Meregalli, historic importer for Italy of Gordon & MacPhail, has launched two new expressions on the Italian market. The first is a 2004 full grade Caol Ila for the famous Connoisseurs Choice series. Before being bottled in January 2020 at 58.9%, it rested for 15 years in a sherry butt refill from which 535 bottles came out. While G&M’s Caol Ila is always a guarantee, the second expression is an absolute rarity. It is a monumental Glen Albyn 1979 bottled in 2019 for the luxurious Private Collection. A unique whisky for many reasons: first because the Inverness distillery was closed in 1983; second because it has been aged for 40 years in a first-filling puncheon sherry. The alcohol content is 52.2% and the circulation is 142 bottles.

THE OLDEST KILCHOMAN SINGLE CASK: 14 YO FOR “IMPEX” (U.S.A.)

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Kilchoman’s landing in America, one of the oldest whiskies bottled by the Islay distillery arrives exclusively for the United States. This is barrel no.18, the 32nd filled at Kilchoman, a first fill Bourbon barrel selected by Anthony Wills for the “Cask evolution” series of ImpEx beverages. A 14 yo distilled in 2006 and bottled in 208 pieces at 53%.

valinch & mallet: glen moray 11 yo manzanilla

Fabio Ermoli and Davide Romano’s imaginative journey into the wonderful universe of wood continues. A tour that is enriched by a new stage, a Glen Moray 11 yo for the series The Young Masters Edition. Elgin’s single malt was placed in 2008 in the hogshead ex Manzanilla #5775, a very impressive hogshead. The result is 365 bottles at 53.4%.

BIVROST “NIFLHEIM”, THE FIRST ARCTIC WHISKY

The whisky frontier moves even further north and precisely crosses the Arctic Circle. It does so thanks to Aurora Spirit distillery, just a few kilometres from Tromsø, which has been producing whisky under the Bivrost label since 2016. The distillery, at the foot of the Lyngen Alps, uses Norwegian barley, a wash from the Mack brewery and purified glacier water. The whisky ages in small barrels, safe in some German bunkers from the Second World War. Waiting for the first “real” expression of the core range – expected in 2025 – the first of ten special and “collectible” bottling plants dedicated to the worlds of Norse mythology was launched on the market. It is called Niflheim, or “world of fog”, and is distilled three times. It is a 3-year-old triple cask matured (bourbon, sherry, virgin oak) and 1622 bottles of 50 cl to 46% were produced.

NEW “LIQUID TREASURES” BOTTLINGS IMPORTED BY MILANO WHISKY FESTIVAL

After the rich online tastings organized in recent months, Andrea and Giuseppe of Milano Whisky Festival have become exclusive importers for Italy of Liquid treasures, the independent German bottler behind which the organizers of the Limburg Festival are hiding. On whiskyshop.it you can still find a 2010 vintage Bruichladdich (54%, ex Bourbon barrel, 168 bottles) and a 2011 vintage Glen Garioch (59.9%, ex Bourbon barrel, 132 bottles) from the last “collection”. But new releases are also coming soon:
– Inchgower 2010 (10 yo, 58.8%)
– Heaven Hill 2009 (10 yo, 50.2%)
– Highland malt 2000 (19 yo, 55.6%)
– Glen Keith 1993 (27 yo, 58.4%)

CHORLTON WHISKY: NEW STUFF FOR ITALY

Some of the latest releases of Chorlton Whisky arrive in Italy, which were held back for a while because of the lockdown: they are three youngsters, an 12-year-old Caol ila, a 12-year-old Teaninich and a mysterious Orkney (which is not so mysterious, you know) matured for 12 years. All three in bourbon, all three at cask strength: btw, they are the latest bottlings with this style of labels, with which we were madly in love…

A.d. rattray cask collection

The new batch of A.D. Rattray arrives in Italy, and as usual it ranges between very young and more mature barrels: among these bottlings, we are particularly curious about an 11-year-old Tobermory, a 16 year-old Invergordon and the very clear 24-year-old Glen Keith. But for the record, there is a 5-year-old Benriach, a 9-year-old Tormore, a 10-year-old Fettercairn and a 12-year-old Croftengea (one of the crazy peated malts produced in Loch Lomond).

COMPASS BOX: THE PEAT MONSTER ‘arcana’

This new Compass Box label “Peat Monster” circulates on the net, directly from Bomarzo – no, it’s not true, before someone then thinks that. It’s “Arcana”, a blended malt whose composition is naturally very declared: 71% Talisker in hogshead refill, 11% Miltonduff in First Fill Bourbon, 10% Peat Monster (the normal mix: you go and see what it was made of, if you have patience) matured another two years in Refill French Oak ‘Heavy Toast’, 6% Ardbeg and a decisive 2% of a Highlands Blended Malt in French Oak ‘Heavy Toast’. Sounds interesting.