Douglas Laing releases a brand new vatted speyside malt : SCALLYWAG
With over 65 years of ‘pedigree’ in the Scotch Whisky industry, leading independent Scotch Whisky specialist, Douglas Laing & Co today announce the release of their brand new Speyside Vatted Malt – Scallywag.
Douglas Laing’s Scallywag is a Small Batch bottling created using only the finest
Speyside Malts including – amongst others – Mortlach, Macallan and Glenrothes.
Bottled at 46% alcohol strength and non chill-filtered, this Small Batch bottling has a
distinct rich, dark colour – extracted from the many fine Spanish Sherry Butts used
during maturation. The result is a truly charming Malt with a richly spiced character
fused with vanilla (from the bourbon casks used), sweet stewed fruit, Christmas
pudding, dark chocolate, zesty orange and sweet tobacco.
No attention to detail has been missed in creating the Scallywag packaging. Inspired
by the long line of Douglas Laing family Fox Terriers, which are renowned for being
sweet yet rather mischievous dogs, it was therefore felt the Scallywag name and Fox
Terrier design was most fitting for this richly spiced and deliciously sweet Speyside
Vatted Malt.
Says Douglas Laing’s Managing Director (and proud Fox Terrier owner) Fred Laing:
“From a chance sketch by a designer of our sweet, wee, rascal of a Fox Terrier, our
Scallywag Malt Whisky was born! “Sweet” was the key which focused us on
Speyside. Its cask selection is self-evidently heavy on the sherry background,
balanced by first-fill bourbon casks – so the resulting ‘Vatted’ Malt comes with an
excellent pedigree”.
Douglas Laing’s Scallywag will be available from specialist Whisky retailers from
November 2013.
Dalmore Releases a 25 yo core range expression
Home to some of Scotland’s most precious and rare whisky stocks, The Dalmore distillery is set to launch a desirable new expression, just in time for Christmas.
Available from specially selected retail partners globally from 25 October, The Dalmore 25 Year Old will join the 12, 15, 18, Cigar Malt Reserve and King Alexander III as a permanent addition to the collection.
Meticulously crafted by Master Distiller Richard Paterson, The Dalmore 25 combines festive aromas of exotic fruits, marzipan, vanilla pods and fig cake.
As with all of The Dalmore’s prestigious and award-winning whiskies, much of The Dalmore 25’s unique character and quality comes from a passion to use only the finest wood.
This spirit has been matured initially in American white oak casks before being divided into hand-sourced 25 year old sweet Palomino Fino sherry butts and 1980 first-filled bourbon casks. These exceptional whiskies are then expertly married together in bourbon barrels before finally being transferred into Tawny Port pipes from Portugal, giving additional layers of complexity and richness.
Only 3,000 bottles of this luxury malt will be produced annually at RRP of £600 per 70cl bottle at 42% ABV.
The Dalmore 25 won Gold at the 2013 International Spirits Challenge (ISC) awards and will be officially unveiled at this year’s Tax Free World Association World Exhibition in Cannes.
Kilchoman Club Releases Second Edition
Islay’s independent farm distillery, Kilchoman, is to release an exclusive bottling to its club members.
Managing director Anthony Wills and distillery manager John MacLellan have chosen eight fresh bourbon barrels from an October 2008 filling which are currently being finished in Oloroso Butts. These will be bottled at cask strength and around 2,000 bottles will be made available for sale.
The Kilchoman fans who have signed up to the club – that provides special access to a limited edition bottling each year, special tastings and discounts – can purchase the second annual release for £75 on Monday 4 November from 12pm on the distiller’s website.
Anthony Wills, managing director of Kilchoman, said: “Last year the release was very popular with our club members, as it sold out instantly and the amount of visitors brought down our website. In preparation we’ve expanded the website to make sure it can cope with the expected increase in traffic.”
Kilchoman’s portfolio now includes Machir Bay, Loch Gorm, a new edition of 100% Islay and its most recent addition, the Vintage 2007 which is Kilchoman’s oldest whisky released to date.
With an ambition to take whisky production back to its traditional roots, Anthony Wills built and founded Kilchoman Distillery in 2005 on a farm situated on the rugged west coast of Islay. The first distillery on the island for 124 years, Kilchoman is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland and one of only a handful left that still practise the traditional floor malting method.
Kilchoman fans can sign up to the member’s club at www.kilchomandistillery.com
The second annual club release will be made available from 12pm on Monday 4 November on the Kilchoman website www.kilchomandistillery.com priced at £75.00.
Jura Launches Search for the World’s Best Stories
Jura Whisky has launched a search for the world’s best stories, with the chance to win two all-expenses paid trips to the 2014 Jura Whisky Festival.
Starting today (31 October), Jura Whisky is calling on all budding storytellers to submit a story in 1,000 characters or less. Every fortnight for ten weeks Jura Whisky will provide a different story theme for inspiration. The themes kick off this week with Travel Adventure, followed by Day Dreams, A Brush with Death, Into the Wild and Happily Ever After.
Art Wednesday will provide further inspiration by producing a series of videos which tell the stories of interesting, influential creatives and their work. The first two videos will feature writer Marcel Theroux and musician Nick Mulvey (previously of Portico Quartet), with more to follow.
From the competition entries, three stories will be chosen each week and turned into bespoke illustrations by creative agency Holler which will be posted on tojurawhisky.com. At the end of the ten weeks, each of the 30 winning stories will be put to the public vote to find the favourite. Voting will remain open for two weeks.
The winner with the most votes will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to Jura for the 2014 Whisky Festival to help select the new special edition festival bottling which will be launched at the 2015 Festival. Staying in the luxurious Jura Lodge, the winner will be treated to a VIP tour, taking in all of Jura’s ‘must sees’, including a speedboat trip to the Corryvreckan whirlpool, tea on the beach and a visit to Barnhill where Orwell wrote 1984.
Gemma Parkinson, Brand Manager at Jura Whisky, said: “As the nights draw in, the residents of Jura like to settle down by the fire, pour a dram and swap a story or two. In that spirit, we have launched a season of storytelling to celebrate tales worth sharing. Some of Jura’s best and most loved stories, both real and mythical, are those that have been handed down through generations of islanders over the years. That’s why we’re on the hunt to find the world’s best stories, to celebrate and reward the art of great storytelling.”
The competition, which opens today, Thursday, 31 October, and will run right through until Friday, 10 January 2014, is part of Jura Whisky’s new ‘Story Season’ campaign. The competition is open to entrants from all countries.
For more information on Jura Whisky’s search for the world’s best stories, including detailed terms and conditions, visit www.jurawhisky.com.