Whisky Show 2024 bottlings revealed
The Whisky Exchange has created a range of whiskies exclusive to this year’s Whisky Show, which takes place this week (6-8 September).
The range is inspired by the retailer’s #WeAreWhisky campaign, which aims to celebrate the diverse community of whisky drinkers, ‘from industry luminaries to consumers and everyone in between’. Three single malts make up the Show Bottlings range, while a further four whiskies will be exclusive at the show. The limited edition single malts from Ben Nevis, Caol Ila and Dailuane have label art featuring nine different colleagues from The Whisky Exchange. The Whisky Exchange’s buying director Dawn Davies MW said: “This year’s Whisky Show bottlings are not only about great single malts; this year, they’re a chance for us to shine a light on some of the people at The Whisky Exchange, from familiar faces to those working hard behind the scenes to help guide our customers through the world of whisky. “All of these bottles tell those stories, and we couldn’t be more excited to launch them at this year’s show.” Ben Nevis has created a 10-year-old bottling, priced at £71.95 (US$94.50) for 700ml and bottled at 60.2% ABV. The expression was matured in a Sherry butt cask, creating an ‘unmistakable richness’, with ‘caramel and warming cassia bark’ on the palate. Dailuaine’s offering is a 12-year-old single malt bottled at 53.1% ABV and priced at £69.95 (US$92) for 700ml. On the nose, it offers ‘pear and lemon bonbons with vanilla and peach’ while the palate is ‘round and chewy with beeswax, white chocolate and a spot of nutmeg’. A 15-year-old whisky from Caol Ila completes the range, bottled at 53.2% ABV and priced at £105 (US$138) for 700ml. The whisky has the ‘classic Islay style’ of peated malt, and was matured in a refill hogshead cask. The nose has ‘chestnuts and frangipane tart’, while the palate offers ‘dark smoky notes’ and ‘sweet almond paste’ The remaining four exclusives include Filey Bay 2018 IPA Cask from Spirit of Yorkshire, which is made with barley grown on the distillery’s farm. It was finished in a cask that used to hold Wold Top’s Scarborough Fair IPA, offering ‘a hugely fruity character’. Bottled at 51.6% ABV, the expression retails for £125 (US$164) for 700ml. Next up is a blended malt from the Thompson Brothers under the Sutherland brand. The six-year-old whisky combines expressions from Clynelish and Dornoch distilleries and sits at 55.4% ABV. It has a price tag of £84.95 (US$112). The third expression was bottled by Decadent Drinks under the revived Old Orkney label, which has been dormant since the first half of the 20th century. The whisky comes from one of Orkney’s two surviving distilleries, and has a ‘classic style that’s quite different to the distillery’s modern releases’ owing to its maturation in an ex-Bourbon cask. Bottled at 55.8% ABV, it is the priciest in the range at £250 (US$328). The final exclusive is an 18-year-old from a mystery Speyside distillery, bottled by Signatory Vintage at cask strength (61.2% ABV). As a clue, The Whisky Exchange has revealed that the distillery ‘famously uses Sherry casks to create some of the world's most sought-after whisky’, with the expression being fully matured in a single first-fill Sherry butt. It retails for £235 (US$309).
