Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. Inbox features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Here is this week’s whisky news…
Douglas Laing
The independent bottlers and blenders of Douglas Laing & Co. have announced a special limited edition of their Rock Island blended malt. The Rock Island Wood Dragon Edition is a cask strength version of the Rock Island and has been finished in heavily charred oak casks.
As with all expressions of Rock Island, only single malts from Scottish islands are used in the blend. The packaging and label have been created by Milkabean, the renowned Asian tattoo artist and designer. Rock Island Wood Dragon Edition is bottled at 54.8% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It will be available in selected markets worldwide. A bottle will cost £55/ €65.
“The Rock Island brand showcases the finest qualities of our most celebrated whisky-producing islands. This edition celebrates charring – the process when casks are met with a flame to open the grain of the wood, therefore enabling the spirit to extract a greater depth of flavour.”
Emma Ried | Brand Manager for Rock Island.
Royal Lochnagar
A rare, old single cask from the Royal Lochnagar distillery in the Highlands has been released to celebrate the 75th birthday of King Charles. The Royal Lochnagar King’s Birthday Edition 45 years old has been bottled by the Balmoral Castle & Estate, the Scottish home of The Royal Family.
The distillery is located next to and has historic links to the estate. Cask #1838 was distilled on November 7, 1978 and bottled on November 14, 2023 in celebration of His Majesty’s landmark birthday. It is the latest in a special series of Royal Lochnagar single malts bottled to celebrate key moments in Royal history. These include the recent Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation of King Charles III.
The King’s Birthday Edition 45 years old is bottled at the natural cask strength of 52.1% ABV and the cask has yielded just 253 bottles. They will be sold exclusively in the Balmoral gift shop or via www.balmoralcastle.com. Three bottles will be used to raise funds for charities in Aberdeenshire and one will be retained at the Royal Lochnagar archive. Each bottle will cost £3,200.
