NEWS Remember you heard it here first...

The world’s largest bottle of Scotch whisky, The Intrepid, standing at 5ft 11 inches tall and filled with a record-breaking 311 litres of 32-yearold The Macallan, will be auctioned by leading international auction house Lyon & Turnbull on 25 May. The auction is set to attract interest from bidders across the globe. It is hoped the bottle may break the world record for the most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold, which is $1.9m. For any amount the sale achieves above £1.3m, 25 per cent will be donated to the Marie Curie charity. The Intrepid was officially certified by Guinness World Records when it was bottled last year. The bottle contains the equivalent of 444 standard bottles of whisky. To find out more visit www.lyonandturnbull.com

YES THEY CAN

Douglas Laing & Co has released its first ever ready-to-drink cocktail in a can: Rock Island Whisky & Tonic. Presented in a slimline, 250ml can, the packaging highlights the fact that it is less than 100 calories per can, and 5% alcohol by volume (ABV). The Rock Island brand, launched in 2015, uniquely combines single malts from some of the family firm’s preferred island distilleries, including those distilled on Islay, Jura, Orkney and Arran. www.douglaslaing.com News LITTLEMILL, BIG PRICE Scotland’s oldest licensed distillery, Littlemill, has sold the final bottle of its oldest liquid to date, Testament Special Edition, for approximately £20,000 in Singapore. With only four produced FEED worldwide, the special edition is a whisky collectors’ must-have due to its unique case and liquid which was taken from a single distillation dating back to October 1976, making it the oldest release to date from the now-closed Littlemill distillery, once of Bowling on Scotland’s west coast. The distillery closed its doors in the 1990s and was further lost to fire in 2004. The remaining casks are owned and cared for by Loch Lomond Group which is located a short distance from where Littlemill distillery once stood.

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LOCAL HERO

Lagavulin has appointed an Islay local as the new manager of its iconic island distillery. A new manager of its iconic island distillery. A former pupil of Islay High School, Jordan Paisley former pupil of Islay High School, Jordan Paisley travelled the world before returning to the island travelled the world before returning to the island with Diageo. He has been working with the team with Diageo. He has been working with the team at Lagavulin alongside Diageo’s portfolio of other at Lagavulin alongside Diageo’s portfolio of other Islay distilleries as performance improvement Islay distilleries as performance improvement lead since 2019 and will now step up. Jordan lead since 2019 and will now step up. Jordan will take the reins from Pierrick Guillaume who will take the reins from Pierrick Guillaume who joined Lagavulin in 2020, but is returning to joined Lagavulin in 2020, but is returning to his native France after a decade with Diageo. his native France after a decade with Diageo. www.diageo.com www.diageo.com

NEW

EXPRESSIONS

GLEN SCOTIA

FESTIVAL RELEASE 2022

Campbeltown Single Malt, 56.5% ABV, RRP £55 The 8-year-old expression has been matured in heavily peated, first-fill bourbon barrels before a 12-month finish in Pedro Ximenez hogsheads.

BALVENIE FRENCH OAK 16 YEAR OLD

Speyside Single Malt, 46.9%

ABV, RRP £123 This expression explores Pineau from the French Charentes vineyards, marking the first use of French Oak in the distillery’s 129-year history, after maturing for 16 years in American Oak barrels.

FETTERCAIRN WAREHOUSE 2

BATCH 3

Single malt, 50.6%, RRP £60 Limited to just 9,600 bottles, Fettercairn Warehouse 2 Batch No. 003 was distilled in 2015 and matured in a selection of handpicked ex-Bourbon barrels (57%), rum barrels (16%) and French red wine barriques (27%).

JURA 14 YEAR OLD AMERICAN RYE CASK

Single malt, ABV 40%, RRP £42 The dram begins its journey in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels, and the spirit is then further matured in hand selected American rye whiskey barrels. Time spent in these casks adds distinctive layers of cinnamon, vibrant vanilla, cacao and warm honey flavours.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Tamdhu Single Malt Scotch Whisky is celebrating its 125th anniversary year with two limited edition launches. The first is the next chapter in the much-loved Dalbeallie series, priced £100. Two years after the distillery opened, Dalbeallie station was completed on site – bringing barley, passengers and sherry casks from Spain. The Dalbeallie Dram takes its name from the Victorian train station, the second is an exclusive cask strength limited edition of Tamdhu’s recent 18-year-old release, priced £195. Only 1,000 bottles of each have been released. www.tamdhu.com

GLASGOW GLASS GOES

The Glasgow Distillery has launched its new 70cl bottle across its range of Glasgow 1770 Single Malt Scotch Whisky as they step up their global presence with a more environmentally friendly bottle. The new design uses proportionally less glass than the original 50cl bottle, in unpeated, peated and triple distilled drams. www.glasgowdistillery.com

£88 MILLION WHISKY INVESTMENT

Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky business of Pernod Ricard, has announced an £88 million investment into Aberlour and Miltonduff, two of its single malt distilleries. The investment will go into upgrading sustainable distillation technologies at the Speyside distilleries along with significant production capacity expansions. Aberlour will see its production capacity double to 7.8 million litres of alcohol per annum. Miltonduff will get a brand new sustainable distillery. www.chivasbrothers.com