Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | October 11, 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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The Speyside distillery of Benromach has announced the latest addition to its Contrasts Series - the Benromach Contrasts Unpeated. The rare spirit, which is only produced for short periods occasionally, has been aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for nine years. It has been created by Keith Cruickshank, the long-serving Distillery Manager at Benromach, and is bottled at 46% ABV. It is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. The new whisky will be available in selected specialist retailers in selected markets worldwide. A bottle will cost £60.

 

"With our Contrasts range, we aim to develop whiskies that showcase the handmade skills of our distillers - and this is no exception. But this particular unpeated release provides the very definition of a contrast when compared to our regular lightly peated spirit."

Keith Cruickshank.

The popular Canadian brand of Crown Royal has announced a new high-aged blended whisky as the third installment in its Extra Rare Series. The Crown Royal 31 years old has been created from casks personally selected by Mark Balkenende, the Master Blender for Crown Royal, and is bottled at 46% ABV. It will be available in Canada and 10 selected US states including Ariizona, California, Ohio and Texas. The recommended retail price is US$599.

 

The innovative distillery of Loch Lomond has announced a new series of age statement single malts, and the first whisky in the collection. The Loch Lomond Waypoint Series will represent different significant waypoints in The Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. The first is a 16 years old and repressents the beautiful Falls of Falloch. The whisky has been distilled exclusively through the distillery's swan-necked stills and matured in ex-bourbon casks. 

 

The new whisky has then had a finishing period of 12 months in ex-Cognac barrels and has been created by Michael Henry, the Master Distiller at Loch Lomond, and is bottled at 46.2% ABV. It is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour, and will be available worldwide through specialist whisky retailers. A bottle will cost £82.

 

 

 

The Speyside distillery of Mortlach has launched its oldest and rarest single malt to date - the Mortlach 50 years old. It is the latest and final bottling in the brand's Singing Stills Series. The whisky is taken from a single re-fill American oak ex-bourbon barrel that has matured at the distillery for over five decades. It was distilled through the distillery's original direct-fired stills and filled to the cask in 1971 and was hand selected by Dr. Craig Wilson, the Master Blender for single malts at Diageo. There are just 67 bottles available through selected luxury and specialist whisky retailers globally. It is bottled at 47.3% ABV and will cost £22,950/ US$30,000.

 

 

 

The Scallywag blended malt brand, owned by independent bottlers Douglas Laing & Co, has launched a limited edition for the forthcoming festive season - the Scallywag Winter Edition 2024. As with all Scallywag bottlings, the new whisky only contains single malts from the Speyside region of Scotland. These have been married before experiencing a finishing period in ex-orange wine casks sourced from Spain. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 53.9% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. Scallywag Winter Edition 2024 is available from specialist retailers worldwide and will cost £65.

 

 

The Speyside distillery of Tamnavulin has announced a new single malt to its double cask matured core range - the Tamnavulin Port Cask Finish. The ageing begins in American oak ex-bourbon casks before being transferred for a finishing period to ex-Tawny Port casks sourced from the Douro Valley in Portugal. The whisky has been created by Kirsty Hodge, the Master Whisky Maker at Tamnavulin, and is bottled at 40% ABV. It will initially be launched in UK supermarkets including Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco. A bottle will cost £35.