Quite a lot of positive Islay Whisky news at the start of July. First of all Response Source published a press release with great news for Lagavulin: "Lagavulin, the iconic single malt whisky from Islay, has again won Double Golds. In fact it won three - for its classic 16 year old expression, for its rare 21 year old release, and for its majestic Distillers Edition cask-finished in oak previously housing Pedro-Ximenez sherry." Congratulations!!

BBC Scotland reports the following good news for Islay: "Whisky giant Glenmorangie is to relocate its headquarters to Edinburgh and upgrade distilleries at Tain and on Islay as part of a £45m plan." The plans for Ardbeg involve further development of the distillery which includes a further upgrading of the visitor centre and the construction of a new cask warehouse.

According to Drinks International Bowmore is back in business: "Scotch whisky maker Bowmore has returned to action after a drought on Islay forced the distiller to halt production. Bowmore sprang back into life last week, a spokesperson told Drinks International. Nearly three months without serious rainfall had cut the distillery’s water supply, forcing it to stop production for around two weeks." Continue reading.....In the meanwhile Bruichladdich issued the following press release on their website: "We have released three dramatic, new versions of the successful multi-vintage range of Bruichladdich Islay single malt whisky. Each cuvée is masterfully assembled by our own whisky legend - Jim McEwan - from several ages of Bruichladdich, from different cask types and diverse whisky characteristics. The concept was originally inspired by Champagne’s Remi Krug who once explained the difference between vintage and multi vintage winemaking: 'With a single vintage, it is God who decides on the quality. But with a multi-vintage, I am God.'

The three new bottlings of Rocks, Waves and Peat, were each designed to show the full repertoire of Bruichladdich style and peat flavour - in effect the whole gamut of Islay whiskies. MD Mark Reynier says: 'They had sort of evolved rather haphazardly. We decided to bring them together under one umbrella, three all new bottlings, each with it’s own distinct identity and flavour profile: 'Rocks is the classic aperitif cuvée - minimal peat, so deliciously fresh and fruity - with a surprisingly sophisticated flavour profile thanks to the French oak cask influences. Waves is mildly peaty at around 15ppm, beguilingly elegant with oodles of Bruichladdich finesse and fruit. A real anytime of day dram. Peat does what it says on the tin. It replaces the 3D range, has been toned down a bit with an average peatiness of around 35ppm. Plenty of peat but without the medicine."

Each of these new whiskies have a stylish PDF folder with more information which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Tag: lagavulin ardbeg bowmore bruichladdich whisky distilleries