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We are sending a weekly newsletter about important and interesting news in the whisky community. We hand pick and comment on 10-15 pieces of news that are worth sharing.


Industry news

  • Another whisky release from a carmaker and distillery collaboration. This time Glenturret, a distillery owned by the Lalique group, makes a tribute to the Jaguar E- Type. Given you are a subscriber to this newsletter, you are most likely familiar with Lalique’s work from the Macallan Lalique series. The group created the decanters and is generally very successful in promoting luxury brands. Marketing-wise, their release with Jaguar is brilliant and well-timed. Being launched after Macallan’s and Bowmore’s similar promotions makes them appear as part of the big boys league. The league reserved for those who make series with luxury carmakers. With an output of about 250,000 – 350,000 liters of pure alcohol a year, new distillery owners and this kind of promotion, there is no doubt that we are witnessing a distillery go premium. While this makes perfect sense for Glenturret, I have yet to find the same benefits for Bowmore and Macallan for their pairings with Aston Martin and Bentley, respectively. You may say that people who drive such cars can afford to drink these whiskies, and people who drink such whiskies can afford these cars, but it will be very shameful if this is just an up-sale for one another. As for the brand associations, neither needs that extra push from the other to make it more luxurious. Glenturret, on the other hand, is a whole different story. We will follow this release with an initial £1,500 price tag. We could see whether the move was successful or not in a couple of months, based on how a bottle’s price will fare in the auctions
  • A 5,800$ bottle gifted to former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has gone missing. The article is a shame to both journalism and whisky lovers. You don’t call a 5,800$ bottle of Japanese whisky “booze”, and you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to try and figure out what most likely happened to the bottle of good whisky.
  • O’Shaughnessy Distillery, based in Minneapolis, will introduce a blend of Irish triple pot, Irish grain and American rye whiskeys. The blend Keeper’s Heart will be available in Minnesota starting this August. This is very interesting. The creation of a blend of whiskeys from different countries is not new, yet a remarkable event. You can see more examples of unorthodox blends here. Note that the founder of High West distillery, David Perkins, is figuring in both articles. Seems like the man has a true passion for blending. As of today, there have been no strong players or grand successes in this whisky category, but it is reasonable to suggest that there will be in the near future. While single country blends, like Irish or Scotch, have an initial set of only local distilleries to blend from, multinational blends have much more room to experiment. I am not saying that any blender can ever exhaust all types of blends and variations in their home country, but adding extra flavours from around the globe might not be a bad idea.
  • Apparently, you can buy 4L “King Whiskey Rin” in Amazon Japan. It comes in a plastic bottle. The description is legendary and I paste it here untouched:

    “The King Whiskey “Rin” Select is a whiskey that has been used for the previous King Whiskey “Rin” and a new whiskey that has been selected and blended this time to achieve a cleaner, aftertaste. The “Din” design is the same as the “Select” name, with the whiskey and high quality feel, and the “Select” name is used to express the use of newly selected liquor”.

    Given the 37% ABV of the spirit, you can’t really call it a whisky. Maybe liquor at most. Still funny though.
  • Whiskyauctioneer.com goes live today with Milk & Honey First Single Malt 100 bottles. It will be very interesting to follow and see how much premium people are willing to pay for a good serial number.

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