Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (January 29, 2016)

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.

Review - Glen Grant 5 years old

We picked up this young expression of Glen Grant single malt when on a trip to Italy.  We had to buy it as we had never seen it before and it seemed a very good, budget price.  It turns out that this particular expression is only available in selected southern European markets, with Italy as the main market, plus South Africa.  It struck us as different to have such a young age statement displayed, especially with the current trend for 'no age statement' bottlings.  This 5 years old single malt is bottled at 40% ABV and is widely available through Italy.  A bottle should cost around €20-25.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (January 22, 2016)

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.

Review - Glenmorangie Milsean

This whisky is the latest to be released in to the annual Private Edition series from Glenmorangie.  The series is designed to showcase the continued creativity and innovation that has long been a hallmark of the north Highland distillery.  The Milsean (pronounced meel-shawn and meaning 'sweet things' in Gaelic) is the seventh such release in the Private Edition series and takes it in yet another different direction.  This new expression has been part matured for almost three years in ex-Portuguese red wine casks, which were heavily toasted before filling.  This has the effect of re-caramelising the natural sugars in the wood.

Our Top 10 Whiskies of 2015

This year has been another productive year for the whisky industry.  Companies have developed more products to meet or drive consumer demand as the category continues to grow in both sales and consumption across the globe. We have been lucky to try some of them through this blog, including many of the major releases, and to attend numerous launch events and press trips during 2015. A huge thank you to all of the brands and PR agencies that continue to support us.

Top 10s are always subjective and potentially contentious as a result - everyone has differing opinions, but that is what makes the whisky industry so interesting.  Every blog seems to have a Top 10 but we were one of the first when we wrote such an article in 2009 - this is our seventh year of selecting our favourite whiskies and it remains one of our most visited posts each year.

Review - Talisker Neist Point

The Neist Point is a new single malt from the famous Talisker distillery on the isle of Skye and is exclusive to the travel retail sector.  It joins the fellow travel retail exclusive Dark Storm expression. Talisker is located on the isle of Skye, the largest and most northerly island of the Inner Hebrides. It is the only distillery on the island and is found close to the village of Carbost, in the shadow of the imposing Cuillin hills.  This new permanent release is made from a selection of rare casks of different ages - all are made from American oak and most are refill casks.  It is named after the most westerly point of Skye, which is home to the Neist Point lighthouse. 

Whisky For Everyone on The Huffington Post UK

Matt C, one of the founders of Whisky For Everyone, is a regular contributor on The Huffington Post UK.  He has been writing about whisky and whisky related topics within the LifeStyle section of the popular blogging website since being invited to be a contributor in 2012.

His latest article is now live on the site.  Within the article he looks at influences behind the reported demise of Scotch whisky in the media and awards being given to other sectors, plus asks whether the situation is really as bad as we are led to believe.  To read the article, please click the link below.  We hope that you enjoy ....

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/matt-chambers/is-scotch-whisky-dead_b_8960890.html

The UK Blog Awards 2016 - Vote for us now!

We have great news to begin the New Year - Whisky For Everyone has been entered in to the UK Blog Awards 2016.  We are up for the award of Best Blog in the Food & Drink category.  This is the UK's biggest competition for blogs.  Most of the blogs in our category are food-based so it would be great for a drinks blog to win.  And for that to be us of course.

The award is decided by public vote and the blog with the most votes wins.  Anyone can vote for us and you can vote as many times as you would like to right up to the deadline, although only once a day from the same email address and device.  So, tell all of your friends ... The deadline for voting is 9pm (UK time) on Monday 25 January.  We invite you to look through the nominations on the UKBA Food & Drink page and hope that you would like to vote for us.

How to vote for us
Simply click on the link below and this will take you straight to our homepage on the UKBA site.  Click on the 'Vote Now' icon and fill in your details.  It takes about 10 seconds.  You will then get an email to say that your vote has been accepted.  Don't forget that you can vote for us more than once.  

www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/ukba2016/my-entry/whisky-everyone


Thank you - Karen & Matt.

Review - Benriach 10 years old

This whisky was launched in April 2015 and formed the new cornerstone of the award winning Speyside distillery's core range of single malts.  It was a landmark release for the independent ownership, which took over Benriach in 2004.  Previous to this, all Benriach bottlings released by them had been from or included matured stock inherited from the previous owners.  This 10 years old represents the first whisky that was fully produced, matured and bottled by the new owners.  It has been matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks and is bottled at 43% ABV.  The recommended retail price is £35.

Review - Aberfeldy 16 years old

John Dewar & Sons, the owners of the Highland distillery of Aberfeldy, have released a new expression in to their core single malt range. The Aberfeldy 16 years old has been matured entirely in ex-Oloroso sherry casks and will sit between the current 12 and 21 years old expressions in the range, which forms part of the owners wider Last Great Malts portfolio. There is also an 18 years old, which is exclusive to the travel retail sector. This new release was launched back in November and will be available in eleven selected world markets - Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan and the UK.