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 …
Ardbeg
The cult Islay distillery of Ardbeg has released the third and final bottling in its annual The Anthology Series. The Ardbeg Anthology: The Beithir’s Tale is named after a mythical serpent-like creature. It is also the first ever Ardbeg to be matured in designer bourbon casks. These have been air-dried rather than kiln-dried and then the cask has been heavily toasted and lightly charred. It has been bottled at 15 Years Old and has been created by Gillian Macdonald, the Master Blender for Ardbeg.
The Beithir’s Tale 15 Years Old follows The Harpy’s Tale 13 years Old from 2023 and The Unicorn’s Tale 14 Years Old from 2024. These featured maturation in ex-Sauternes and ex-Madeira wine casks respectively. The Beithir’s Tale is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It is available via www.ardbeg.com, Ardbeg Embassy stores worldwide and selected specilaist retailers in selected global markets. A bottle will cost £135.
Glasgow 1770
The Glasgow Distillery Co. continues its 10th anniversary celebrations with a special bottling for the renowned UK retailer Royal Mile Whiskies. It is just the second-ever 10 Year Old released by the distillery and has been bottled for RMW’s Whisky Fringe festival, which is this weekend. The Glasgow 1770 10 Years Old Sauternes Cask Matured is an unpeated single malt fully matured in a re-fill ex-Sauternes sweet wine barrique sourced from France.
The new release will be available exclusively to Whisky Fringe attendees from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 August. Remaining bottles will then be on sale at royalmilewhiskies.com from Monday 11 August. The 10 Years Old Sauternes Cask Matured is bottled at 53% ABV and limited to just 340 bottles. Each will cost £73.95.
Isle of Raasay
The Hebridean craft distillery Isle of Raasay has announced its latest limited edition small batch single malt – the Isle of Raasay Marsala Cask Edition. It is the first ever bottling from the distillery to feature ex-Marsala wine casks. The whisky has been matured exclusively in rare Marsala Vergine casks sourced from the historic Frazzitta winery in Sicily, Italy. It offers a unique meeting of two coastal terroirs: Sicily and Raasay.
The Isle of Raasay Marsala Cask Edition is released at 50.7% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are just 12,300 bottles in the batch. The new whisky also features a new colour scheme. This is inspired by the island’s geology with cool slate grey tones reflective of the rugged volcanic landscape of Raasay. It also features the indentations of fossils on the bottle. It is initially available in the UK with other markets following. These include France, Germany and the USA. Each bottle will cost £75.
Marsala Vergine casks, particularly from a historic producer like Frazzitta, are rare in the whisky industry. The cask characteristics have brought an exceptional depth of flavour to our Raasay spirit. The casks used to mature our whisky have been seasoned with the bonedry Marsala wine for up to 30 years.
Alasdair Day | Founder and Master Distiller at Isle of Raasay.
