Review | Ardbeg Spectacular

Each year the Islay distillery of Ardbeg releases an annual Fèis Ìle bottling for Ardbeg Day - this day at the beginning of June marks the end of the festival on the famous whisky island of Islay. Ardbeg Spectacular represents the first single malt from the distillery to feature maturation in ex-Port casks. It is a marriage of traditional ex-bourbon cask Ardbeg and spirit matured fully in ex-Port barrels and has been created by Gillian Macdonald, the Master Blender for Ardbeg. Ardbeg Spectacular is released at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | September 6, 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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | July 5, 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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | June 7, 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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | May 10, 2023

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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | April 19, 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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | March 8, 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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News (November 17, 2023)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (August 25, 2023)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Review / Ardbeg Heavy Vapours (Ardbeg Day Edition)

This is the annual Ardbeg Day release, which celebrates the final day of the Feis Ile festival on the famous whisky island of Islay, from the cult distillery of Ardbeg. Ardbeg Heavy Vapours is the result of an experiment conducted by Dr. Bill Lumsden, the Director of Whisky Creation at Ardbeg, several years ago. For the first time ever at Ardbeg its whisky was distilled without a purifier – the apparatus on the still responsible for maintaining balance between extreme peat and floral fruitiness at the distillery. This allows the heaviest alcohol vapours to rise up the still to be condensed back to a spirit. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (April 7, 2023)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (March 24, 2023)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Our Top 10 Whiskies of 2022

This is always our favourite post to write each year. The Top 10 is something we first began way back in 2009 and within it we celebrate the finest new whisky releases of that calendar year. Our first selection crowned Benromach 10 years old as our Whisky of the Year. 

However, some time ago we decided to no longer give a top prize. Instead, each of the ten whiskies that we have chosen is a winner in its own right and for differing reasons. As the world continued to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions in 2022, the whisky world responded with some excellent releases. It has been difficult to select just ten to be honest, given that we have sampled close to 150 whiskies this year. 

Review / Ardbeg Hypernova

This new whisky is the latest limited edition exclusive from Islay distillery of Ardbeg. The Ardbeg Hypernova is pitched as the smokiest Ardbeg single malt ever and is only available to Ardbeg Committee members. The new whisky is an evolution of previous cult classic Supernova and shows peat levels in excess of 170ppm (phenol parts per million). This is over three times above the regular level of Ardbeg spirit. The Ardbeg Hypernova is bottled at 51% ABV and will be available in limited numbers from the Ardbeg Committee part of the Ardbeg website and Ardbeg Embassies around the world. Membership to the Committee is free and open to all Ardbeg fans or peaty whisky drinkers. A bottle will cost £190. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (October 21, 2022)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (October 14, 2022)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Review / Ardbeg Ardcore (Ardbeg Day Edition)

This new whisky is the annual Ardbeg Day bottling for the Feis Ile festival on the famous whisky island of Islay. The 2022 offering is named Ardcore and has been inspired by punk rock music. The whisky has been produced using rare black malt, which is a first for Ardbeg, and takes the spirit in a dark, fiery and feisty direction. Ardbeg Ardcore has been developed by Dr. Bill Lumsden, the Head of Distilling & Whisky Creation at Ardbeg. The whisky was officially released on Ardbeg Day (June 4), which traditionally brings the Feis Ile festivities to an end. There will be two versions of Ardcore - a cask strength version for Ardbeg Committee members (50.1% ABV) and this Ardbeg Day Edition at 46% ABV. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (April 8, 2022)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. 

Review / Ardbeg Fermutation (Committee Release)

This whisky is the latest Ardbeg Committee exclusive and limited edition release from the cult Islay distillery. Ardbeg Fermutation is the result of an accident at the distillery in 2008. The boiler broke down and threatened the contents of six washbacks of fermenting wash. With the wash unable to be collected at its normal fermentation time of 72 hours, it was left to continue fermenting until the boiler was fixed. This resulted in the wash being in the washbacks for three weeks - the longest in Ardbeg history and an unprecedented length of time for wash. The unplanned experiment was overseen by Dr. Bill Lumsden, the Director of Distilling & Whisky Creation at Ardbeg. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (January 28, 2022)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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.