Inbox | The Week's Whisky News | February 16, 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 - Smokehead

Smokehead is an Islay single malt brand that is owned and bottled by Iain Macleod Distillers. The company also own the Glengoyne and Tamdhu single malt distilleries, and are currently renovating the fabled Rosebank distillery after almost 30 years of closure. Smokehead was first released in 2006 and stirred up the whisky category at the time with its then unconventional look and contemporary packaging. This has since had a revamp a couple of years ago. This whisky carries no age statement and is from an un-named distillery on the famous whisky island of Islay. There is much speculation as to which distillery it may be - tap it in to a search engine if you do not believe us.

Review - The Glenlivet Cipher

The Glenlivet Cipher is a new limited edition single malt from the famous Speyside distillery, but it is one with more than the usual sense of intrigue.  The Cipher has been released with virtually no information attached except the legally required alcohol strength of 48% ABV.  This is similar to the Alpha release of three years ago.  There are no tasting notes, no details of cask types or maturation (other than it is a unique combination never used for The Glenlivet before), no age statement and no indication of colour or style due to the striking black opaque bottle. The bottle and packaging give clues of flavour and aroma but little else.