Hi there drammers! I know I’m publishing this a bit late but hey, I also sometimes have a life 🙂 [And this week was just one of those super-busy weeks, travelling to 3 different countries in 5 days… Which – don’t get me wrong – I love, but can really be exhausting. I’m kidding, I actually just spent the last couple of hours watching stupid YouTube videos and procrastinating on my blogging duties 😉 ]
Anyway, it’s still the beginning of October so it’s still time for my monthly whisky wishlist, yay, put your hands up in the air! \o/
The newest addition to the Redbreast family, Redbreast Sherry Finish Lustau Edition offers fans a new way to experience our signature sherry taste, thanks to an old friendship. Born of a unique collaboration between the Bodegas Lustau and the Midleton Distillery, Redbreast Sherry Finish Lustau Edition is initially matured in traditional bourbon and sherry casks for a period of 9-12 years. It is then finished for 1 additional year in first fill hand selected sherry butts that have been seasoned with the finestloroso sherry from the prestigious Bodegas Lustau in Jerez. We are confident Redbreast fans will enjoy this new angle on Redbreast’s beloved sherry character.
Released in celebration of Distillery Manager, Willie Cochrane’s 39 year contribution to the distillery, Jura One for the Road is a limited edition 22 year old expression with a Pinot Noir wine cask finish. Presented at a natural cask strength, this non chill-filtered Island Single Malt has a natural mahogany honeyed gold colour.
The nose offers freshly baked bread, moist walnut cake, over-ripe pineapple and vanilla with a whisper of bitter chocolate, coffee and tangy macaroons. The palate is rich in ginger, cassis, frangipane and caramelised peaches. Glazed nectarines, pears in red wine, muscovado and soft cranberry notes follow, while the finish brings Turkish delight, coffee, fig syrup and cherry cake.
Tomintoul have marked the fiftieth anniversary of spirit flowing from its stills with this stunning release composed of whiskies from each decade. Casks were chosen from 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2005 by Master Distiller, Robert Fleming, producing 5,230 individually numbered bottles.
A late 2016 release from the Wolfburn distillery, matured in a combination of casks – 40% of this whisky was aged in second-fill quarter casks, 40% in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and 20% in first-fill Oloroso Sherry hogsheads. An exciting release from the distillery.
Ardbeg Twenty One is available exclusively to members of the Ardbeg Committee, a members’ club of 120,000 people formed to “prevent the distillery’s doors ever closing again”.
The distillery ceased production and closed twice throughout its history – in 1981 and 1996. As such, Ardbeg claims its latest expression is significant since uses liquid distilled in the mid-90s, the time of its final closure.
The Glenmorangie Company purchased Ardbeg distillery in 1997.
“Ardbeg Twenty One is a shining example of Ardbeg’s enduring spirit [and] I’m so pleased we can share it with our members,” said Mickey Heads, Ardbeg Distillery manager and chairman of the Ardbeg Committee, who set aside whisky used for this new bottling.
“The committee have invested much in ensuring the future of the distillery and it’s only right that they should share the rewards of its turbulent past too.”
Yula Chapter two: 21 years old
Douglas Laing’s Yula Limited Edition #2 is comprised of several of Scotland’s most sought after, peated malts, proudly bottled at natural cask strength of 52.3%, and without colouring nor chill-filtration. She charts the spirit’s journey over time and celebrates the Laing family’s own proud origins on Islay. The first edition, Yula 20 Years Old, launched in October 2015 to resounding global acclaim, and this new release shows Yula’s evolution one year on, in a fascinating study of the importance of time in the Scotch Whisky maturation journey and story.
Ancient Islay legend tells of a beautiful Norse goddess Yula, who went in search of her long lost love with an apron full of pebbles. The stones fell out as she travelled, forming a string of islands and leaving behind a trail of her thankless pursuit. Tragic Yula never did find her love, but perished in the tempestuous seas surrounding Islay, the last jewel-shaped stone to fall from her apron. It’s here on Islay, which in old Norse means “Yula’s Isle”, that Douglas Laing’s heroine is buried, her final resting place marked by two standing stones which can still be seen to this day.
Yula’s trilogy charts the spirit’s journey, not now over land and sea – but within the cask, where the magic of maturation transpires and the various elements are finally united in their own marriage.
