Review - Diageo Special Releases 2020

 

 

It is that time of the year again - Diageo, Scotland's largest whisky producer, has announced the line-up for the 2020 edition of its Special Releases programme. The annual bottlings are designed to highlight rare or old whiskies from within Diageo's extensive portfolio of maturing stocks and are eagerly anticipated each year since the series was first started with just three expressions in 2001.

This year is one of the smaller recent collections and sees just eight bottlings with a theme of 'Rare By Nature' running through them. This includes the same eight brands as the 2019 selection and is designed to be 'an encore to what was a very successful and well received set of whiskies'. As with all previous years the whiskies are all bottled at their natural cask strength. This year's selection has been curated by Dr. Craig Wilson, one of the Master Blenders at Diageo.

Review - Diageo Special Releases 2019

It is that time of the year again - Diageo, Scotland's largest whisky producer, has unleashed the 2019 edition of its Special Releases programme. The annual bottlings are designed to highlight rare or old whiskies from within Diageo's extensive portfolio of maturing stocks and are eagerly anticipated each year since the programme was first started with just three expressions in 2001.

This year is one of the smaller recent collections and sees just eight bottlings with a theme of 'Rare By Nature' running through them. As with all previous years the whiskies are all bottled at their natural cask strength. This year's whiskies have been selected by Dr. Craig Wilson, one of the Master Blenders at Diageo.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (July 26, 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 - The Game of Thrones Single Malt Range

Back in the Autumn leading Scotch whisky producer Diageo announced that they would be releasing eight new single malts to celebrate the eighth and final season of hit TV show Game of Thrones. These have been created in partnership with HBO, the show's producers. Eight of Diageo's 28 single malt distilleries have been selected to be paired with each of the seven Houses of Westeros in Game of Thrones, plus the Night's Watch.

The whiskies were initially released in America last Autumn and have now been released in the UK and Europe. Six of the whiskies have been specially created for the collection, with the exceptions being the Cardhu and Royal Lochnagar expressions - these are the whiskies that are regularly on sale but have been repackaged for this collection. Many retailers have now sold out of their allocations so you will need to search to buy bottles now, probably through auction sites.

Review - Diageo Special Releases 2015

The Diageo Special Releases are one of the biggest and most talked about annual whisky releases. Each Autumn, the largest producer of single malt in Scotland announces the line up.  The Special Releases programme has been running since the early 2000s and is designed to showcase some to the finest and rarest stocks in Diageo's portfolio, both from their current 28 single malt distilleries and those no longer in operation.  All the bottlings are at the natural cask strength, non chill filtered and limited edition.  The 2015 collection features nine whiskies.

Karen and Matt C were privileged to be invited to a small private tasting of the nine whiskies in London last month. The tasting was hosted by Dr. Nick Morgan, Diageo's Head of Whisky Outreach, and Maureen Robinson, one of Diageo's Senior Master Blenders. Both are part of the Special Releases selection panel. A huge thank you to both for the invite.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (July 31, 2015)

Welcome to this week's Inbox.  For those that have recently discovered us, 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.

Review - Dalwhinnie Winter's Gold

The Winter's Gold is a new single malt that is being introduced to the popular Dalwhinnie core range.  Dalwhinnie is Scotland's highest whisky distillery and one of the most remote. It stands at 326 metres (1070 feet) above sea level and is also the coldest due to its location in the Cairngorm mountains - the weather station at Dalwhinnie records one of the UK's lowest average annual maximum temperatures of just 10.2°C (50.4°F)*.  This whisky has been designed to reflect this cold environment and is suggested to be served frozen as a result.

New releases - Diageo Special Releases 2012

Each Autumn there is always a ripple of anticipation around the whisky industry as they wait to see what Diageo, the multi national drinks company, are to release in their annual Special Releases programme.  This programme highlights some of the most exceptional single malt stock from within their portfolio of 28 working distilleries, plus remaining stocks from those which have been closed. Some of these stocks have dwindled to almost critical levels.

Diageo Special Releases 2012

Around this time each year, there is always a ripple of anticipation around the whisky industry as they wait to see what Diageo, the multi national drinks company, are to release in their annual Special Releases programme.  This programme highlights some of the most exceptional single malt stock from within their portfolio of 28 working distilleries, plus remaining stocks from those which have been closed. Some of these stocks have dwindled to almost critical levels.

Have just tried ... Dalwhinnie 15 years old

Dalwhinnie is Scotland's highest malt whisky distillery and is also one of the remotest. It is located in the small village of Dalwhinnie in the central Highlands and stands at 326 metres (1070 feet) above sea level. The distillery was founded in 1897 by a trio of local businessmen and and many thought they were mad to choose the remote location in the Grampian mountains. Infact, they built Dalwhinnie at the crossroads of the two major trading routes in Scotland at that time - one running from Inverness to Edinburgh and the other running from Fort William to Aberdeen. The village grew up around the distillery and today attracts 25,000 visitors a year, despite its remoteness.

The current owners are Diageo, the global drinks company. They have placed Dalwhinnie in their 'Classic Malts' range, which showcases a definitive whisky from each of the whisky producing regions of Scotland. Dalwhinnie represents the central Highlands in the range and this has helped push the single malts in to the world's top 15 for sales, despite its small annual production of only one million litres a year. The core range reflects this and is limited to this 15 years old and a 'Distiller's Edition' which is 17 years old and has been matured in Oloroso sherry casks for the last two years.

The colour is golden and the nose is very promising and aromatic. It is packed with honey and vanilla with some sweet cereal grains coming through. On the palate, this is liquid gold - heaps of honey, a touch of something floral (think of heather), gorgeous vanilla, a hint of citrus (imagine orange and orange oil especially), something herbal (think of fresh green grass) and a lovely grainy maltiness. The finish is long and rounded with the sweet honey and vanilla becoming more sugary (imagine caramel) with just a hint of some heathery peat at the end. This is an extremely good dram that is sweet but without being over sweet and cloying in the mouth. It has a succulent yet refreshing quality that balances the sweetness and it would be a great whisky to have if you enjoy sweet dessert wines such as Sauternes or Tokaji. A bottle should cost around £30. I think Diageo were right - this really is a 'Classic Malt'. An excellent malt whisky.

In the whisky cupboard ... Dalwhinnie 1990 'Distiller's Edition'

Dalwhinnie is one of the most remote distilleries in Scotland. Located at the furthest most south westerly point of the Speyside region in the middle of the Grampian mountains, it is commonly regarded as a Highland whisky rather than a Speyside. The distillery is owned by Diageo and forms part of their six 'Classic Malts' series and represents the Highlands region. It is Scotland’s highest operating distillery and the village of Dalwhinnie holds the enviable honour of having the coldest average annual temperature of anywhere in the mainland UK (a chilly 6 degrees centigrade!). Despite producing only 1 million litres of whisky per year, Dalwhinnie has climbed in to the top 15 for world single malt sales. There are two core bottlings, a 15 years old and this ‘Distiller’s Edition’ which is 17 years old and finished for the extra two years in an Oloroso sherry cask. Independent bottlings are pretty much non existent.

The colour of this is dark and golden with a hint of dusky red. It smells great on the nose with a blast of fruitiness (dried fruit like raisins and sultanas) marrying with rich honey and loads of heather (it is almost like being in the middle of the Highlands). On the palate, this is rich and full bodied, feeling thick in the mouth. There is a lot of sweetness and this comes from the mixture of sherry cask influence (that dried fruit again), some maltiness, something candied (like candied orange peel or marmalade) and a big dollop of honey. The finish is long, warm, rich and very enjoyable. This is a really superb whisky, although it is also one of the sweetest and richest that I have tasted to date so may not be to everyone’s taste. It is definitely more reminiscent of a Highland whisky than of a Speyside, which are normally lighter and fresher. We received this as a wedding present and would be very pleased to receive another bottle sometime. It is a limited release but is reasonably available, although the batches may be different, and retails between £35-40 depending on where you go.