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.
Cù Bòcan
Cù Bòcan, the experimental single malt crafted each winter at the Highland distillery of Tomatin, has announced the latest bottling in its Creation Series. The Cù Bòcan Creation #7 celebrates 20 years of peated single malt production at the distillery and uses unusual cask combinations for maturation. This is a signature for the series. The seventh bottling has used ex-Pineau des Charentes Rouge fortified wine and virgin American oak casks.
Cù Bòcan Creation #7 is bottled at 46% ABV and is bith non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are just 3,000 bottles. These are available at the distillery shop, tomatin.com and in selected specialist whisky retailers in the UK and selected world markets. A bottle will cost £45.
Fettercairn
The Highland of Fettercairn has launched its first ever consumer selected whisky, which will be exclusive to The Whisky Shop retail chain. The casks that makes up the release were chosen by members of The W Club, The Whisky Shop customer loyalty programme. A selection of cask samples were selected by Stewart Walker, the Distillery Manager at Fettercairn, and then presented to club members for analysis.
Fettercairn The Journey is bottled at 47.9% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. Two ex-bourbon barrels that were distilled and filled in 2018 were the winners. These were combined and underwent a short finishing period in ex-stout beer casks. Only 524 bottles are available – these can be purchased from any of The Whisky Shop’s 23 UK stores or two boutiques in France, or via whiskyshop.com. A bottle will cost £99.
Holyrood
The experimental Edinburgh-based craft distillery of Holyrood has announced a new trio of whiskies – Holyrood The Noir Trilogie. The whiskies celebrate yeast from three iconic French wine regions and Holyrood’s groundbreaking innovative approach to whisky making. Wine casks also play a prominent role in the maturation of each.
The Noir Burgundy Yeast uses red wine yeast with maturation in ex-bourbon and ex-Burgundy wine barriques. Noir Premier Cru Yeast uses sparkiling wine yeast and is matured in ex-bourbon, ex-Chardonnay and ex-white wine casks. Noir Bordeaux Yeast uses red wine yeast with maturation in ex-bourbon and ex-Bordeaux wine barriques. They are bottled at 47.1%, 47.2% and 47.4% ABV respectively.
Holyrood The Noir Trilogie will be available shortly from the Holyrood distillery in Edinburgh and via holyrooddistillery.co.uk. They will also be available in selected specialist retailers in the UK. Each bottle will cost £57.
Lochlea
The Lowland distillery of Lochlea has announced the second and final bottling of their collaboration with Glasgow-based craft brewery Overtone. The Lochlea x Overtone Over & Stout is an additional year older than the previous edition and is exclusive to the UK market. The release comprises of just five casks in total – three stout-seasoned (two ex-bourbon barrels and one STR ex-red wine barrique), one first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, and one ex-peated whisky barrel.
Lochlea x Overtone Over & Stout is released on December 4 and will be available through specialist whisky retailers in the UK. It is released at 52% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. The exact number of bottles is not revealed in the press release but each will cost £60.
Spirit of Yorkshire
The English distillery Spirit of Yorkshire has revealed details of its latest annual Sherry Cask Reserve bottling. This year represents the sixth edition and sees their single malt spirit matured exclusively in first-fill ex-Oloroso sherry casks. The batch consists of just five such casks. The single estate single malt – all barley is grown on the distillery’s farm and all production takes place in-house – is released at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour.
There are just 2,000 bottles of Filey Bay Sherry Cask Reserve #6 and each will cost £85. They are available to buy from the distillery shop, spiritofyorkshire.com and selected specialist retailers in the UK and beyond. Bottles will also be on sale at York Christmas Market until sold out.
