Review | Diageo Special Releases 2024: Spirited Xchange Second Edition

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 (although the exact numbers have not been revealed). This year's collection is designed to push the boundaries of Scotch whisky and features familiar distilleries alongside lesser known hidden gems. 

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. 

Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | May 17, 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. 

Review / Caol Ila 13 years old Fèis Ìle 2023 Edition

This whisky is the annual limited edition bottling for the Fèis Ìle festival from the Islay distillery of Caol Ila. The Caol Ila Fèis Ìle 2023 Edition is released at 13 years old and has been matured in ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry seasoned casks. These casks were selected by Sam Hale, the Distillery Manager at Caol Ila, and his warehouse team. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 60.4% ABV and will cost £185. The new whisky will only be available at the distillery visitor centre until sold out. It was released to celebrate the Caol Ila open day on Monday, May 29. The exact number of bottles was not revealed in the press release.

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (May 5, 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 / Whisky News Round Up Part 2 (September 9, 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 / Caol Ila Fèis Ìle 2022 Edition

The third day of the annual Fèis Ìle festival is always Caol Ila Day. Each year the event takes place on the famous whisky island of Islay. Each distillery on the island hosts a special day and release a limited edition whisky to celebrate.The Caol Ila Fèis Ìle 2022 Edition is bottled at 15 years old. It has also been matured in re-fill American oak ex-bourbon hogsheads and finished in virgin American oak barrels. 

There are just 3,072 bottles and these are released at the natural cask strength of 55.2% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is on sale from Caol Ila Day (today, May 30) onwards. As Caol Ila is currently closed for major refurbishment, Caol Ila Day events will be held at the nearby Islay House instead. Bottles will be on sale there on a first come first served basis, at Lagavulin distillery and via www.malts.com. A bottle will cost £165.

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (May 6, 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 (February 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 / Caol Ila 12 years old Feis Ile 2021 Edition

This whisky is the annual limited edition Feis Ile bottling from the Caol Ila distillery. It is joined by a 13 years old expression from Diageo's other Islay distillery of Lagavulin. This Caol Ila is bottled at 12 years of age and has been matured firstly in re-fill American oak casks before being transferred to ex-Moscatel wine casks for a finishing period. These casks were nurtured by Samuel Hale, the Distillery Manager at Caol Ila. The Caol Ila 12 years old Feis Ile 2021 Edition is released at the natural cask strength of 56.6% ABV. There are just 3,000 bottles and each will cost £130. Both whiskies are available via www.malts.com and the Lagavulin distillery shop.

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (May 28, 2021)

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 / DS Tayman Second Edition - Caol Ila 12 years old & Linkwood 12 years old

DS Tayman are a new independent bottling company that have been set up with the aim of offering certified kosher whiskies to customers. This is being achieved by pairing selected casks of whisky with wine barrels from different wineries. These casks have then been blessed by a Rabbi in situ in the warehouses in Scotland. This gives the company the ability to carry kosher stamps from KLBD (Kosher London Beis Din), MKL (Mishmeres haKashrus London) and OU (The Orthodox Union). DS Tayman is part of Dalkeith Brokerage.

The company released their first two whiskies in Spring 2020. This Second Edition was released back in the Autumn and features two more whiskies - one from Caol Ila on the island of Islay and one from Linkwood in Speyside. These are released as a set of single casks (30 in total) spanning the two distilleries and at the same ages. In each case the whisky has been initially matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to ex-red wine casks from the Flam Winery in Israel.

Review - Diageo Prima & Ultima Collection

The Prima & Ultima Collection are a new set of super-premium old and rare whiskies collated from around its extensive estate of Diageo, Scotland's largest produced of whisky. There are eight whiskies in total and each bottling is either the first or the last of its kind from a distillery - this marks a particular point or story in history of each place. They have been selected by whisky industry legend Dr. Jim Beveridge OBE, a 40-year veteran at Diageo and senior member of the blending team.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (Nov 29, 2019)

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. Of course, today is Black Friday so there are a couple of items related to this.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (May 31, 2019)

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.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (March 1, 2019)

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.

Review - Diageo Special Releases 2018

The Special Releases are here again! The annual bottlings are designed to highlight rare whiskies from within Diageo's extensive portfolio of single grains and single malts, and are eagerly anticipated each year since the programme was first started with just three expressions in 2001. This year there are 10 bottlings and these cover the single malt, single grain and blended malt categories.

This year is also the first since the early years of the programme to see the absence of Brora and Port Ellen. These have both been stalwarts of the programme since it began, but stocks are now said to be critically low after both ceased production in the early 1980s. However, this has created space for other rare whiskies and kept the retail prices lower as a result.

Fèis Ìle 2018 - Islay's Days In The Sun

#OpinionsWelcome - Like a bright Spring day at Laphroaig.

The annual Fèis Ìle is upon us again. The world descends on the famous whisky producing Hebredian island of Islay for a week of events, whisky and music. Matt is amongst them and will be reporting back at various points during the week.

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When arriving on the island on Sunday, the weather was lovely. The plane over revealed the wonderful Scottish landscape as we flew over Loch Lomond and the Kintyre peninsula, and finally the Paps of Jura and Loch Indaal. Popping in to the Bruichladdich open day quickly upon arrival saw many with a healthy glow from the sun. Some had a much redder and more unhealthy glow. Islay, and the Campbeltown festival before it, were threatening to put on a proper show.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (May 25, 2018)

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

Inbox Extra (April 14, 2018) - Diageo Special Releases 2018

Diageo have announced initial details of the whiskies in this year's Special Releases outturn. The biggest producer of Scotch whisky has revealed nine of the ten bottlings, with the tenth to follow later in the year. All are scheduled for an Autumn release. The Special Releases, which are designed to highlight rare whiskies from within Diageo's extensive portfolio of single grains and single malts, have been eagerly anticipated each year since the programme was first started in 2001.