Lagavulin Casks of Distinction
This week a new Lagavulin popped up. It’s a limited edition Lagavulin 23 Years 1992 single cask, exclusively selected by Boyao Zhao. Not sure who that is or whether this means it will only be available in Asia, in any case it is the first release in a new Casks of Dinstinction series.
This release was bottled at cask strength 55,7% from cask #5745, a bodega sherry European Oak butt that yielded 420 bottles. No information about the availability yet.
Update: apparently Casks of Distinction is a Prestige Commercialisation programme by Diageo. The company owns about eight million casks from 28 operating and 11 closed malt distilleries. If you have enough money, you can pick a nice one from their inventory and have it privately bottled with your name on the label.
Boyao Zhao contacted me to explain that he personally selected this cask. It would be the only from Lagavulin in this series, with this package. I suppose it won’t be publically available.
BenRiach & GlenDronach news
The BenRiach launched two wood finishes: BenRiach 17 Year Old Pedro Ximénez and BenRiach 21 Year Old Tawny Port. Both of them replace the 15 year-old counterparts that existed before. Both have been matured in traditional ex-bourbon casks and then received a finishing. Bottled at 46%.
Sister distillery GlenDronach re-releases the GlenDronach 14 Year Old Virgin Oak finish first issued in July 2010. It is initially matured in European Oak casks and thereafter finished in a small batch of new oak casks.
The BenRiach also presented Batch 13 of their single casks. The oldest two are a 40 years old 1975 (peated, Sherry butt) and a 39 years old 1976 (also peated with a Tawny Port finish). Twelve single casks are available in total, the youngest being a 1999 vintage.
Bruichladdich Micro Provenance
Also new: part four of the Micro Provenance series from Bruichladdich, tagged #LaddieMP4. Three unpeated expressions, between 8 and 11 years old, bottled from sherry cask #16-062, Syrah cask #361 and bourbon cask #1062. They are available as a set of 20cl bottles for around € 60. More info here.
