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 …
Glenallachie
The Speyside distillery of Glenallachie has announced the second bottling in The Sinteis Series. This series explores a modern duel-cask approach to maturation. The Glenallachie Sinteis Part II is a marriage of Scottish virgin oak and ex-Oloroso sherry cask matured whiskies. All spirit was distilled and filled to cask in 2015. It follows Sinteis Part I that launched the series back in April.
Sinteis (pronounced sin-teesh) is named after the Scottish Gaelic word for synthesis. The series has been created by Billy Walker, the Master Distiller at Glenallachie. His career spans 53 years in the whisky industry. The Sinteis Part ll features eye-catching packaging created by Scottish designer Kayley Barbour, which reflects the fusion of multiple wood types. It is bottled at the cask strength of 58.2% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. A bottle will cost £74 from www.theglenallachie.com and specialist retailers in the UK to begin with.
Glenfiddich
The best-selling Speyside single malt distillery of Glenfiddich has announced two new bottlings. These celebrate the one-year anniversary of its partnership with the Aston Martin Formula 1 team. There is a 16 Years Old expression for domestic markets and a 19 Years Old expression exclusive for the travel retail sector. Both have been created by Brian Kinsman, the Malt Master at Glenfiddich.
The Glenfiddich Aston Martin Formula One 16 Years Old has been matured in a combination of American oak ex-red wine casks, new American oak barrels, and second-fill ex-bourbon casks. It is bottled at 43% ABV and will cost £56/ US$75. The Glenfiddich Aston Martin Formula One 19 Years Old has seen ageing in American and European oak casks, as well as ex-Montilla wine casks. It will cost £130/ US$175. Both will be available globally from September.
At Glenfiddich, we are committed to creating exceptional whiskies that honour tradition while embracing innovation. The new Glenfiddich 16-year-old is a true testament to this philosophy. It combines craftsmanship and precision in a whisky that invites exploration and discovery, much like the journey of our partnership with the Aston Martin Formula One Team.
Brian Kinsman.
Port Ellen
The reborn Islay distillery of Port Ellen has become the latest to announce a one-off special bottling for the forthcoming Distillers One of One charity auction in October. The auction, operated by Sotherby’s, sees brands from across the Scotch whisky industry donate a single bottle with all proceeds from the hammer price going to charity. The whisky was hand-selected by Aimee Morrison, the Master Blender for Port Ellen.
The Port Ellen Prism will be the oldest ever single malt released from the distillery, which reopened after 40 years in 2024. It was distilled and filled to cask in 1978 and is bottled at 46 years of age. The whisky is presented in a bespoke 1.5-litre decanter, encased within a glass sculpture by renowned artist Wilfried Grootens. It is the first of two commemorative releases to celebrate Port Ellen Distillery’s 200th anniversary. Port Ellen Prism is expected to be one of the most expensive lots at the auction with a predicted hammer price of £150-300k.
