Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (February 13, 2015)

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.  This is traditionally a quiet time of the year as the whisky industry wakes up slowly but here are a couple of bits of news that has caught our attention from this week ...

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Booker's Bourbon - New batch announced
The latest small batch bourbon in the Booker's Bourbon series has been announced by the makers of Jim Beam.  Batch 2015-1 is the first to feature a new limited edition set of labels that are inspired by Booker Noe, the legendary former Master Distiller at Jim Beam and father of current Master Distiller Fred Noe.  The new bottling, named “Big Man, Small Batch”, features a visual of Booker sipping bourbon in his rocking chair with his dog Dot by his side.

The batch name honours Booker’s role in the creation of small batch bourbons and his larger-than-life personality.  The casks included in Booker's Bourbon are hand picked by Fred Noe and he constructs the final whiskeys in the robust style favoured by his father.  This batch is is bottled at 128.7 Proof (64.4% ABV) and is all of the whiskey has been aged for seven years.  The batch is limited edition, although the exact quantity and price were not included in the press release material.

Fred Noe, said: “Booker’s was founded on my dad’s dedication to making the very best bourbon there is, and I’m proud to honor him with this limited-edition collection. ‘Big Man, Small Batch’ is the first batch to feature these new labels, giving our fans a little more insight into who my dad was and his love for creating great bourbon!”

Talisker - Reaches for the Skye
The popular single malt brand has announced a new addition to its core range - Talisker Skye.  The whisky is named after the island that is home to the distillery and pays homage to its rugged landscape and surrounding seas.  It is constructed using toasted and refill American oak casks that are hand selected by Diageo's Master Blenders, and these are designed to highlight sweet and citrus notes in the whisky.  Skye is bottled at 45.8% ABV and will be available in the Spring.  The recommended retail cost will be £33.

Stuart Harrington, the Distillery Manager at Talisker, comments: "We're very proud to welcome Talisker Skye to the family. We're extremely passionate about both our whiskies and home, the Isle of Skye, and see this whisky as the perfect way of celebrating this. Our master blenders worked tirelessly to create an expression that embodies Skye's wild beauty - and we're delighted with the end product; it's Skye in a bottle."