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. It’s been a busy one.
Clydeside
The Clydeside distillery in Glasgow has reelased its first ever peated whisky. The Clydeside Fortnight is so named as they only produce peated whisky for a two-week period each year and joins the distillery’s two other core range bottlings – Napier and Stobcross. The whisky has been crafted using malted barley dried with Highland peat and water from nearby Loch Katrine. It has been matured for six years.
The Clydeside Fortnight is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It has been created by Alistair McDonald, the Distillery Manager at Clydeside. Fortnight is available now from the distillery shop in Glasgow and selected specialist whisky retailers in the UK. A bottle will cost £38.
Glenfiddich
Scotland’s largest single malt distillery, Glenfiddich in Speyside, has launched a new selection of whiskies – Glenfiddich XS. The trio of new whiskies push the brand in a luxurious new direction and explore the use of ex-sherry casks during maturation. They have been created by Brian Kinsman, the Glenfiddich Malt Master. Glenfiddich XS features age statements at 15-, 18- and 21 Years Old and are each finished in hand-selected Oloroso, Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks respectively.
The Glenfiddich XS 15- and 18 Year Olds were both initially matured in American and European oak casks before their finishes. The XS 21 Years Old was initially matured in American oak and ex-Oloroso sherry casks before the finish. The trio of whiskies will be launched in China in November with other world markets following afterwards. The XS 15 Years Old will cost £58, the XS 18 Years Old £88 and the XS 21 Years Old £170.
Highland Park
The Orcadian single malt distillery of Highland Park has announced a new limited edition in collaboration with chef Björn Frantzén. He is the only chef in the world to simultaneously hold 3-Michelin stars in three different world locations. The Highland Park 16 Years Old Between You and I does not provide a set of pre-defined tasting notes. Instead, drinkers are invited to share their own notes and explore the personal memories and emotions evoked by the whisky.
Between You and I is a marriage of four cask types – ex-bourbon, ex-sherry American oak and European oak, and virgin Swedish oak. It is the first time that any Swedish oak has been used by Highland Park. It is released at 48% ABV and features packaging inspired by Frantzén’s love of graffiti. A bottle will cost £145. The release is accompanied by a travel retail exclsuive version – the 17 years Old Between You and I: Journeys. This will cost £155.
Indri
The Indian single malt brand of Indri has launched a new whisky, which is lightly peated. The Indri Agneya is crafted from 100% Indian barley sourced from Rajasthan. This is malted in India also and lightly peated using Scottish Highland peat. The spirit is double distilled in copper pot stills and matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and sherry casks.
The name Agneya means ‘belonging to fire’ in the sanskrit language and is also the daughter of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. The new whisky is the first permanent peated expression in the Indri core range. Agneya joins Trini, Dru and the limited edition Diwali in the range. It is bottled at 46%, is non-chill filtered and of natural colour, and will be initially launched in the UK. A bottle will cost £49.
Tomatin
The Highland distillery of Tomatin has announced the release of a single cask bottling that will be exclusive to the UK market. The Tomatin 2005 Single Cask features a single first-fill ex-bourbon cask that was distilled and filled with new make spirit in 2005.This cask has yielded just 240 bottles at a natural cask strength of 54.3% ABV and was hand-selected by Scott Adamson, the Master Blender and Global Brand Ambassador at Tomatin. Each bottle will cost £170.
As a bourbon barrel-only release, this expression presents whisky lovers with an opportunity to enjoy a single malt that is truly unique, and a style not found elsewhere in our core range. Most of our single casks are influenced by sherry, Port or wine, but this ex-bourbon barrel whisky shines a spotlight on the tropical notes that develop in Tomatin over time.
Scott Adamson | Master Blender and Global Brand Ambassador at Tomatin
White Peak
The English distillery of White Peak has launched a third whisky into its burgeoning core range. The Wire Works Port Cask joins the Caduro, which was launched in 2023, and Bourbon Barrel, which was launched last year. The trio have been named the Wire Works Provenance Core Range. Ex-Port casks have featured in several previous limited editions and these provided the inspiration for the new bottling.
Ex-Tawny Port barriques from the Dias Cooperage in Portugal have been used to mature a pocket of their lightly peated single malt. This has been combined with whisky maturing in first-fill American oak ex-bourbon barrels. The Wire Works Port Cask is bottled at 50.2% ABv and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It is available from today (October 17) from the White Peak distillery shop and specialist whisky retailers in the UK and other selected markets. A bottle will cost £65.
