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…
Redbreast
The Irish whiskey brand of Redbreast has announced the final bottling in its Dream Cask Collection and it is the oldest release yet. The Redbreast Dream Cask Zenith Edition is a 38 years old single pot still whiskey and was distilled in 1985. Initial maturation in American oak ex-bourbon casks for 27 years before being transferred to a single first-fill ex-Oloroso sherry cask in 2013 for a secondary maturation.
The new whiskey will be one of the last that Billy Leighton, the legendary Master Blender Emeritus of Redbreast, works on. The Redbreast Dream Cask series was first released in 2017 and has seen annual bottlings. The Zenith Edition is bottled at 45.3% ABV and will be available to Birdhouse members from May 20. For further information – click here. A bottle will cost €1,000.
Caol Ila
Diageo have announced details of their annual Fèis Ìle bottlings, which are always highly anticipated. This year sees three limited edition single malts – one from Caol Ila and two from Lagavulin.
The Caol Ila 13 years old Fèis Ìle 2024 Edition (pictured, above) has matured in French oak ex-Ruby Port casks sourced from the Douro Valley in Portugal. These were hand selected by Eva Cumming, the Distillery Manager at Caol Ila. It has been bottled at 54.5% ABV and there are just 1,404 bottles. Each will cost £185 and will only be available from the Caol Ila distillery, starting on Caol Ila Day (May 27) until sold out.
Lagavulin
The Lagavulin 10 years old Fèis Ìle 2024 Edition (pictured, above) features rare heavily peated spirit and has been matured in a combination of re-fill and heavily charred casks plus first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. It is released at 56.7% ABV and there are just 1,800 bottles. Each will cost £175.
The final whisky is the Lagavulin Skies of Fèis Ìle (pictured, above), which is a 29-year-old single malt. Maturation has been in a single heavily charred American oak ex-Amoroso sherry hogshead. The cask is expected to yield just 250 bottles, each of which will be hand-filled and signed by Jordan Paisley, the Distillery Manager at Lagavulin, at the distillery on Lagavulin Day (May 25). The price will be £2,500 per bottle.
