Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (May 26, 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 - there is plenty about the forthcoming Feis Isle whisky festival on Islay, which begins officially tomorrow ...

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Caol Ila
Diageo, the owners of Caol Ila distillery on Islay, have announced a special limited edition bottling for the forthcoming Feis Isle festival. The whisky is 12 years old and has been double matured in ex-Amoroso sherry casks.  It has been bottled at the natural cask strength of 56.1% ABV and there are just 1,500 bottles available. These will cost £99 each and will be on sale on a first come, first served basis at the Caol Ila open day during the festival, which is on Monday 29 May.

Glen Scotia
The Campbeltown-based distillery of Glen Scotia have announced a new premium bottling - the Glen Scotia 25 years old. This will be the oldest expression in the current single malt range from the distillery. The whisky has been matured in American oak casks that were then hand selected by Michael Henry, the Master Blender of Glen Scotia, and transferred to first fill ex-bourbon casks.  It has been bottled at 48.8% ABV and will be available through specialist whisky retailers at a cost of £250 each.


Hunter Laing

The independent bottler of Hunter Laing have announced a new series of single cask single malts that will be launched at a new shop on Islay during the Feis Isle festival. Each cask has been hand selected by Stewart Laing, the Managing Director of Hunter Laing. The six bottlings will be available only at a special new shop at Islay House Square in Bridgend, starting from today (Friday 26 May) for the duration of Feis Isle.

The six bottlings all feature distilleries from Islay and include a 26 years old ex-bourbon cask Ardbeg (£720), 30 years old ex-sherry cask Bowmore (£495), 28 years old ex-sherry cask Bunnahabhain (cost £310), 33 years old ex-sherry cask Caol Ila (£375), 30 years old ex-bourbon cask Laphroaig (£720) and 34 years old ex-sherry cask Port Ellen (£1,800). All are of natural colour, non chill filtered and bottled at their natural cask strengths.

Lagavulin
Lagavulin, Diageo's other distillery on Islay, will also have a special limited edition single malt for the Feis Isle Festival. The whisky is bottled at 16 years of age and has been double matured in ex-Moscatel wine casks. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 55.8% ABV and there are just 6,000 bottles available. These will cost £125 each and be on sale on a first come, first served basis at the Lagavulin open day during the festival, which is tomorrow (Saturday 27 May).

"At Lagavulin we look to the future with interesting and unique liquids for our most loyal fans. We're looking forward to raising a dram of this excellent bottling together with our friends at Feis Isle".
Georgie Crawford - Distillery Manager at Lagavulin.

Laphroaig
Another special bottling for the forthcoming Feis isle festival, this time from Laphroaig. Each year whisky fans wait for their annual festival whisky, named Cairdeas. This year the release is a cask strength version of their popular Quarter Cask, which was suggested by members of the brand's Friends of Laphroaig. This Cairdeas has been matured in American oak casks that are a quarter the size of normal ex-bourbon casks. It will be on sale at the Laphraoig open day during Feis Isle (Tuesday 30 May) - for more information, please visit www.laphroaig.com.