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…
Ardnamurchan
The west Highland distillery of Ardnamurchan celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and is commemorating the occasion with the bottling of its first ever 10 years old single malt. The Ardnamurchan 10 years old Anniversary Release uses the distillery’s unpeated spirit and features some of the first whisky ever produced in 2014.
This has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels with half then finished for one year in ex-Champagne casks. It is bottled at 50% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. The whisky will be available from late-October via specialist whisky retailers in the UK and globally. A bottle will cost £65.
Littlemill
The closed Lowland distillery of Littlemill has announced its oldest ever release with the second bottling in the Vanguards Collection. The Littlemill Vanguards Collection Chapter Two was originally distilled and filled to re-fillex-bourbon barrels in October 1976, before being transferred to re-fill American oak hogsheads in 1996. In recent years, the casks have been nurtured by Michael Henry, the Master Blender for brand owner Loch Lomond Group. It is bottled at 47 years of age.
The whisky features a partnership with glass artist Bethany Wood, owner of Blowfish Glass in Stourbridge. She produced 250 unique glass stoppers that are used in the decanter designed by Glencairn Crystal. The Littlemill Vanguards Collection Chapter Two is released at 44.2% ABV and is of natural colour. There are just 250 decanters available in selected world markets. Each decanter will cost £14,500/ US$18,850. For further information, please visit www.littlemilldistillery.com.
Oban
The west coast Highland distillery of Oban has announced the third and final bottling in The Maclean Series – Oban Grandson Derek. The series celebrates the craft and expertise shown by three generations of the Maclean family who have worked at Oban over a 70 year period dating to 1953. It kicked off with Old Teddy in 2019 and was followed by Young Teddy in 2023. It has been created by Stuart Morrison, Master Blender at brand owner Diageo.
Oban Grandson Derek honours Derek Maclean (pictured above), the third generation, and has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels before a joint finishing period in ex-Pinot Noir and ex-Sangiovese red wine casks. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 52.3% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are just 4,662 bottles and these will be on sale exclusively at the Oban distillery shop. Each will cost £210.
Rampur
The Indian single malt brand of Rampur has released a new whisky into its core range – the Rampur Barrel Blush. The whisky has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels before a finishing period in ex-shiraz red wine barrels sourced from Australia.
It has been created by Anup Barik, the Master Distiller for Rampur, and will initially be available in the UK before being rolled out to other selected world markets later in the year. The Rampur Barrel Blush is bottled at 45% ABV and will cost £65 per bottle.
