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 revealed a pair of rare whiskies that will be sold as a set – Ardbeg The Rollercoaster. This is not related to the Rollercoaster Committee Release from 2010, but a different set of whiskies all together. The new whiskies are a pair of single casks that show the rollercoaster ride of Ardbeg’s history in the 1980s – one from 1981 when the distillery closed and one from 1989 when its revival began.
Ardbeg The Rollercoaster 1981 was distilled and filled to cask just two weeks before the distillery closed, which many feared was terminal, in March 1981. It has been bottled at 42 years of age and made using heavily peated malt that was produced on Ardbeg’s own malting floor, which has not been used since the closure. The whisky has been matured for most of its life in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in a single ex-Oloroso sherry cask for the final 15 years. It is bottled at 47.3% ABV.
Ardbeg The Rollercoaster 1989 is one of the last remaining casks from that year’s production. It was distilled and filled to cask in December 1989, just weeks after the distillery reopened. The whisky has been bottled at 33 years old and was made using malted barley sourced from Port Ellen Maltings. It has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels before a long secondary maturation in a single re-fill ex-bourbon cask. The natural cask strength is 45.3% ABV.
Ardbeg The Rollercoaster consists of just 143 sets. The bottles are not sold separately. The pair are presented in a handmade Scottish oak casket crafted by renowned Scottish designer John Galvin. Interest in Ardbeg The Rollercoaster can be registered via Moët Hennessy Private Client channels worldwide and www.ardbeg.com. The price is £85,000/ €100,000.
Eden Mill
The Eden Mill distillery in the Kingdom of Fife have launched two new single malts into their core range – the Eden Mill Bourbon Cask and Sherry Cask.
The pair have been crafted by Scott Ferguson, the Head Distiller at Eden Mill. The Bourbon cask has been matured in American oak ex-bourbon barrels and the Sherry Cask has seen finishes in both first-fill ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.
The release of Bourbon Cask and Sherry Cask also launches the new brand identity and packaging for Eden Mill. Both bottlings are released at 46% ABV and are non chill-filtered and of natural colour. They are initially available from the Eden Mill distillery shop and selected retailers in the UK. The Eden Mill Bourbon Cask will cost £55 with the Eden Mill Sherry Cask at £65.
George Dickel
The Tennessee-based whiskey brand of George Dickel has announced the release of its oldest bourbon to date – George Dickel Bourbon 18 years old whisky.
The limited edition small batch release has been aged in charred American oak barrels for the full term and undertaken the long maturation process in single-storey rickhouses at the George Dickel distillery in Cascade Hollow, Tennessee.
The Dickel Bourbon 18 years old is released at 45% ABV (90 Proof) and uses a mashbill of 84% corn, 8% rye and 8% malted barley. The new whiskey will be available in selected retailers in selected states across the USA. Each bottle will cost $US510. The exact number of bottles was not revealed in the press release.
Method & Madness
The experimental Irish whiskey brand of Method & Madness has announced the launch of its latest bottling – the Method & Madness Single Malt 7 years old.
The whiskey is triple distilled at the Midleton Micro Distillery, the innovative craft distillery of Irish Distillers, in Co. Cork. The spirit has been matured in first-fill American oak ex-bourbon barrels and second-fill ex-sherry casks.
The new whiskey represents the first ever single malt to be released by Method & Madness with the casks seelcted by Barrett Stapleton, the Head Distiller at Midleton Micro Distillery, and fellow distiller Henry Donnelly. The Method & Madness Single Malt 7 years old is bottled at 46% ABV and will initially be available in selected European markets including France, Ireland and Norway plus global travel retail. A bottle will cost €95.
“At Midleton, we do not typically produce single malt, but the Micro Distillery provides us with an unparalleled playground to experiment and play with different ingredients. In creating this expression, the team has unlocked new flavours.”
Barrett Stapleton
