Turkish bottler unveils Project W whisky line

Independent Turkish bottler KA Icecek has launched The Project W, a series consisting of no-age-statement whiskies bottled from distilleries around Scotland.

The Project W's mission when bottling is to focus on quality rather than the cask age, and it claims to be the first independent bottling project to come from Turkey. The debut release will be a Glenturret Ruadh Maor, which is hand-filled at a cask strength of 55.8% with only 288 bottles available, first released in Turkey and then in the UK. The barrels will be selected by whisky author and Keeper of the Quaich, Burkay Adalığ. Adalığ said: “I’m thrilled and honoured to be a part of this great initiative. I sampled several casks in Scotland for this project and tried to find out the best casks from different regions and styles. “We wanted to debut with a distillery close to my heart, The Glenturret, which was the first ever distillery I visited many years ago and ignited my passion to become a whisky author.” Adalığ received the Keeper of Quaich title in 2022, an award established by the Scotch whisky industry to 'recognise the outstanding commitment' of those who produce or promote Scotch. He also spoke of Turkey's growing interest in whisky, noting: “Turkey is one of the countries with the highest growth figures for whisky consumption. Over the years, the whisky enthusiasts grew a big appetite for premium Scotch whiskies and despite some negative effects in the global markets, [in the first half of 2023] whisky exports to Turkey grew by 14.6% in volume and rose by 26.5% in value to £60.8 million [US$75.2m]. “There’s a large number of whisky collectors in Turkey and KA is happy to contribute to these great collections with the first ever Turkish-led independent bottling brand The Project W.” KA was founded by five Turkish entrepreneurs. One of the founders, Kutay Kose, added: “The Project W is the first project from our newly created spirits company KA Icecek; in time we plan to introduce other premium spirits to the Turkish and global markets.”