Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (January 29, 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. 

Allotment Drams / Jack Daniel's Old No.7 & Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair

We have two more episodes of our Allotment Dram video series for you and hope you will enjoy them. Firstly, watch as Matt tackles one of the world's biggest selling whiskeys in the form of Jack Daniel's Old No.7. Learn a bit about the brand's history, plus what the terms 'sour mash' and 'Lincoln County Process' mean. Then find out his thoughts and tasting notes.

Then on his next visit he heads back to Scotland, and the island of Islay in particular, to take a look at the sherry cask influenced Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair. Watch to discover how to pronounce the name of the whisky and some information about the distillery, before giving his thoughts and tasting notes.

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Review / Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair

This whisky from Bunnahabhain forms the entry point in to the Islay distillery's core range of single malts. It sits alongside expressions at 12, 18, 25 and 40 years of age and a plethora of limited editions and special releases. The distillery is one that favours the use of Gaelic names for their whiskies and this is no exception, being arguably the most complicated and daunting of them all to try and get your tongue around. Stiùireadair is actually easier to say than you would think - it is pronounced stew-rad-hur and means 'helmsman' in Scots Gaelic. The helmsman in question is the one on the brand's logo.

Review / Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye 92 Proof

This whisky is a new arrival to the UK market and is produced in the American state of Virginia. The Roundstone Rye is their flagship range and features this 92 Proof alongside the 80 Proof and Cask Proof bottlings (this is released twice a year). The three whiskies are made in a pre-Prohibition rye style and from 100% rye grain, which is sourced locally where possible. All parts of the distillation process - mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation - take place at the distillery. The spirit is matured in charred American white oak barrels for a minimum of two years, with only one single cask in every ten being selected for this 92 Proof release.

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (January 22, 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 / The One Port Cask Finished

The One Port Cask Finished is a whisky from The Lakes distillery and its range of The One, their blended whisky offering. This range features three more bottlings - the Signature Blend, Sherry Cask Finished and Orange Wine Cask Finished. As with each of The One expressions, this whisky has The Lakes' own single malt at its heart and is then blended with Scotch single grain and single malts from the Highlands, Islay and Speyside. The Port Cask Finish has been matured in first-fill American oak casks and finished for one year in first-fill ex-Ruby Port and ex-Tawny Port casks sourced from the famous Douro Valley region in Portugal.

Review / Tamdhu 12 years old

This whisky is the cornerstone of the core range from the Speyside distillery of Tamdhu (pronounced tam-doo). This range also features a 15 years old expression and the annual Batch Strength release. These are joined by occasional limited editions and single casks. The brand has a commitment to just one style of cask maturation and only use those that have been previously seasoned or filled with Oloroso sherry. However, these ex-Oloroso sherry casks can be made of American or European oak and of differing sizes. These include butts, hogsheads and puncheons. In the case of this 12 years old they have used whisky matured in both first-fill and re-fill ex-Oloroso sherry casks.

Review / Longmorn 23 years old

This whisky forms part of The Secret Speyside Collection from Chivas Brothers, a 15-strong selection of single malts from the company's lesser known Speyside distilleries. Four distilleries feature in the collection - Braes of Glenlivet, Glen Keith and Longmorn are all currently in production but have much of their production allocated for the company's extensive range of blended whiskies. The fourth is Caperdonich, which has been closed since 2002 and is now demolished. There are three Longmorn expressions in the collection - this 23 years old, plus other age statements at 18 and 25 years old (this is bottled at the cask strength of 52.2% ABV). All are non chill-filtered and of natural colour. 

Allotment Drams / Linkwood 12 years old by DS Tayman & Samuel Gelston's Single Pot Still

Two more new episodes of our Allotment Dram series for you, both filmed on chilly January afternoons. First watch as Matt opens a single cask Speyside offering from new independent kosher whisky bottler DS Tayman - a Linkwood 12 years old finished in kosher red wine barrels. Then on his next visit he goes Irish as he talks about and samples the Samuel Gelston's Single Pot Still. Watch both videos to find out more about each brand, plus Matt's thoughts and tasting notes.

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Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (January 15, 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. 

 

This is our first Inbox of 2021 and although the year has started on the same bad note that 2020 finished on, we hope it will be a better one overall. Anyway, it's still a bit slow so here is the news from this week as the whisky industry begins to wake up from its festive and New Year slumber ...