Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 18, 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.

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 this week's news that caught our eyes ...

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Benriach
The Speyside distillery of Benriach have announced their latest limited edition single malt – the Benriach 22 years old Moscatel Wood Finish. The whisky was originally matured in ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred to ex-Moscatel wine casks sourced from Portugal and Spain. This process was overseen by Billy Walker, the Master Distiller at The Benriach Distillery Company. The Moscatel Wood Finish is bottled at 46% ABV, is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It will be available through specialist whisky retailers. No details of numbers or price were given in the press release.

“Moscatel is a sweet fortified wine, hailing from Portugal and Spain, which adds a buttery-soft, spicy and fruity dimension to the whisky. The result is a superlative malt in the classic BenRiach style.” 
Alistair Walker – Sales Director at The Benriach Distillery Co.

Glendronach
The east Highland distillery of Glendronach has announced three new limited edition single malt bottlings – the 25 years old Grandeur Batch 8, the Cask Strength Batch 6 and the 14 years old Masala Cask Finish. The latest batch of The Grandeur has matured for a quarter of a century in ex-Oloroso sherry casks and these have produced just 1,505 bottles. Each bottle is individually numbered and presented in a wooden casket. The Grandeur Batch 8 is bottled at 50.3% ABV.

The Cask Strength Batch 6 is presented at 56.1% ABV and has been matured in a combination of ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximinez sherry casks. It is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. The 14 years old Marsala Cask Finish was first matured in European oak casks before being transferred to and finished in ex-Marsala fortified wine casks sourced from Sicily. All casks for the three releases have been selected by Billy Walker, the Master Distiller at The Benriach Distillery Company. No indication of prices were given in the press release.

Macallan 
The famous Speyside single malt brand has announced details of its latest limited edition release – The Macallan Edition No.2. The new whisky brings together seven different cask types from four different Spanish bodegas - Vasyma, Diego Martin, Jose Miguel Martin and Tevasa - and is a collaboration between Bob Dalgarno, The Master Whisky Maker for The Macallan and the Roca brothers, the co-founders of multi award-winning restaurant El Celler de Can Roca. The Edition No.2 is bottled at 48.2% ABV and will be available via specialist whisky retailers worldwide. A bottle will cost £65.

“By collaborating with the Roca brothers we have combined our knowledge of whisky making with their creative culinary expertise. The driving force behind the Edition Series is the freedom we have to explore different and distinctive casks, some that might not typically be used in other Macallan whiskies.” 
Bob Dalgarno – Master Whisky Maker at The Macallan.