Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (April 21, 2017)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, 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 the news that has grabbed our attention this week ...

________

Kilchoman
The small Islay distillery of Kilchoman have announced the latest bottling of its cult 100% Islay expression. This will be the seventh edition of the single malt and is the oldest version to date, being bottled at seven years of age. The 100% Islay is special as all parts of the whisky making process - the growing of the barley used, malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling - are completed on Islay on the farm where the distillery is located.

The 2017 Edition was distilled in early 2010 and has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels from the Buffalo Trace distillery.  It has been bottled at 50% ABV and is non chill-filtered and of natural colour.  No indication of numbers or price were included in the press release.  The 100% Islay 2107 Edition will be available through specialist whisky retailers worldwide from May 1st. For further information, please visit www.kilchomandistillery.com.

"Since day one we have not only been proud of the tradition whisky making methods that we revived to create 100% Islay, but also the quality of the spirit produced. We are now growing more barley than ever for this release."
Anthony Wills - Founder and Managing Director of Kilchoman.

Lagavulin

Earlier this year we reported on a special event that ended the 200th anniversary celebrations of Lagavulin, the iconic Islay single malt distillery.  This event saw a single cask of Lagavulin selected and most of the 522 bottles sold through retailer The Whisky Exchange. In addition, Bottle #1 of this Lagavulin 1991 was sold to the highest bidder via online auction site Whisky.Auction.

The total amount of money for the Lagavulin Legacy Fund, totalling £588,395, has now been handed over by Diageo in a special celebration at the distillery.  Seven local charities, all of whom were represented at the celebration, will benefit from the cash - these range from the local swimming pool and a cyber cafe to a number of sites of important historical and archaeological significance.  The main beneficiary is Islay Heritage.

"The Lagavulin Legacy fund is not about making donations, it is about investing in the rich fabric of the Islay community. That’s why we’ve chosen a range of charities to support. It is a fitting way to close the 200th anniversary celebrations for Lagavulin."
Dr. Nick Morgan - Head of Whisky Outreach at Diageo.