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…
Benriach
The Speyside distillery of Benriach has launched the third bottling in its annual Malting Season range. As with the previous two releases, The Third Edition uses only barley malted on Benriach’s traditional malting floor – this is one of only eight still in operation in Scotland. The new Scotch single malt whisky has been crafted by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach, and features spirit matured in first-fill ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks.
The Benriach Malting Season Third Edition is bottled at 48.3% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. The number of bottles was not revealed in the press release but they will be available in selected global markets. A bottle will cost £110.
“Every year during malting season our distillery team hand malt barley onsite. This historic process pays tribute to the slow craft of our historic maltings, which we continue to this day in the pursuit of exceptional flavour. Each new addition of Malting Season uses carefully chosen barley types and individual bottling strengths.”
Stewart Buchanan / Global Brand Ambassador for Benriach.
Lochlea
The Lowland craft distillery of Lochlea has released the second batch of its award-winning Harvest Edition single malt whisky – the Lochlea Harvest Edition Second Crop. The inaugural bottling of the seasonal release won many plaudits. The Second Crop has been created by Production Director John Campbell and features whisky matured in ex-Tawny and ex-Ruby Port casks, plus STR (shaved, toasted and recharred) wine barriques and first-fill ex-bourbon barrels.
The Lochlea Harvest Edition Second Crop whisky is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is available in selected UK specialist whisky retailers. A bottle will cost £52.
Loch Lomond
The Highland distillery of Loch Lomond has launched the latest expression in it Remarkable Makers series of Scotch single malts – the Loch Lomond Steam & Fire. The new whisky has been finished for 10 months in heavily charred American oak barrels, which were fired at Loch Lomond’s own cooperage, and to highlight the capabilities of distillation and maturation. It features spirit produced on the distillery’s traditional swan neck still and unorthodox straight neck still, plus a small pocket of heavily peated spirit.
As with previous Remarkable Makers bottlings, Steam & Fire sees a collaboration with a like-minded artisan – in this case open fire chef Genevieve Taylor. Loch Lomond Steam & Fire whisky is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It will be available is selected global markets and will cost £45.
“At Loch Lomond, we are driven to experiment with flavour, creating unique single malts that push the boundaries. Steam & Fire is unlike anything we have created before, and is a bringing together our impressive capabilities in distillation and maturation.”
Michael Henry / Master Blender at Loch Lomond.
The Epicurean
The Epicurean, the Lowland Scotch blended malt whisky brand from Douglas Laing & Co, has released its latest limited edition – The Epicurean Glasgow Edition. The new blended malt pays homage to Douglas Laing’s Glasgow roots and features a lengthy finish in French oak ex-cuvée wine casks. As with all versions of The Epicurean, the latest edition features only single malts from the Lowlands region.
The Glasgow Edition has been packaged in a bold black and gold design, which shows a ‘true sense of luxury’. It has been bottled at the natural cask strength of 50.4% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. There are just 5,100 bottles worldwide and these will be available via specialist whisky retailers. A bottle will cost £55/ €64.
