Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | September 27, 2024

Welcome to Inbox - our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to the WFE email. We started Inbox several years ago 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. 

 

Here is a round-up of this week's whisky news.

 

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Diageo, Scotland's largest whisky producer, has announced the line-up for their annual Special Releases Collection. The Diageo Special Releases: Spirited Xchange Second Edition is formed of eight single malts, which are limited in number. This year's collection is designed to push the boundaries of Scotch whisky and features familiar distilleries alongside lesser known hidden gems. The Special Releases were first launched over two decades ago.

The eight rare and collectable single malts have been crafted by Dr. Stuart Morrison, Master Blender for the series at Diageo. Each bottling uses photography for the first time to capture the whisky's character and flavour profile. The collection is available in selected world markets including Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, the UK and the USA, plus global travel retail and via www.malts.com. 

 

The following bottlings make up the Diageo Special Releases: Spirited Xchange: Second Edition. Prices were not revealed in the press release.

• Benrinnes | Grand Crescendo - 21 years old and matured in American oak ex-red wine, European oak and rejuvenated casks. Speyside. 55.4% ABV. £355/ US$480.
  
• Caol Ila | Ambrosial Feast - 11 years old, unpeated and matured in re-fill American oak and rejuvenated ex-red wine casks. Islay. 57.3% ABV. £82/ US$110.
  
• Lagavulin | Fireside Tales - 12 years old and matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and re-fill casks. Islay. 57.4% ABV. £135/ US$180.
  
• Mortlach | Midnight Dusk - finished in sweet ex-Ramandolo white wine and ex-Sangiovese red wine casks. Speyside. 57.5% ABV. £225/ US$300.
  
• Oban | Coastal Orchard - 10 years old and matured in new freshly charred American oak barrels and finished in ex-Oloroso seasoned and re-fill casks. Highlands. 58% ABV. £90 US$120.
  
• Roseisle | Origami Kite II - 12 years old and only the second ever expression released, matured in re-fill and first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Speyside. 55.6% ABV. £112/ US$150.
  
• The Singleton | Autumn Walk - 14 years old and matured in ex-bourbon, rejuvenated ex-red wine and refill casks, then finished with European oak casks with Pyrenean Oak cask-ends. Speyside. 54.7% ABV. £116/ US$155.
  
• Talisker | Tidal Churn - 8 years old and matured in stone-spun retoasted oak casks. Islands. 58.7% ABV. £79/ US$105.
  

The English whisky brand of Fielden have announced a new four part limited edition series, and the first bottling in that series. The Fielden Fieldnotes series will kick off with Fielden Hedgerow and is designed to celebrate the heritage cereals used to create their spirit and the diverse locations that they are grown. The series will be split into four editions highlighting Fruity & Creamy, Fresh & Delicate, Pastry & Nutty and Fruity & Spicy. Hedgerow represents Fruity & Creamy.

Fielden Hedgerow has used four cask types - 2x ex-bourbon American oak, 1x ex-Sauternes dessert wine and 1x ex-vintage Port barrique. There will be just 1,000 bottles, each individually numbered, and they are released at 46.1% ABV. Bottles will be available from early October from www.fielden.com and specialist retailers in the UK. Each will cost £100.

The Loch Lomond Group has announced a new series of rare single malt from the closed Lowland distillery of Littlemill, which would be Scotland's oldest were it still in production - Littlemill The Cask Reflections Collection. The company hold much of the dwindling stocks and plan to showcase it throughout this series. Each bottling will be created by Michael Henry, the Master Blender for LLG.

Littlemill The Cask Reflections Release No.1 is bottled at 33 years of age and has been matured for much of its life in ex-bourbon casks. It has undergone a final four-month maturation period in rare Japanese mizunara oak casks prior to bottling. The whisky is released at the natural cask strength of 49.1% ABV and presented in a decanter designed by Glencairn Crystal. There are just 570 bottles and these are available via selected whisky specialists and luxury retailers worldwide. Each decanter will cost £3,800.

The Glenlivet, the popular Speyside distillery, has unvieled its oldest official bottling to date as part of their 200th anniversary celebrations. The Glenlivet Eternal Collection: First Edition 55 years old has been maturing in a single ex-sherry cask since the late-1960s and has been nurtured by Kevin Balmforth, the Cask Master at The Glenlivet. The rare single malt launches the distillery's Eternal Collection, which will showcase some of the rarest stock maturing in their warehouses.

 

The new whisky is housed in a spherical decanter, which sits inside a sculpture created by computational architect Michael Hansmeyer. There are just 100 decanters and they will be available exclusively at The Whisky Exchange to begin with. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 42.2% ABV. Each decanter will cost €50,000/ US$55,900/ £41,800.