Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round-up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way into 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.
Cooper King
The Cooper King distillery have collaborated with the neighbouring Spirit of Yorkshire to create the English county’s first blended malt. The idea for Many Hands started when Cooper King were forced to stop production in 2021 due to a fault with their still. This saw Spirit of Yorkshire step in to help and provide some spirit for future projects to Cooper King. This was filled to a selection of cask types and left to mature.
Now five years later, eight casks of that Spirit of Yorkshire whisky has been married with eight casks of Cooper King single malt to create Many Hands. The exact same cask types have been used from both distilleries. The packaging is marked with the dual provenance of the liquid. It is released at 48% ABV and is limited to 1,922 bottles. It is on sale at the Cooper King distillery and selected UK specialist retailers. A bottle will cost £95. £1 from each sale will be donated to the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust’s Rural Apprenticeships programme.
Laphroaig
The Islay distillery of Laphroaig has relaunched its fabled 15 Years Old expression into its core domestic range. The original iteration was discontinued in 2009, but now returns to sit alongside other age statements at 10- and 18 Years Old. Laphroaig 15 Years Old has been exclusively matured in American oak ex-bourbon barrels. The whisky is said to exhibit mellower peat smoke with sweetness and citrus notes.
The new release is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It is available now via the distillery website and visitor centre on Islay, and is exclusive to The Whisky Shop chain in the UK. A wider release to other specialist whisky retailers in the UK and globally is scheduled for September. A bottle will cost £85/ US$115.
Oban
The west Highland distillery of Oban has announced a new limited edition single malt that will be exclusive to the visitor centre. Oban Little Curiosities celebrates local stories, history and people. This is done through a beautifully designed bottle adorned with pictures of items and symbols connected to the seaside town. It has been launched to coincide with the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, which was in Oban between July 10 and 19.
Little Curiosities is a no age statement whisky that has seen initial maturation in ex-bourbon barrels. It has then experienced a finish in ex-rum casks. It is released at 57.5% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. Bottles can only be purchased at the Oban distillery shop. The exact number of bottles in the limited edition has not been revealed. Each will cost £220.
