Friday, July 6, 2018

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (July 6, 2018)

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.

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Balvenie
The Speyside distillery of Balvenie has announced the forthcoming launch of a very limited edition - The Balvenie Fifty : Marriage 0962. The bottling comprises liquid from four American oak casks that was selected and married by David Stewart MBE, the legendary Balvenie Malt Master. The Marriage 0962 refers to the month and year that be started with Balvenie's owners William Grant & Sons. There are just 12 bottles and each is presented in bespoke packaging produced by Scottish craftsmen - a hand blown crystal decanter by Glasstorm and a wooden casket by Sam Chinnery.

The Balvenie Fifty : Marriage 0962 is launched in the UK only in August and will be available in premium spirits retailers such as Harrods, Hedonism and Selfridge's. Each bottle will cost £27,500.

"Marrying aged whisky stocks is undoubtedly one of the most challenging, yet enjoyable facets of my role. This was a chance to explore the furthest reaches of our precious aged stocks and it is not every day I get the opportunity to work with liquids of such age." 
David Stewart MBE.


Chivas Regal
The popular blended Scotch brand of Chivas Regal has announced a new addition to its core range - Chivas XV. The new bottling is comprised of whiskies with a minimum age of 15 years and these have been blended and then finished for a short period in Grande Champagne Cognac casks. It is presented in two formats - a gold bottle or clear glass with gold packaging. Chivas XV will initially be exclusive to travel retail sector before being rolled out to the global domestic markets in the Autumn. A one litre bottle will cost £52/$69 US.


GlenAllachie

The Speyside distillery of GlenAllachie has revealed details of its first ever core range of aged single malts. These have been created by Billy walker, the recent new owner and Master Blender. There are expressions at 12, 18 and 25 years of age and these are presented at 46% ABV. There is also a 10 years old presented at a cask strength of 57.1% ABV and this has been matured in a combination of American oak, virgin oak, ex-Oloroso sherry and ex-Pedro Ximinez sherry casks. All are non chill-filtered and of natural colour.

The recommeded retail prices are - 10 years old Cask Strength (£57), 12 years old (£43), 18 years old (£92) and 25 years old (£232). The GlenAllachie range will be available in 28 key markets worldwide including China, France, Germany, Taiwan, the UK and the USA.


Grant's


The popular Grant's blended Scotch range has announced a complete overhaul of its core range that sees four new expressions and three discontinued. Out go the Grant's Signature, Ale Cask Finish and Sherry Cask Finish and these are replaced by the Grant's Triple Wood, Triple Wood Smoky, Rum Cask Finish and 8 years old Sherry Cask Finish.

The Triple Wood is essentially a rebrand of the best-selling Family Reserve and the new name is said to better highlight the production process behind the whisky - this uses virgin oak, American oak and re-fill ex-bourbon casks. The new smoky version uses the same three casks and represents the first time a peated whisky has appeared in the Grant's range.

The Rum Cask Finish has been matured in ex-Caribbean rum casks for a final six month period and the 8 years old Sherry Cask Finish has been similarly finished in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. All have been created by Brian Kinsman, the Master Blender for the Grant's range.

The four whiskies are all bottled at 40% ABV and will see a staggered launch through the Summer months. The recommended retail prices are - Grant's Triple Wood (£15), Triple Wood Smoky (£19), Rum Cask Finish (£19) and 8 years old Sherry Cask Finish (£21).


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