From limited editions to additions to core ranges, new island malts and Japanese-influenced whiskies, here is a selection of new Scottish whiskies to enjoy as the seasons change this autumn and winter.
The Cask Curation Series Sherry Edition marks the first release in a series celebrating the brand. The Dalmore’s Cask Curation Series will feature celebrated makers and their partnerships with The Dalmore.
The 2023 release – The Sherry Edition – features renowned fifth-generation winemakers González Byass, of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Each set in the collection comprises three aged-statement whiskies finished in the finest of González Byass casks, available exclusively to the whisky makers of The Dalmore.
Strictly limited to just 150 sets worldwide, The Sherry Collection is beautifully presented in a bespoke leather-finished travel case hand-crafted in Florence, Italy – perfectly framing the trio of new expressions. Each age-statement whisky is housed in the iconic Dalmore bottle adorned with a matching collar.
A mere £30,000 per set, this is one for someone with deep pockets.
For something a little more budget-friendly, try the newly released Ferttercairn 16 year old. The fourth annual release from the Highland distillery, this limited edition whisky was matured in first fill ex port pipes and fully matured ex bourbon casks.
The 2023 edition of Fettercairn 16 Year Old is balanced and showcases the distillery’s tropical style.
Bottled at 46.4% ABV (non-chill filtered), Fettercairn 16 Year Oldhas warm aromas of tropical fruit, berry fruits, rich cacao, sugared almonds and floral top notes on the nose while on the palette you may find brambles, raspberries, vanilla and caramel notes.
The Fettercairn 16 year old is priced at £82 and available to buy now.
Launched in September, The Hearach is the first whisky from the Isle of Harris Distillers. The Hearach offers an elegant, highly drinkable single malt, with fruit and floral notes and a long, slightly smoky, finish.
The whisky, handcrafted by a team of locals from Harris, has been distilled, matured (in first-fill bourbon, oloroso and fino sherry casks), married and bottled (at 46% ABV) on the island.
The distillers describe it as ‘complex and utterly delicious’, reflecting in part its use of the softest of water and the Harris climate, second to none for the maturation of spirit. It was a sell out success when it went on sale last month, but some specialist whisky shops may still have some in stock, priced at £65.
The Macallan recently announced a collaboration with Stella and Mary McCartney. Stella and Mary have partnered with The Macallan on the creation of the third edition of The Harmony Collection – the limited annual release series which shines a spotlight on the brand’s inherent curiosity and innovative and creative mindset.
The third release in The Harmony Collection celebrates the lands of Scotland that connect all those who have stood upon them for generations.
The third instalment in the annual release series includes two distinctive expressions: The Macallan Harmony Collection Amber Meadow and Green Meadow, inspired by The McCartney sisters’ love of Scotland which stems from their memories in the Scottish countryside.
Award winning farm-to-cask Ayrshire distillery - Lochlea - recently released the third expression in a new set of four seasonal limited edition whiskies - Fallow - that celebrates autumn on the farm.
‘Fallow Edition’ (Second Crop) reveals the richer, darker flavours found in Lochlea’s house whisky profile. Matured exclusively in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, the whisky is full of sweet and spiced notes - perfect to sip and savour as the dark, autumnal nights close in.
As with all of Lochlea’s whiskies, ‘Fallow Edition’ (Second Crop) is non-chill filtered – it has been bottled at 46% ABV – RRP: £51.50, available from Lochlea stockists from 26 October onwards.
The Borders Distillery (TBD) has unveiled the second release in its experimental Workshop Series line, a limited-edition blend that plays with time.
Named The Long & Short of It, the whisky has been made using liquid fermented for 55 hours and 150 hours. Each batch was then distilled twice and matured in first fill ex-bourbon barrels before being married with single grain.
Entirely distilled in the Scottish Borders, this limited-edition bottling will see only 8,400 bottles released for sale worldwide, with every bottle individually numbered.
WS:02 The Long & Short of It retails for £40 and is available to buy online at the distillery website.
Bruichladdich Distillery has just launched the next single malt vintages in its unpeated Barley Exploration series; Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2014, Bruichladdich Organic Barley 2012 and Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013.
What initially began in pursuit of extraordinary flavour, Bruichladdich’s Barley Exploration series continues to evolve year on year and seeks to reconnect whisky with its essential raw ingredient.
Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2014 is priced at £70, The Organic 2012 is priced at £85 and Bere Barley 2013 is priced at £100. The Barley Exploration series can be purchased online or at selected specialist whisky retailers.
Islay distillery Laphroaig has unveiled Elements, a new series that delves into the artistry of production that makes this Islay whisky so richly flavoured and characterful.
To create Elements 1.0, the Laphroaig distillery team were given free rein to produce something unexpected that embodies the traditional Laphroaig profile, while adding new dimensions of flavour.
Three experiments have been brought together to create this unique whisky. Firstly, the combination of a cloudy and semi-cloudy wort brings forward more tropical fruit notes, without compromising on the signature peat that makes Laphroaig so richly flavoured.
Secondly, the distillers used both an 8.5-tonne and an 11-tonne mash, combining the past and the present of distillery production norms.
Finally, the whisky uses 100% Islay malt, capturing the essence of the distillery’s home in a way rarely seen in Laphroaig spirit.
As the series evolves, each expression will feature a series of Easter eggs on pack that catalogues the experiments that have gone into making each bottle and the hands behind them, allowing drinkers an unrivalled glimpse into the artistry and science of the whisky-making process.
This is the first expression in the series with more to follow in 2024. Available from select specialist retailers priced at £170.
Glen Scotia has launched the first in a new five-part limited-edition annual series ‘The Icons of Campbeltown’, a celebration of the Campbeltown community and inspired by the town market cross, a historic meeting point for celebration and storytelling.
Each release will be based on icons which were intricately carved by into the face of the mediaeval cross once found in the centre of the town, which dates from the 14th century.
The first release, The Mermaid, is a 12 Year Old unpeated single malt (54.1% ABV, £90). Aged in ex-bourbon barrels, the liquid was then transferred into Palo Cortado finishing casks for a further eight months.
The result is a whisky with a sweet and nutty character interwoven with subtle maritime nuances, bracing Atlantic Sea breeze notes on the nose, and a signature Glen Scotia saltiness on the palate. This new limited edition has been released at cask strength and its natural colour without chill filtration.
Paying tribute to one of Scotland’s finest Renaissance palaces, Falkland Palace, the award-winning Kingsbarns Distillery in the Kingdom of Fife has recently released a limited release lowland single malt Scotch whisky.
Non-chill filtered and bottled at 46%, Falkland Lowland single malt scotch whisky delivers a combination of redcurrants with sweet sugar, vanilla, sherbet, orchard fruits, milk chocolate and eclairs on the nose with a vanilla custard, smooth, sweet-spiced orange on the palate.
Available to buy for £50 in-store at Luvians and online now.
Renowned whisky legends Richard ‘The Nose’ Paterson OBE and Ian MacMillan have released their latest collaboration, Wolfcraig Distillers’ 14 Year Old Deluxe Blended Scotch Whisky.
The expertly crafted whisky has been matured in three distinct types of sherry cask; Amontillado, Oloroso and Muscatel casks, all handpicked by Richard Paterson from Bodega San Andreas in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
This Deluxe Blend is the third release by the ultimate partnership of master blenders at the helm of Wolfcraig. In recent months, the Scottish company has released a 30 Year Old Premium Blend whisky and a Premium Distilled gin.
Wolfcraig 14-Year Old’s deluxe blend is now available online, priced at £80 per bottle.
Recently, Glenmorangie added A Tale of Tokyo to its Tale of series - the fourth whisky in the collection.
Inspired by Japan’s capital, the single malt whisky has bright, bold flavours with soft sweetness.
Inspired by the memories, feelings and flavours of his many visits to Tokyo and a desire to experiment with rare Japanese Mizunara oak casks for the first time, Dr Bill has created a limited edition expression characterised by opposites.
In the whisky’s flavour profile, pepper meets bitter cherries and coconut, as orange zest fuses with incense and sweet oak. On the finish, classic Glenmorangie flavours of mandarin, almond and marzipan can be detected.
To explore Yamaguchi Akira’s full artwork as well as a range of cocktail serves inspired by A Tale of Tokyo, visit the Glenmorangie website.
Torabhaig Single Malt Distillery on the Isle of Skye recently released a new limited edition whisky, Torabhaig Allt Gleann Batch Strength.
This special edition, batch strength release of Allt Gleann completes the current chapter of the Torabhaig Legacy Series, which charts the journey to 10 year old for this exciting new distillery on the Isle of Skye.
The release bottled unreduced shows the confidence that this young distillery has in the quality of its whisky and highlights the strength of their emerging signature style: well-tempered peat.
It is drawn directly from a select batch of casks and i heavily inspired by the spectacularly rugged coastline on which the distillery sits on the Isle of Skye.
Torabhaig tames heavily peated grains to produce an elegantly rugged dram that balances strength with refinement to accentuate the floral, fragrant character of the whisky.
Torabhaig Allt Gleann Batch Strength is priced at £75 and is available now.
House of Hazelwood recently unveiled a 33 year old blended scotch whisky created in a rare collaboration with renowned whisky writer Dave Broom.
Named The Accelerator & The Brake, this new House of Hazelwood whisky has been released alongside is an exclusive documentary celebrating the history of the Gordon Family – one of whisky’s foremost families.
Under blender Eilidh Muir’s watchful eye, Broom selected a dynamic aged grain and an elegant malt, inverting their ratios with unexpected results.
The aim was to celebrate the uniquely successful partnership of the Gordon brothers Charles and Sandy, who revolutionised the whisky industry throughout the second half of the 20th Century.
The Accelerator & The Brake, 33-Year-Old Blended Scotch Whisky is on sale now, with only 209 bottles worldwide. It has a 56.7% ABV and is priced at £1,700.
To close out its 40th anniversary year, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has unveiled a 40 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky from a Single Cask.
The Society started with a group of friends who had the opportunity to buy and share a single cask of whisky and were dazzled by the unadulterated beauty of its flavour.
At the time, they believed they had discovered the secret to drinking the best whisky on the planet.
The philosophy of sharing and savouring single cask bottlings has stayed at the heart of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s maverick ethos ever since.
This dedication to truly delicious drams has seen The Scotch Malt Whisky Society extend into 28 countries and boast almost 40,000 members globally.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s 40th Anniversary release, Society Cask Number 12.79, is one of the oldest Single Malt Scotch whiskies the society has ever released.
This ex-bourbon barrel was first laid down in April 1983, at the very same time as The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was starting its whisky journey, which makes it even more fitting that this is the final release in a collection of eclectic and wonderful celebratory whiskies that have been launched to celebrate this milestone birthday.
This special bottling will be available in the UK, Europe, US, China, Japan, Australia and Taiwan. Retail price into market will include £3000 GBP (for UK), $3995 USD (for US) and €3480 EUR for European markets.
Eden Mill St Andrews has joined forces with renowned Scottish illustrator Jill Calder to create the bespoke packaging for the 2023 release of its annual ‘Art of St Andrews’ collection.
This exclusive and collectible limited edition single malt has been specially crafted by head distiller Scott Ferguson and is the latest in a series of annual expressions designed to celebrate the creativity of local artists.
The much-anticipated 2023 ‘Art of St Andrews’ release is a unique, lightly peated single malt matured in a combination of Bourbon, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez casks, finished in premium ex-Grande Champagne Cognac casks to add some sweeter notes, as well as to maximise depth of flavour and the body of the whisky. It is non-chill filtered, has natural colour and is bottled at 46.5% ABV.
While Eden Mill’s single malt house style is normally unpeated, after meeting Jill and exploring St Andrews together – the home of Eden Mill – Scott felt this peated expression would perfectly complement how deeply Jill had been inspired by the local fauna and flora.
The artwork for Eden Mill’s 2023 Art of St Andrews expression has also been replicated on a giant Scottie Dog statue, one of 30 such statues in the Wild in Art trail designed to celebrate the culture, communities and businesses of north-east Fife and to raise money for Scottish cancer charity Maggie’s.
Eden Mill’s Scottie Dog is situated in St Mary’s Quad in the centre of the town and will remain there for the public to enjoy until mid-November.
The 2023 release of Art of St Andrews (RRP £150, 70cl) is now available to order via the Eden Mill website.
Bladnoch Distillery has added to their new Peated Collection, a celebration of Bladnoch’s innovation and approach to whisky making.
This year, Alinta (previously the only peated expression by Bladnoch) is joined by four new peated whiskies to create a collection for those who love a dram with some fire.
Alinta, derived from indigenous Australian languages, evokes images of "fire" and "flames" and was the first peated whisky to be added to the Bladnoch range since the distillery was taken over by David Prior in 2015.
Alinta is crafted using a combination of PX Sherry and ex-bourbon casks and evokes the notes of campfire embers found in each sip, completely different to anything that had previously been released by Bladnoch Distillery, and not particularly emblematic of the typical Lowlands style of whisky.
Joining Alinta to create Bladnoch’s Peated Collection are four new whiskies made with peated barley: Alinta Reserve, and the three Single Casks, each showcasing distinct flavours and characteristics having been matured in rum, bourbon and sherry hogshead casks.
The Peated Collection Single Casks are created using Bladnoch's 2009 maturing stocks, which are exclusively 100% peated and exceptionally rare.
From November 2023, Ardbeg will launch their latest Committee exclusive whisky, Ardbeg Anamorphic.
Crafted using an experimental and highly extreme cask treatment process, Anamorphic comes from the mind of Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s Director of Distilling and Whisky Creation.
Bottled at 48.2% ABV, this whisky is only available online for Ardbeg Committee Members, with a very limited number available to buy at the Distillery on Islay.
For access to this bottling, which is priced at £165, and more exclusive whiskies, invites to VIP events and news direct from the Distillery, those not already in the Committee can sign up for free at the Ardbeg website.
The GlenAllachie, a Speyside single malt, recently released a new peated single malt Scotch whisky brand: Meikle Tòir.
The new peated label consists of four core expressions, each aged for five years:
The whisky, which clocks in at 71 PPM, was aged in American virgin oak and Sherry casks.
Each has a unique character owed to the mainland peat from St. Fergus used to kiln the barley, the extended fermentation time of 160 hours for an ester-rich spirit, and the superior quality casks sourced by veteran Master Distiller Billy Walker.
Old Pulteney, The Maritime Malt, has announced the second expression within its limited edition Coastal Series: Old Pulteney Port.
The Coastal Series takes whisky drinkers on a voyage of exploration with cask maturations from around the world.
To create the Series, Old Pulteney has partnered with spirits makers from coastal locations across the globe, further maturing its much-loved whisky in a specialist selection of casks and creating four beautifully unique, limited edition expressions that bring wonderful new coastal flavours to ‘The Maritime Malt’.
Old Pulteney Port is a wonderful marriage of flavours from two spirits, both found close to the sea - single malt Scotch whisky from Wick in the Highlands, and Port from the Douro Valley of Northern Portugal.
Carefully matured in second-fill ex-bourbon casks, the expression was then further matured in both hand-selected Ruby Port Pipes and Barriques.
Old Pulteney Port is available to purchase from Old Pulteney official website, The Whisky Exchange and other specialist whisky retailers at £75.
Created in the heart of Edinburgh’s historic Old Town, Holyrood Distillery's Arrival was released in early October and is distilled in a refurbished ‘engine shed’ (once part of the terminus of the Innocent Railway).
It is one of the first single malt whiskies produced in Edinburgh in a century. Founded in 2019, Holyrood Distillery is striving to do something different in whisky by utilising expertise in brewing.
The distillery’s first release uses traditional Scotch pot still malt and distilling yeast, but each future release will be unique and will evolve from this recipe by layering in heritage and speciality malts, alongside a range of yeasts not typically used within scotch whisky production.
The whisky is available in the Holyrood Distillery shop, on their website and in specialist retailers such as Royal Mile Whiskies, The Whisky Shop, Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange. RRP is £67.
Weymss Malts is launching a new limited collection release of 1500 bottles of a rare cask strength blended malt scotch whisky aged for 25 years.
Named A Quarter Passed, it is an exclusive small batch release within Weymss Malts’ Limited Collection, a range of blended single malt Scotch expressions which are highly sought after with each bottling release only available in limited quantities.
Head of production Isabella Wemyss has exclusively sourced this rare blend from single malts from around Scotland matured in American oak ex-Bourbon barrels, where the spirit has been maturing for 25 years.
A Quarter Passed is available to purchase for £235 from 5th October 2023. Find out more online at the Wemyss Malts website.
Earlier this year, Glenfiddich announced the launch of Archive Collection; an initial release of whisky from three hand-picked casks filled in 1973, 1984 and 1987 that unlock a moment in time from the distillery’s warehouses in Dufftown, Speyside.
Now, the Glenfiddich Archive Collection 1973 cask is available to buy, with only 83 bottles available.
The Glenfiddich Archive Collection gives drinkers a chance to taste and experience the vision of William and Elizabeth Grant and the generations of the Grant family that have followed.
Glenfiddich Archive 1973, exclusive to the UK, is taken from a refill American Oak cask where it was aged for 49 years.
Until the end of October 2023, this whisky will be available for purchase exclusively from Berry Brothers & Rudd.
From November onwards, Archive Collection 1973 cask will be available in additional selected luxury retailers at a recommended retail price of £33,500.
The Glasgow Distillery has released cask strength editions of two of its most celebrated single malts in the first of what will be an ongoing series of batched cask strength releases.
Glasgow 1770 Peated Cask Strength Batch 01 and Glasgow 1770 The Original Cask Strength Batch 01, will give fans an insight into the character of two of the distillery’s most popular expressions, straight from the cask.
Both releases are available on The Glasgow Distillery website and in specialist retailers across the UK, with an RRP of £64 for The Original Cask Strength and £66 for Peated Cask Strength.
They will also soon be available in Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, Poland, Belgium, and Switzerland.
