The American whiskey brand of Elijah Craig has announced the release of their rye expression into the UK market. We were invited to the launch event of the Elijah Craig Straight Rye. The spirits has a mash bill of 51% rye, 35% corn and 14% malted barley. This heavy reliance on corn as the secondary grain makes the spirit highly suited to long maturation, which has enabled this rye whiskey to reach eight years of age.
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When driving through Kentucky in May you could almost think you were in Scotland. Green rolling hills and farms zip by. But once you hit the town of Lawrenceburg, where the Wild Turkey distillery is located, this changes. Now you are definitely NOT in Scotland. The quaint main street is lined on either side with old colonial buildings, each adorned with a fluttering Stars & Stripes flag. Now you know that you are well and truly in Kentucky - the heartbeat of the American whiskey industry.
This whisky is the second single malt whisky that will form the core range from the English distillery of White Peak in Derbyshire. The Wire Works Bourbon Barrel is the first bottling to use 100% first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, which were sourced from the Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky, and features their oldest whisky to date. Some of this was from their very early spirit runs in 2018. The new whisky will join the Caduro as a permanent expression in the core range.
This whiskey is the latest new addition to the permanent core range of the Northern Irish distillery of Bushmills. The initial 14-year maturation of their signature triple distilled single malt has taken place in first fill and re-fill ex-bourbon barrels, before a luxurious 12-month finish in French oak ex-Cognac casks sourced from the famous Cognac region of France. It has been created by Alex Thomas, the Master Blender at Bushmills.
This whisky is the sixth bottling in Creations Series from the peated Highland single malt brand of Cù Bòcan (pronounced koo-bock-un). The Cù Bòcan Creation #6. joins the series, which uses unorthodox cask combinations to create unique flavour profiles. In this case the casks are 9-year-old ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and 10-year-old ex-Jamaican rum casks, which have been fused together to create the final whisky.
This whisky is the second release of limited edition Ploughing Edition single malt range from the Lowland distillery of Lochlea. The Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Second Crop) is the fourth and final bottling in its Second Crop series, which celebrates the annual farm cycle. Other releases include the Sowing, Harvest and Fallow Editions. Lochlea is one of the only distilleries in Scotland to grow all of the barley used for whisky production.
The Bushmills 36 years old Hill Street Edition is the oldest single malt whiskey to ever be released in Europe by the famous Bushmills distillery. It has been bottled exclusively for The Friend at Hand, the award-winning whiskey shop and museum in Belfast, which is owned by Irish whiskey legend Willie Jack. The shop is located on Hill Street in the Cathedral Quarter, which was the former home of bonded warehouses that stored and matured Bushmills whiskey. The whiskey will only be available to purchase from The Friend at Hand.
This 18 years old single malt form part of the core range from the Speyside distillery of Speyburn. It sits the no age statement Bradan Orach, plus 10 years old and 15 years old in the range. There are also three travel retail exclusives currently available - Hopkins Reserve, a higher strength version of the 10 years old and 16 years old. The Speyburn 18 years old has seen spirit matured for the full term in either American oak ex-bourbon or Spanish oak ex-sherry casks, which are then married together. It was first released to the core range in 2018.
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The journey to Lochlea was met with very poor weather, often described in Scotland as ‘driech’. A bumpy flight from London and the following drive to the distillery through torrential rain were fairly brutal. Hats off to Sarah from Lochlea’s marketing team who came to pick us up from Glasgow and got us to the distillery safely. She really pulled the short straw that day.
The Bruichladdich 18 years old is a new permanent addition to the core range of the Islay distillery of Bruichladdich. It was launched simultaneously with another rare single malt, the Bruichladdich 30 years old, which will also be a permanent core expression. They are the first permanent whiskies of such age to sit in the range and form part of a new premium sub-range named Luxury Redefined.
The Bruichladdich 18 years old features whisky made from the first crop of Islay barley distilled at Bruichladdich in 2004. The majority has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels with a small percentage of whisky added that has seen maturation in ex-Sauternes wine and ex-Port casks. All casks have been aged in warehouses on Islay. It is released at 50% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. A bottle will cost £150.
This whisky is a special limited edition from the award-winning Lowland farm-to-bottle distillery of Lochlea. It has been released to mark their fifth birthday. The whisky is a vatting of just five casks, each showing a different side to the house spirit. Two of them included are from the very first distillation and cask filling in August 2018. It is the oldest whisky released by Lochlea to date and the first to carry an age statement.
The north Highland distillery of Old Pulteney has added a bottling to its core range - Old Pulteney Harbour. The name refers to the harbour in the distillery's hometown of Wick, which was once one of the largest fishing ports in Europe during the Victoria era. The new whisky has been designed to show the brand's continued connection to the sea. Old Pulteney Harbour has been matured in a quartet of American oak ex-bourbon cask styles - first-fill, second-fill, re-fill and re-charred. These were hand-selected by Malcolm Waring, the long-serving Distillery Manager at Old Pulteney, and his team.
