Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (September 21, 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.  We have been away on holiday and we have returned to much news. This is what has grabbed our attention over the last two weeks. We hope you enjoy this bumper edition ...

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Aerstone

The independent family-owned distiller of William Grant & Sons have announced two new single malts that aim to 'simplify the category for consumers' and 'focus on the impact of malting and maturation on flavour'. The Aerstone range features two bottlings - Sea Cask and Land Cask. Both appear with a 10 years old age statement.

The Sea Cask is a classic Speyside style single malt that has benefitted from maturation in the company's coastal warehouses in Ayrshire. The Sea Cask is a peated single malt, produced using Highland peat, and has been matured further inland. Both are bottled at 40% ABV and will cost £30 each. They will be initially launched in the UK, exclusively in supermarket giant Tesco to begin with, and will be backed by a marketing campaign entitled 'Single Malt. Two Choices'.


Balvenie

The family-owned Speyside distillery of Balvenie has announced the release of a very special limited edition bottling of its famous DoubleWood expression. The DoubleWood 25 years old celebrates the 25th anniversary of when the DoubleWood range was first introduced with the 12 years old expression in 1993. The new whisky has been crafted by the legendary David Stewart MBE, the Malt Master at Balvenie, who pioneered the finishing technique in the 1980s and developed the original DoubleWood expressions.

The DoubleWood 25 years old was distilled in 1993 and has been matured in ex-bourbon casks before a short finishing period in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It has been bottled at 43% ABV and will be available in selected specialist retailers worldwide. A bottle will cost £400.

BenRiach
The innovative Speyside distillery of BenRiach has announced the re-introduction of a cult classic to take up a permanent position in the core range. The BenRiach 12 years old SherryWood won numerous awards during its previous limited edition incarnation of three years ago and has now been recreated by Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for BenRiach.

This new version features a triple cask maturation – this has seen the liquid matured in sherry butts before being transferred to both ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for a period of finishing. The 12 years old SherryWood is bottled at 46% ABV and is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. A bottle will cost around £45.

Compass Box
The artisanal independent whisky maker of Compass Box have announced their first permanent release in to the core range for almost five years. The Story Of A Spaniard features single malt whiskies that have been matured in ex-Spanish red wine casks, as well as some matured in more traditional ex-sherry casks. The name is inspired by a man that Compass Box founder John Glaser met while traveling through southern Spain. It is bottled at 43% ABV and will be initially available in Europe, before being introduced in the USA later this year. The price will be £50/$65 US per bottle.

Compass Box have also announced the sixth batch of their cult limited edition Flaming Heart, which first debuted in 2006. This 2018 expression is a blend of single malts and combines spiciness of heavily-toasted French oak barrels with smoke from a peated Islay whisky. It has been bottled at 48.9% ABV and there will be just 15,050 bottled available. These will first appear in Europe and then the USA later in the year. The price will be £120/$150 US per bottle.

Douglas Laing
The independent bottling company and whisky makers of Douglas Laing & Co have announced a special limited edition to join their Platinum Anniversary Collection. The XOP Platinum Glen Garioch 25 years old is a single ex-sherry cask and is bottled at the natural cask strength of 58.4% ABV. There are just 303 bottles available and these will cost £310/€350 each.

The company have also announced the latest addition to their Provenance Coastal Collection – a Caol Ila 6 years old single cask and this is bottled at 48% ABV. This ex-bourbon cask has yielded just 405 bottles and they will cost £58/€65 each. Both releases are non chill-filtered and of natural colour, and continue Douglas Laing’s 70th anniversary celebrations that have been running throughout the year.

GlenDronach
The east Highland distillery of GlenDronach has announced a new expression that marks the brand’s first official move in to the global travel retail market. The Forgue 10 years old pays homage to the village of Forgue, which is just over a mile away from the distillery in Aberdeenshire, and has been created by Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for GlenDronach.

Forgue uses a combination of ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for the decade of maturation and is of natural colour. The GlenDronach Forgue 10 years old is bottled at 43% ABV and will retail for around £60 for a one litre bottle.


Glenmorangie

The north Highland distillery of Glenmorangie has announced the third collaboration in its innovative Beyond The Cask series. This year sees them team up with American surfboard maunfacturers Grain Surfboards from Maine. As with previous years, the craftsmen have used reclaimed wood from casks to create a highly designed product - 2015 saw sunglasses made and last year a bicycle.

The Grain Glenmorangie Original surfboards have been crafted using 12 American oak staves from a Glenmorangie cask. The limited edition boards are available on via www.grainsurfboards.com and will cost $5,500 US (approximately £5,000) each.


Glenrothes

The Speyside distillery of Glenrothes has announced a major revamp of its core range. This sees the brand move away from its vintage statements and towards more traditional age statements, which range from 10 to 40 years old. The Glenrothes Soleo Collection are all 100% matured in ex-sherry seasoned oak casks and is aimed to appeal to premium whisky drinkers.

The range features age statements at 10, 12, 18, 25 and 40 years of age, plus the no age statement Whisky Maker's Cut. All are of natural colour and will be available shortly. The 40 years old expression will not appear until early 2019. Details of the ABV strengths were not given in the press release but the prices are - 10 years old (£37), 12 years old (£42), Whisky Maker's Cut (£55), 18 years old (£100) and 25 years old (£375).

Jameson
The leading Irish whiskey brand of Jameson is piloting a new product that is a take on the combination of whiskey and coffee, as seen a classic Irish coffee. The Jameson Cold Brew marries triple-distilled Jameson whiskey with cold brew coffee extract made from 100% Fairtrade arabica beans from Brazil and Columbia.

Jameson Cold Brew is designed to tap in to the growing markets of both whiskey and coffee drinkers, plus the increasing popularity of coffee-based cocktails such as the espresso martini. It is bottled at 35% ABV and will debut in Ireland and Northern Ireland, including Dublin Airport. A bottle will cost €28.50.


Tomatin

The Highland distillery of Tomatin has announced two limited edition releases of its Cù Bòcan peated single malt range. The 2003 Vintage is bottled at 15 years of age and has been matured in ex-sherry butts that have previously held peated Islay whisky. Exact numbers of bottles are not specified but it is released at 46% ABV and will be available from selected specialist retailers worldwide. The price will be £85 per bottle.

The 1990 Vintage was distilled in October 1990 and has been matured in ex-bourbon casks that had previously held one of Islay's peatiest whiskies. There are only 1,400 bottles available and these have been released at the natural cask strength of 52.9% ABV. As with the 2003 Vintage, it will be rolled out worldwide. A bottle will cost £230.


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