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 a forthcoming rare bottling that celebrates the regeneration of the distillery at the turn of the millenium. Ardbeg Y2K is a 23 year old single malt distilled in 2000 through a historic 50-year-old still, which was decommissioned shortly afterwards in 2001. The whisky is the brainchild of Dr. Bill Lumsden, the Director of Whisky Creation at Ardbeg.
The year 2000 was a pivotal year for Ardbeg and saw it finally return to full production following the takeover by The Glenmorangie Company in 1997. Prior to this, the distillery had struggled during the late 1980s and 1990s until it was renovated and rejuvenated under the new ownership. The new whisky will form the first part of a series that tells the story of this time.
Ardbeg Y2K has been matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, and is bottled at 46% ABV. It is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. The new whisky will be available via UK specialist retailers and www.ardbeg.com from July. However, interest for buying a bottle can be currently registered on the website. A bottle will cost £670.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society
The SMWS have released a 40-minute documentary exploring the influence of sherry casks on Scotch whisky – Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey. The film follows the journey of a cask from the oak forests of Galicia in northern Spain to the cooperages and sherry bodegas of Jerez in the south. Along for the journey are Richard Goslan, the Editor of the Society’s Unfiltered magazine, and Euan Campbell, the Head of Whisky Creation at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.
The 40-minute documentary charts each stage of a sherry cask’s life and introduces the people that make the casks and the sherry. The latest Drop & Dram pack has been released to accompany the film and features three sherry cask matured single malts for £35.
The film will be screened each Saturday during May at the Society’s Glasgow venue in Bath Street with further special screenings at their Edinburgh venue in Queen Street (May 16 and 23) and at The Machrie Hotel on Islay during the Fèis Ìle festival (May 29 and 30). Alternatively, you can watch via YouTube by clicking below.
