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 …
Ardbeg
The Islay distillery of Ardbeg has announced details of its annual Ardbeg Day bottling. Ardbeg Day traditionally draws the Fèis Ìle festival on Islay to a close each year and is on Saturday 13 May this year. This year sees the release of Ardbeg Smokiverse, a limited edition that is the Islay distillery’s first whisky crafted from a high-gravity mash.
Ardbeg’s Whisky Creation Team. led by Dr. Bill Lumsden, began experimenting some years ago with the mashing process in which malted barley is converted into fermentable sugars. One of their experiments involved reducing the amount of water used in the mash tun. This unconventional “high-gravity” mash magnified the intensity of flavour-active compounds known as acetate esters. This led to a fruitier, more tropical spirit.
Ardbeg Smokiverse is bottled at 48.3% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It will be available from www.ardbeg.com and Ardbeg Embassy stores around the world from May 28, then other retailers and whisky specialists from the beginning of June. A bottle will cost £93.
Diageo
Scotland’s largest single malt whisky producer has announced details of the two annual limited edition bottlings for the Fèis Ìle festival. Diageo own three distilleries on the famous whisky island of Islay and and two of them will host open days during the festival. The bottlings will be available on each of the days to those attending, and afterwards until sold out.
Lagavulin traditionally kicks off festivities on the first Saturday of Fèis Ìle (May 24) and will celebrate with the launch of the Lagavulin Fèis Ìle 2025 15 Years Old. The whisky has seen a finishing period in ex-Moscatel de Málaga casks, and has been selected by Jordan Paisley, the Distillery Manager at Lagavulin, and his team. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 55.7% ABV and there are just 1,596 bottles. Each will cost £240.
Caol Ila’s open day is on the Tuesday of Fèis Ìle (May 26 this year) and they will launch the Caol Ila Fèis Ìle 2025 8 Years Old on this date. This whisky has been matured in a combination of re-fill casks, ex-Pedro Ximénez and ex-Oloroso-seasoned sherry casks, before being finished in new Colombian Oak casks. It is bottled at 55.8% ABV and there are just 1,476 bottles. Each will cost £110.
Timorous Beastie
The blended malt brand of Timorous Beastie, which is owned by Douglas Laing & Co, has announced the third and final bottling in The Cheese Cellar Collection. The collection has seen the whisky, which is made only from Highland single malts, matured in different cask types. These have been designed to pair with a cheese board. This final bottling has been matured in ex-white and ex-purple Moscatel wine barrels.
The Timorous Beastie: The Cheese Cellar Collection Moscatel Edition is bottled at 48% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are just 4,200 bottles in the release and these will be available in selected specialist whisky retailers worldwide and via www.douglaslaing.com. A bottle will cost £60/ €70.
