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.
Berry Brothers & Rudd
Berry Brothers & Rudd, the UK’s oldest wine and spirits merchant, have announced the return of the Blue Hanger blended malt after a 10 year hiatus. The series of bottlings had a cult statuts amongst whisky drinkers and this will be the 14th edition. The whisky is named after William “Blue” Hanger, the 3rd Lord Coleraine. He was an 18th-century patron of Berry Brothers & Rudd and was known for his elegant style and signature blue attire.
As with previous editions, this has been produced as a small batch release using only Scotch single malts. The youngest of these is 26 years old and the blend is composed from just seven casks: six ex-bourbon hogsheads and one ex-sherry butt. It has been resurrected and created by Felix Dear, the company’s Spirits Curator.
The Blue Hanger 14th Edition is bottled at 45.6% ABV and is limited to just 2,500 bottles. It is available to purchase now via the Berry Brothers website and their London Spirits Store in St. James, London. A bottle will cost £120.
Johnnie Walker
The world’s best selling Scotch whisky brand of Johnnie Walker has announced another new expression. The Johnnie Walker Red Soul is described as ‘a sweeter, smoother take’ on the original iconic Red Label. It has been created by Emma Walker, the Master Blender for Johnnie Walker. The whisky has been designed for consumers taking their first step into the whisky category, after data was collected by market research.
Johnnie Walker Red Soul uses predominantly ex-bourbon cask matured whisky in its recipe and has seen the Red Label’s smoky notes removed. This allows the maturation flavours to shine through. A signature serve has been created – Red Soul & Lemonade – which features a pinch of sea salt and strawberry garnish. The whisky is bottled at 40% ABV and is initially launched in Europe. Other markets will follow. A bottle will cost £25.
Murray McDavid
The independent bottler of Murray McDavid has announced a new permanent series of vintage single cask single malts. The Aficianado is a collection of hand-selected single casks and will sit between the company’s Mission Gold and Ultra – Masterpieces of Time ranges. Each bottling will feature long maturation, thoughtful cask finishing, and uncompromising spirit selection from some of Scotland’s most iconic distilleries.
The inaugural trio of bottlings include whiskies from the long-closed Speyside distillery of Imperial, Mortlach – ‘The Beast of Dufftown’ and Bowmore, Islay’s oldest distillery. Each release is bottled in small batches, at natural colour and without chill filtration. They are available now via specialist whisky retailers in the UK and other selected world markets. Details of each whisky are below.
- Bowmore 34 Years Old/ Distilled 1990/ 41.4% ABV/ 160 bottles/ Finished in first-fill ex-Oloroso sherry octaves
- Imperial 35 Years Old/ Distilled 1989/ 42.7% ABV/ 139 bottles/ Fully matured in an ex-bourbon barrel
- Mortlach 34 Years Old/ Distilled 1989/ 40.1% ABV/ 179 bottles/ Finished in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry octaves.
Scallywag
The Speyside blended malt of Scallywag has a new limited edition expression in its range. The Scallywag 18 Years Old features only single malts from the Speyside region of Scotland and has undergone a finishing period in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. These have been sourced from Jerez in Spain. The bottling offers a arare opportunity to enjoy Scallywag at an extended age.
The Scallywag 18 Years Old is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It will be available through selected whisky specialists and luxury retailers worldwide. There are just 2,610 bottles in the limited edition batch. Each will cost £85.
Sullivans Cove
The Tasmanian distillery of Sullivans Cove has released a first-of-its-kind Australian single malt – the Sullivans Cove 17 Years Old French Oak. The whisky was distilled and filled to a single French oak ex-Tawny cask (Cask #TD0297) in 2008 and has been fully matured for 17 years within it. The use of such casks is common at Sullivans Cove, but not for this extended age.
The whisky is released at a cask strength, which is also rare for Sullivans Cove. The Sullivans Cove 17 Years Old French Oak is bottled at 61.3% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. The cask has yielded just 343 bottles. Each is presented in a handcrafted blackwood box and includes a letter from Distillery Manager Heather Tillott. Purchase is via a ballot on sullivanscove.com. Each bottle will cost AU$2,325/ £1,227.
