Wemyss Malts bottles whiskies from family collection

by Annie Hayes

Family-owned independent bottler Wemyss Malts has launched a selection of blended Scotch malt whiskies from its private collection of casks, called Wemyss Family Collection.

Over the past decade, Wemyss has sourced a assortment of oak casks to fill with single malt spirit from distilleries across Scotland. Each year the company will bottle select whiskies from the collection, each focusing on a specific influence spanning regional, malt style and cask variety. The first two Wemyss Family Collection releases comprise two opposite whisky styles: Bourbon cask matured and Sherry cask matured whisky. The "light and fruity" Vanilla Burst is a blend of two Speyside single malts that matured in 15 first-fill ex-Bourbon barrels, while Treacle Chest is a blend of two unseated Highland single malts matured in 14 first-fill ex-Sherry hogsheads and has a "sweet, cereal character". Isabella Wemyss, director of production at Wemyss Malts, said: "Great effort and time has been taken to ensure the Wemyss Family Collection will be remarkable blended malts, from the very first steps of selecting the spirit and sourcing exceptional casks from around the world, to selecting and blending the mature casks under the supervision of leading industry professionals." Both blended malts are non-chill-filtered and of natural colouring, and are bottled at 46% abv. Vanilla Burst and Treacle Chest will be available mid-August from selected retailers in the UK, EU and key Asian markets with the RRP of £43 and £47 respectively.