager David Wood.  It has been bottled at the natural cask strength of 55.5% ABV and there are just 1,500 bottles.

The Lagavulin bottling (pictured, right) was distilled in 1995 and has been maturing in European oak sherry butts.  These were hand selected by legendary Lagavulin warehouseman Iain MacArthur and has been bottled at the natural cask strength of 54.7% ABV.  There are just 3,500 bottles.  Both whiskies are priced at £99 and will be available at the respective open days during the festival (Lagavulin's open day is tomorrow May 24 and Caol' Ila's is on Monday May 26).  There is a limit to two bottles per customer.

Lakes Distillery - Secures distribution
The Lakes Distillery in northern England, which will begin production at the end of 2014, has announced the expanded distribution of its ONE blend.  The ONE is an innovative blend developed by the distillery team while they are setting up the new facility.  It uses whisky from different areas of the British Isles and was first launched back in Autumn 2013.

The ONE has now clinched distribution deals in Belgium, France, Holland and the United Arab Emirates, with further markets in the pipeline.  The artisan blend was the brainchild of Lakes co-founder and Managing Director Paul Currie (pictured, above), formerly of Isle of Arran Distillers, and Master Distiller Chris Anderson, formerly of Dewar's.

Paul Currie commented: "To create The ONE, we searched far and wide to bring together a range of special whiskies from the British Isles. These have been blended with care and passion to create a balanced whisky. The ONE is an important brand for us in the growing premium whisky sector, and it has received an outstanding response both with its smooth taste and innovative packaging." 

Laphroaig - Select the Select
The best selling Islay whisky brand of Laphroaig have announced the latest edition to their award-winning core range.  The Select will sit alongside the classic 10 years old, Quarter Cask, Triple Wood and 18 years old expressions.  Laphroaig's Master Distiller John Campbell has selected whisky from a number of different cask types for Select, but the main difference is the use of new American oak casks in the final maturation.  It is bottled at 40% ABV and will be available shortly.  The recommended price will be £35.

John Campbell said; “Select is an exciting expression that brings together the best of Laphroaig’s flavour profile. The inspiration for Select comes from perhaps our greatest family owner, Ian Hunter (1886-1954), one of the first distillers to experiment with both ‘new’ American and ‘traditional’ European oak maturation.”