The folks at the beloved Bruichladdich Scotch distillery on Islay just powered a racecar from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds on a tank full of of its X4 Scotch, billed as the most alcoholic single malt ever made. The car, a British-made Radical SR4 (above), was driven by Top Gear's James May and wine expert Oz Clarke for a segment on their upcoming BBC series Oz and James' Great British Adventure. The clear 180-proof quadruple-distilled spirit, which required no engine modification, produced 200 bhp, only 5 less than ordinary gasoline - but at about $200 a gallon it's a pretty pricey biofuel. A lower proof version of the X4 will go on sale (for drinking, not driving) in the fall. You can see a video of the run here.

[via Men.Style]

Bruichladdich, the brawny Islay single malt that won top honors on Men.Style.com's Scotch hotlist for its classic 15 Year, is coming out with a new Multi-Vintage Trilogy showcasing the whisky's full range of flavors.

The three new bottlings - Rocks, Waves and Peat - range from light to heavy smokiness and feature aggressively modern packaging that's a real departure from the vintage feel of the distillery's signature labels.

Rocks takes its name from the Rhinns of Islay, the "oldest rocks in the whisky world" through which the water used in Bruichladdich is filtered, while Waves reflects the Atlantic ocean buffeting the Hebridean isle and Peat is, well, pretty self-explanatory.

Rocks is available now and the others will be by the end of summer. See the gallery for more.

We admit we've never been troubled by the dilemma of choosing between Scotch and wine - we just have both. Usually not in the same glass, however; until a bottle of Longrow Gaja Barolo showed up. The 7-year-old single malt from Springbank, one of Scotland's most renowned distilling dynasties, is matured in bourbon casks for five years then finished for a year-and-a-half in Barolo wine casks from Angelo Gaja's famed vineyard in Piemonte, founded in 1859.

Trying this experiment with a heavily peated Campbeltown malt like Longrow might seem counterintuitive, but in fact the smokiness keeps the spirit from being overpowered by the grape. The confluence of flavors is nothing short of symphonic, plus at 111.6-proof it packs all the authentic muscle of a cask strength bottling. Definitely one the very best single malts we've tasted since the last time we were actually in Scotland.

[via Men.Style]

On June 18, Laphroaig Single Malt will host a live online tasting featuring the global unveiling of two yet-to-be-released whiskies. The 45-minute webcast, beginning at 3:00 p.m. EST, will be conducted by Distillery Manager John Campbell and Master Blender Robert Hicks from inside Warehouse 1 at the historic Laphroaig Distillery on Islay. As we reported earlier this month, longtime Laphroaig fan Prince Charles recently visited there (see above). The online tasting and educational seminar will include smoky classics Laphroaig 10 Year Old, Laphroaig Quarter Cask, Laphroaig Cáirdeas, and two unreleased whiskies: Laphroaig 30 Year Old Cáirdeas and the yet-to-be-bottled Laphroaig Triple Wood. Participants of legal purchase age can download tasting notes and guides and submit their questions in advance at Laphroaig.com. For more information visit www.Laphroaig.com/live.

Scotch whisky is getting more and more popular.The Scotch Whisky Association has reported that the value of exports reached a new high of £2.8b billion last year. With the rise in exports comes the demand for more and more premium bottles inspiring whisky distillers to create more and more expensive bottles. Case in point, the latest from Highland Park, a 40-year-old single malt whisky which is the oldest in their portfolio. The whisky is described as a "a balance of toffee, dark chocolate, orange zest and heather peat smokiness" and comes in an oak stained wood box with a leather booklet explaining the history of the brand. The whisky will sell for £899 per bottle. Hopefully this whisky won't get lost in transit like some of their 32-year-old single malt recently did.

A Canadian whisky has to surrender its name as part of the ongoing battle to protect the name of Scotch whisky. A court has decided that Glen Breton, the only single malt whisky produced in Canada, has to drop the "glen" part of the name because it might fool people into thinking the brand is Scotch whisky. Scottish brands often have names such as with a "glen" in the title such as Glenfiddich, Glenlivet or Glenmorangie.

As you might imagine, the Scotch Whisky Association is thrilled with the ruling of the Canadian Federal Court which refused to register the "Glen Breton" trademark. They produced evidence in the form of instances of Glen Breton being described as Scotch whisky in retail outlets, menus, newspaper articles and websites. The distillers on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia will be appealing the decision. You can't really accuse the company of being deceptive, it's says Canadian right on the bottle and the large maple leaf on the label should be a clue as to origin.

The scotch whisky industry is up in arms about proposals prepared for the Government by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) which say that a "blended malt" category will help consumers know what they are buying (a story we first covered back in December). Distillers and producers say that this wording change will confuse the consumer and lead to a homogenized vertical in which a few large brands hold prominence.

The Scotsman has an article on the subject that quotes producers such as John Glaser, the director of specialist Scotch whisky maker Compass Box, who says that he fears the new labeling will cause consumer confusion and then lead to a lack of product sales. For whisky producers one of the biggest concerns is protecting their biggest emerging markets, Asia and India. The term "blended malt whisky" may confuse consumer or make them feel that they are getting an inferior product.

Mark Reynier, owner of Islay's Bruichladdich distillery, said that under the new proposals, a "blended single malt" of Lagavulin could be any whisky with only a dash of Lagavulin thrown in thereby keeping its association with Lagavulin. This could fool some into thinking they were getting a Lagavulin single malt, when they were getting a whisky with just a splash of Lagavulin added in.

On the other hand, the SWA hopes that the new regulations will protect the industry in the long run by setting up strict legal definitions of Scotch whisky. They say they have the support of the majority of the industry and believe that the legislation will lead to clear, consistent and accurate product information and prevent the deceptive practices that undermine consumer confidence in Scotch whisky.

The Scotch Blog features an open letter from John Glaser that includes a link to a petition to the SWA against the idea of the "blended malt" moniker.

In the past few years, we've seen wine producers in various countries fight to protect the integrity of their product. The UK government is figuring out how to enact a similar type of protection for Scotch whisky. The government is seeking to create a new law that will define Scotch's geographical origins and make it harder for foreign imitations to compete against Scotch in the world. Potential legislation would define the descriptions of Scotch whisky, such as single malt or blended grain, as well as the terroir such as Highland or Islay . With markets like China and India proving to be huge markets for Scotch and with the amount of whisky fraud steadily on the rise, it is becoming increasingly important for the identity of Scotch whisky to be firmly, and legally, established.

Last year, Macallan debuted their 50 year single malt in a Lalique decanter, this year they have upped the ante with a 55-year-old single malt and a new decanter with a stopper shaped like the Lalique Tiara perfume's bottle stopper but colored a deep amber to match the precious stuff contained within. There will be 420 decanters and each sells for $12,000.

The bottle shown at right just sold for $59,200 at auction. The bottle contains Bowmore single malt that was bottled in 1850. It was sold at McTear's auction house in Scotland on Friday for what is said to be a new world record for Scotch at auction (a businessman paid over $58,000 for a bottle of the Dalmore 62 back in 2005). The bottle exceeded estimates even beating out the Bowmore brand who had bid on the lot but lost out to an anonymous telephone bidder. All this, even though as you can see in the picture, the cork is falling into the bottle. The bottle was presented to William Mutter, one of the founders of the distillery, in 1851 and had remained in the family ever since.

England's whisky distillery is open for business. St. George's Distillery is the first distillery built in England in 100 years. The facility located on at Roudham, near Thetford and offers tours and tasting sessions. The distillery's first malt whisky won't be ready to drink for at least another two years but the distillery has a shop that features a variety of whiskies, bourbons and other spirits from around the world and the stills are operational. The distillery's owners are hoping that tourism will be brisk, helping to keep the business afloat because there is no whisky to sell yet.

[via EDP24]

I've seen some pretty massive bottles of wine before but not so many big whisky bottles. The Ardbeg distillery has created 4.5 liter bottles of single malt for sale. They say the bottles of 10-year-old whisky are the largest bottles of single malt on sale in the world. The bottles will sell for £350 each in London and in Scotland and go on sale this week. There will be 1,000 bottles released worldwide.

I've sung the praises of various forms of the Macallan since Luxist began but apparently as a woman, I may be in the minority of women who find the single malt appealing. In order to appeal to female drinkers in the U.S. the Macallan has created Amber, a liqueur with maple and pecan flavors. The Scotsman reports that Amber is being tested in Washington, Denver and Seattle after small-scale trials in Boston. It may have met with resistance from some purists but one of my favorite experts, Kevin Erskine of The Scotch Blog seems to be a fan saying that it is "s sweet without being cloying at all." Amber can be found for between $30 to $35 at various outlets.

A whole television channel devoted to Scotch? Film producer Rob Draper has created Singlemalt.tv, the world's first internet television channel dedicated to single malt Scotch whisky. Hosted by author and expert Charlie MacLean, the channel hopes to appeal to whisky lovers around the world. According to an article in the Scotsman, Draper feels that niche interest TV channels online will be a magnet for advertisers (reminds me of the flurry over niche blogs a few years back). The channel has crews lined up around the world and plans to do features on a variety of scotch-related subjects. The channel officially launches on September 29 but there is a trailer up on the site now.

Another ultra pricey whisky goes on sale in the U.K. this week. The Telegraph reports that the Ardbeg 1965 is the rarest ever released from the distillery. Only 261 bottles of the whisky are for sale and 100 will go to retailers in the U.K. The bottles have a numbered wax seal and there is a little Islay sand in the glass. The whisky will sell for £2,000 per bottle (around $3,680). The whisky will be popular with collectors and hopefully some of them will actually drink it.