single cask

BenRiach Releases Ten New Single Cask Expressions

Filed under: Spirits

Even amidst the constantly changing scene of Scotch whisky distillers, BenRiach has had a bumpy ride. Since its establishment in 1892, it has changed hands from an independent to a Glenlivet subsidiary, then purchased by Canadian consortium Seagrams, which in turn sold it to drinks giant Pernod Ricard. For the last six years BenRiach has been in private hands once again, releasing a core range of 12, 16 and 20 year-old single malts.

BenRiach has now added a new batch of special editions, each matured in a different type of barrel and hailing from a different year. The ten individual expressions in the Batch 7 collection, which is just now coming to market, includes vintages from 1976 through 1993, representing 17 to 33 years of aging.

The distillery's unique expertise in cask aging has been applied to include Pedro Ximinez sherry casks from Spain, peated Tawny Port hogsheads, Tokaji hogsheads from Japan and virgin oak barrels from America, to name just a few. Each is bottled at cask strength and non-chill-filtered for the connoisseur's enjoyment.

Source

Tags: ben riach, cask strength, highland, single cask, single malt, speyside, whisky

NATO Chief's Single-Cask Ardbeg Sells Out in Days

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Ten years ago, during his tenure as Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Lord George Robertson visited the Ardbeg distillery. Not such a remote trip for the world leader, as Islay – the Scottish island where Ardbeg is made – is also his home, carrying as he does the honorific of Baron of Port Ellen (the island's largest town). But it was a big deal for the distillers at Ardbeg, who laid down a cask in his name.

That cask has now been bottled as a special edition, bearing the same age as the standard non-chill-filtered Ardbeg, but each bottle specially labeled and hand-signed by Robertson himself. All 202 bottles of it, each of which sold within days of its release for a handsome £220.00 apiece, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Erskine foundation to support military veterans with medical care.

Source

Tags: ardbeg, erskine, lord robertson, port ellen, robertson, scotch, scotch whisky, single cask, single malt, whisky