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…
Bushmills
The Northern Irish distillery of Bushmills has announced the latest addition to its super-premium Prestige Collection – the Bushmills 26 years old Crystal Malt. The series showcases some of Bushmills’ oldest and rarest maturing stocks and also includes age statements at 25-, 30- and 31-years of age. This new release uses rare crystal malt, which Bushmills was the first Irish whiskey distillery to use back in 1997.
Crystal malt sees the barley undergo a special malting process that crystallises the sugars within the barley grain. This gives more intense sweetness with caramel and chocolate notes. The spirit was then triple distilled in the traditional Bushmills way. The whiskey has been fully matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and is bottled at 46% ABV. It will initially be available shortly from the distillery shop, via shop.bushmills.com and selected retailers in Ireland and the UK. Other world markets will follow in early 2025. A bottle will cost £800.
Diageo
Diageo, Scotland’s largest single malt whisky producer, has revealed the latest line-up in the rare Casks of Distinction collection. The Twelve by Casks of Distinction showcases some of the rarest whiskies from their 10-million cask strong portfolio of maturing stocks. The series of 12 single casks has been curated by Dr. Craig Wilson, the Master Whisky Maker for Diageo single malts, and was launched with exclusive events in Scotland, Singapore and New York.
The 12 bottlings include highlights such as a Brora from 1977 and the oldest ever Talisker to be released to date. Further information can be found at www.diageorareandexceptional.com. Prices were not revealed in the press release. A list of The Twelve by Casks of Distinction are listed below:
- Auchroisk 1991/ Fill date: 15.08.1991/ Cask #572018/ ABV: 48.2%/ Bottles: 238/ Wine Seasoned American Oak Hogshead
- Benrinnes 1992/ Fill date: 23.11.1992/ Cask #9954/ ABV: 53%/ Bottles: 362/ First-fill ex-Sherry European Oak Butt
- Brora 1977/ Fill date: 16.11.1977/ Cask #2845/ ABV: 47.8%/ Bottles: 158/ Refill American Oak Hogshead
- Caol Ila 1990/ Fill date: 10.09.1990/ Cask #9243/ ABV: 48.9%/ Bottles: 201/ Refill American Oak Hogshead
- Clynelish 1990/ Fill date: 12.11.1990/ Cask #12016/ ABV: 53.6%/ Bottles: 333/ Refill American Oak Hogshead
- Cragganmore 1990/ Fill date: 26.01.1990/ Cask #388/ ABV: 57.3%/ Bottles: 146/ Refill America Oak Hogshead
- Dalwhinnie 1989/ Fill date: 14.11.1989/ Cask #3754/ ABV: 47%/ Bottles: 214/ Refill American Oak Hogshead
- Inchgower 1992/ Fill date: 30.03.1992/ Cask #2754/ ABV: 50.7%/ Bottles: 131/ Refill American Oak Barrel
- Linkwood 1990/ Fill date: 15.10.1990/ Cask #7805/ ABV: 52.9%/ Bottles: 164/ Refill American Oak Hogshead
- Royal Lochnagar 1988/ Fill date: 14.10.1988/ Cask #1119/ ABV: 50.9%/ Bottles: 168/ Refill American Oak Charred Ends Hogshead
- Talisker 1986/ Fill date: 20.03.1986/ Cask #896/ ABV: 47.2%/ Bottles: 153/ Freshly Charred American Oak Hogshead
- Talisker 1975/ Fill date: 11.12.1975/ Cask #4966/ ABV: 47.8%/ Bottles: 155/ Refill American Oak Hogshead.
White Peak
The English single malt distillery of White Peak in Derbyshire has announced details of its final limited edition bottling of the year – the Wire Works English Oak. The new whisky features White Peak’s trademark lightly peated spirit and has been initially matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. It has then been finished for an additional nine months in virgin English oak casks that were built especially for the distillery by Jensons cooperage in Yorkshire.
The Wire Works English Oak is released at 54.3% ABV and the virgin English oak cask has yielded just 129 bottles. These will only be available in traditional whisky shops in the UK, plus the distillery visitor centre, rather than be sold online. Bottles will be avialable from tomorrow (November 30) and will cost £125 each.
