Review / Glenglassaugh Sandend & Portsoy

These two whiskies form part of the revamped core range from the coastal Highland distillery of Glenglassaugh. The complete brand overhaul includes new packaging and three new whiskies - both are said to be influenced by the land and sea and the vibrant coastal spirit produced at Glenglassaugh. Alongside Portsoy and Sandend is the 12 years old - the first age statement featuring whisky distilled at Glenglassaugh since it reopened after a lengthy closure in 2008. We plan to review this shortly.

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (June 9, 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 / Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 12

The new whisky is the latest limited addition to the Cask Strength series from the Highland distillery of Glendronach. The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 12 has used whiskies of differing ages matured in ex-Pedro Ximénez and ex-Oloroso sherry casks from Andalucía in the south of Spain. The whisky has been created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glendronach. The series was started by former owner Billy Walker and has gained somewhat of a cult status amongst whisky fans. The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 12 is bottled at 58.2% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is available through selected specialist whisky retailers worldwide. A bottle will cost £75. 

Review / Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 11

This new whisky is the latest bottling in the popular annual cask strength series from the east Highland distillery of Glendronach. The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 11 is a celebration of both natural strength whisky and of Glendronach's heavily sherried style. It has been created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glendronach, using a combination of spirit matured in Spanish oak ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. 

The Batch 11 has been bottled at 59.8% ABV and is limited in number, although the exact quantity has not been revealed. It is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It will be available in specialist whisky retailers in selected global markets. A bottle will cost £68/ $78 US. 

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (November 4, 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 / Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 10

This whisky is the latest in the annual cask strength series from the east Highland distillery of Glendronach. The Cask Strength Batch 10 has been delayed by the Covid pandemic and was created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glendronach. The new no age statement release is constructed using whiskies of differing ages that have been maturing in ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry barrels. These have been hand-selected and married together by Barrie. The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 10 is bottled at 58.6% ABV and will be available in limited numbers in selected markets worldwide. A bottle will retail for £77/ $105 US. 

Review / Benriach Malting Season (First Edition)

This whisky is a very special new limited edition from the innovative Speyside distillery of Benriach. The Benriach Malting Season is the first in over a century that uses barley malted exclusively at the distillery using the traditional floor maltings that were restored in 2012. This First Edition has seen the spirit produced from the floor malted barley then matured in ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks. There are 23 casks in total and they were married together by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach, to create the final product. This inaugural release used a variety of barley called concerto. Benriach is one of only two distilleries in Speyside to have an operational floor malting. Balvenie is the other.

Review / Glenglassaugh 50 years old

The coastal distillery of Glenglassaugh in the east Highlands has announced the released of an extremely old and rare single malt - the Glenglassaugh 50 years old. The whisky comes from a single ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry cask that has been maturing in a warehouse at the distillery for half a century. The cask was hand selected by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender at Glenglassaugh. 

Review / Benriach Smoke Season

This whisky is a limited edition single malt that celebrates the 50-year heritage of producing peated spirit at the innovative Speyside distillery of Benriach. The Benriach Smoke Season is a small batch release designed to showcase the spirit that uses malt peated using Highland peat, which has been distilled for a short period each year since the early 1970s and remains a rare practice for a Speyside distillery. It has been created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach, and features peated spirit matured in toasted virgin American oak casks and first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. It is said to be the most intensely peated Benriach ever released. 

Review / Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9

This new single malt is the latest bottling in the highly anticipated Cask Strength series from the east Highland distillery of Glendronach, which is normally released annually. The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9 has been slightly delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and each batch is made to be different and have its own personal character. Batch 9 has seen whiskies matured in both ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry casks of differing sizes (both puncheons and butts are included). These have been selected at different ages  before being married together by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glendronach.

Review / Glendronach Batch 18 Single Casks #2091 & #5897

These two whiskies form part of the latest batch of the highly anticipated annual single cask series from the Highland distillery of Glendronach. The Glendronach Batch 18 consists of 18 single casks, which span a range of ages and vintages, and each was hand-selected by Dr. Rachel Barrie - the Master Blender of Glendronach. The oldest was distilled and filled to cask in 1990, while the youngest is from 2009. 

All casks are either ex-Oloroso sherry, ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry or ex-Port in origin and are bottled at their natural cask strengths - these range between 48% and 61.9% ABV. All are also non chill-filtered and of natural colour. The price range is £97/ $129 US to £861/ $1,140 US. Each cask will only be available to purchase in an allocated region. The two reviewed here will only be for Europe and the UK. Full details of each cask are listed in our recent Inbox blog post here.

Review - Benriach The Thirty

This whisky sits at the pinnacle of the newly revamped core range from the Speyside distillery of Benriach. This range is designed to showcase their eclectic range of casks from around the world (these come from 20 different origins) and the three different spirit styles that are produced there - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (produced for only 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. The Thirty uses only peated malts, which are very rare at this age, and features four cask types - ex-bourbon, ex-Port wine, ex-sherry and virgin oak. 

Review - Benriach The Twenty Five

This whisky forms part of the newly revamped core range from the Speyside distillery of Benriach, which is designed to showcase their eclectic range of casks from around the world (these come from 20 different origins) and the three different spirit styles that are produced there - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (produced for only 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. The Twenty Five combines both classic and peated malts together and features four cask types - ex-bourbon, ex-Madeira wine, ex-sherry and virgin oak. 

Review - Glenglassaugh Coastal Casks #559 & #1346

These two whiskies form part of a larger set of 10 single casks from Glenglassaugh under the new Coastal Cask banner. All are either 10 or 11 years of age and have been distilled since the distillery re-opened after a 22 year period of closure in 2008. Each cask in the collection was hand selected from maturing stocks by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glenglassaugh. 

The Glenglassaugh Coastal Casks collection are all bottled at their natural cask strengths - these range from 51.1% - 57.9% ABV - and are non chill filtered and of natural colour. Prices are £89 for the 10 year olds and £99 for the 11 year olds. Each coastal cask will be made available in different markets worldwide with pricing and availability varying with each location. Details of each cask are listed below. 

 

Review - Benriach The Twenty One

This whisky forms part of the newly revamped core range of single malts from the Speyside distillery of Benriach, which is designed to showcase Benriach's eclectic range of casks from around the world (these come from 20 different origins) and the three different spirit styles that are produced there - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (produced for only 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. The Twenty One combines both classic and peated malts together and features four cask types - ex-bourbon, ex-red wine, ex-sherry and virgin oak.

Review - Benriach The Twelve & The Smoky Twelve

These two whiskies form part of the newly revamped core range of single malts from the Speyside distillery of Benriach. The new range is designed to showcase Benriach's unique eclectic range of casks from around the world, which come from close to 20 different origins, and the three different spirit styles that are produced their - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (which is only produced for 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. 

Review - Benriach The Original Ten & The Smoky Ten

These two whiskies form the entry point in to the newly revamped core range of single malts from the Speyside distillery of Benriach. The new range is designed to showcase Benriach's unique eclectic range of casks from around the world, which come from close to 20 different origins, and the three different spirit styles that are produced their - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (which is only produced for 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. 

Allotment Dram - Glendronach 12 years old

It’s allotment time again and this time Matt has selected an old favourite - Glendronach 12 years old - as his allotment dram. The whisky is a classic example of a sherry cask matured single malt that has many fans. Watch to find out some history about the Highland distillery and his basic tasting notes.

#allotmentdram 

Review - Glendronach Traditionally Peated

This whisky is the new smoky addition to the core range of the highly regarded east Highland distillery of Glendronach. The Traditionally Peated pays homage to the robust earthy smoke that would have been prevalent throughout the distilleries in the Highlands during the first half of 19th century when Glendronach was founded. It combines rare smoky spirit, which is only made at the distillery for a short period each year, which is produced using peat cut in Aberdeenshire - this has a softer, gentler and sweeter feel than that taken from areas more famous for peaty whisky, such as Islay and the western isles. It is also specially malted locally for the distillery.

Review - Glenglassaugh Octave Cask #SC36

by Billy Abbott of Spirited Matters and The Whisky Exchange blog.

Glenglassaugh is a Highland distillery which has, over the past decade, occasionally offered casks for sale. This bottling is one of those, selected by Matt and Karen, purveyors of this very blog. They very kindly forced me to take/gave me a sample and asked if I would like to write about it. I, of course, accepted.

While it was founded in 1875, the distilling history of Glenglassaugh is surprisingly short. In 1907, after just 32 years of operation, it was at first mothballed, and then operated intermittently for another 53 years. In 1960, it was completely rebuilt at its clifftop location overlooking the North Sea, and ran happily until 1986.