Two new limited edition whiskies will be released later this month by the Whisky Works, the boutique blending and bottling house attached to Whyte & MacKay.
The Whisky Works launched in early 2019 as an innovation arm of the famous Glasgow-based blender, spearheaded by whisky maker, Gregg Glass.
The latest releases follow the first, a 29 year-old ‘Glaswegian’ Single Grain and ‘King of Trees’, a 10 year-old Highland Blended Malt part-finished in a native Scottish oak cask.
The Whisky Works enables Glass to bring his experimental whisky making vision to life through a series of small-batch bottlings which are all natural colour, non-chill filtered and individually numbered. Each new batch will introduce one classic and one modern, experimental whisky.
The Quartermaster is described as a “Modern Whisky Experiment” with four transatlantic elements coming together to create a unique flavour profile.
This 11 year old blended scotch whisky takes influence from Caribbean rum barrels, Spanish sherry butts and American white oak casks.
The Highland grain component was matured in ex-rum barrels a portion received a further finish in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.
Two Speyside malts were then married with the grain – one matured in American white oak, the other in sherry butts.
2,134 bottles will be made available at 46.4%.
The 20 Year-Old Speyside meanwhile is a single malt finished in 20 year-old Cognac casks from a now closed Speyside distillery.
The spirit was distilled in September 1998 before quietly maturing for 20 years in American White Oak and being transferred to cognac barriques which previously held a rich cognac – also distilled in 1998 – from the Bourgoin Estate in southwest France.
There will be 1,593 bottles available at 47.1% abv.
Gregg Glass said: “I’m incredibly proud of these new expressions which both have unique origins and great stories to tell. The Quartermaster is the result of an experiment with four different woods resulting in a truly unique, and vibrant blend. With our 20 Year-Old single malt, we have breathed new life into a now silent distillery, and uncovered what is a deliciously floral Speyside gem.
At The Whisky Works, we’ve worked hard to cultivate strong relationships with world-class producers to bring us closer to every part of the whisky making process. The collaboration and experimentation involved in the making of these two whiskies really demonstrates the core values of what The Whisky Works is all about.”
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