200 YEAR CELEBRATORY RELEASES
The Scotch industry had much to celebrate in 2024,
despite being stuck in situations that were not the best for the industry due
governmental decisions. The picture is rather bleak when it comes to the
numbers, what with exports dropping by 18% in the first half of 2024 vis-a-vis the
same period in 2023. A downward spiral has set in following a tremendous 2022. The
Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) believes there is pressure on consumer spending.
Upwardly mobile India remains a bright spot, with double-digit growth in the first half of the year – despite the current 150%
tariff on bottled-in-Scotland whisky. India is Scotch whisky’s largest export
territory by volume, and the SWA hopes the new UK government will pick up
negotiations on a trade deal. But then, Indian single malt brands like Rampur
from Radico Khaitan, Indri from Picadilly Industries, Gianchand from Dewansons,
Amrut and Paul John among others have broken into the segment which was dominated
by imported Scotch whisky. In 2023, Indian single malts accounted for nearly 53
per cent of total sales, scoring over global brands such as Glenlivet,
Macallan, Lagavulin, Glenfiddich, and Talisker in the 'local' market, where the
ASP (average selling price) is going up.
Moreover, homegrown Indian liquor makers are mulling
approaching India’s food & beverages regulator for a separate standard for
the Indian single malt whisky that is rapidly scaling with the ongoing trend of
premiumisation and has won several prestigious international awards. This will
help maintain the sanctity and reputation of Indian single malt whisky—now
exported to 60 countries. The sale of Indian single malt whisky is rising in
high double digits in the country—the world's largest whisky market.
Data from Euromonitor International is promising for Scotch whisky, however, a still-faint silver lining. It
estimates that global sales will pick up and reach volumes to increase to
101.4m cases in 2024 and to 103.4m in 2025. The UK’s double-digit duty rise,
announced in the October budget, is less promising for the sector. Scotch
whisky producers already face the highest tax burden in the G7, and have been
put at a further competitive disadvantage. This tax discrimination must be addressed
by the UK government.
IWSR’s Status Spirits Report 2024, which analysed
spirits priced over US$100, discovered that Scotch is now the number-one status
spirit. The category overtook Cognac for the first time after growing by 17%. This
reflects a global trend towards products with intrinsic value – icons of craft,
provenance, quality – attributes that speak to everything Scotch stands for.
THE BRIGHT
SIDE
As is widely known, illicit distilling ran rampant in Ireland and Scotland from Cromwell’s time right up to 1823, when the Duke of Gordon prevailed upon the powers that were, particularly King Henry, to permit licensed distilling. The appropriate Excise Act was passed in 1823 and George Smith, of Minmore, Glenlivet was the first to get a licence for distilling whisky by the new law. He became the immediate target of illegal distillers who saw him as a sell-out, and tales of derring-do bound. 1824 saw the first legal whisky on the market.
Approximately 167 licensed distilleries were reportedly registered in 1824, which increased to 264 by 1826 - almost twice the number in operation today. As it happens, only six of the 167 registered distilleries still exist today. Along with Glenlivet, five other distilleries celebrated their bicentenary in 2024: Macallan, Balmenach, Cardhu, Fettercairn and Miltonduff. Balmenach did not release any whisky in 2024 as it is dedicated to producing fillings for blends.
GLENLIVET
Glenlivet released its oldest whisky to date end September. To celebrate the distillery’s bicentenary, The Glenlivet released the Eternal Collection, First Edition 55-year-old, in collaboration with computational architect Michael Hansmeyer. The whisky was aged in a seasoned Sherry cask for 55 years, resulting in a ‘complex flavour profile and astonishingly long finish’.
The 55-year-old is limited to only 100 spherical
decanters, which sit in a sculpture crafted by Hansmeyer that takes inspiration
from the home of The Glenlivet. The art piece, made using contemporary
modelling through computer programming, features hand-sculpted jesmonite and
rose-gold plating.
As reported earlier, the 55-year-old single malt is the
first edition in The Glenlivet Eternal Collection, a new range of old and rare whiskies
that will be released annually. All future releases, each taken from a single
cask, will be aged for one additional year and be accompanied by an original
artwork crafted by a new artist. This edition is bottled at 42.2% ABV is available
at The Whisky Exchange for €50,000 (US$55,900/£41,800). Earlier this year, The
Glenlivet partnered with The Whisky Exchange to offer a collection of
50-year-old whiskies.
MACALLAN
The Macallan has revealed two new whiskies as part of
its Time: Space Collection, including the world’s oldest single malt. As part
of its ‘200 Years Young’ celebrations, The Macallan has released the Time:
Space Collection – two new editions that embody the brand’s concept of time transit
via whisky mastery. Both releases are presented in custom-made vessels crafted using
‘cutting edge’ technology embedded in ancient craftsmanship.
Time: Space: The first release, Time: Space, is a twin
chamber container that includes the oldest whisky released by The Macallan at
84 years, which is accommodated in the outer chamber, thereby portraying the bygone
era. This expression has been aged in two casks: a first fill American oak butt
and a second fill European oak butt –seasoned with Sherry in Jerez de la
Frontera and finally matured at home.
Bottled at 43.4% ABV, the 84 year creation has a rich
natural colour, projecting ‘exceptional depth’ as well as richness and full,
long-lasting flavour exclusive to this rare, aged single malt Scotch whisky.
The twin central chamber holds a five-year-old second single malt, the first
from the Macallan’s new distillery – a 2018 vintage. The container housing the whisky
is set in an oak sculpture resolutely designed to emphasise the 100% natural
colour of the whisky. Alternate layers of American and European oak were chosen
to house the display sculpture, in deference to the brand’s commitment to
Sherry seasoned oak casks.
With only 200 in existence, one for each year of The
Macallan’s History, this dual expression is said to capture the essence of time
travel, the masterly creation may be bought only by invitation, with price revealed
only on application.
Time: Space Mastery—In continuation of the theme, the
second release, called Time: Space Mastery, is a distinctive single malt
boasting levels of complexity that focus the projection of 200 years of the
brand’s history. This expression features whiskies aged in 14 separate cask
types, thereby creating levels of complexity in fresh depths of fragrance, feel
and flavour. With whisky from the extent of The Macallan’s vast inventory, the
expression includes distinct influences from European and American oak sherry-seasoned
casks, American oak Bourbon casks, and the distillery’s superb refill casks.
The whisky is housed in a crafted circular vessel describing
the circle of life and the continuous journey from ancient times to the future.
In contrast to the subtlety of the exterior, the presentation case ‘bursts to
life’ with a vibrant red colour – synonymous with The Macallan – and 200 porcupine
spikes, for the brand’s bicentennial year, a likeness of how nature guards what
is most favorite and fragile, utilising old methods established eons ago by the
Japanese art of origami.
Time: Space Mastery may be purchased directly from The
Macallan subject to availability and location, as well as via The Macallan
Society Ballot in the UK and Europe. The release of Time: Space Collection is
accompanied by a global marketing campaign, leading with two films that take
audiences on a journey through a spike-laden world where time flows and nature
protects what is most precious. The two distinct stories highlight The
Macallan’s connection to nature through different characters, animals and
plants.
FETTERCAIRN
To celebrate its 200th anniversary, Whyte &
Mackay-owned distillery Fettercairn has created a collection of six single
malts with a total cost of £100,000. Only 10 sets of the collection were made
and has a combined age of 200 years.
The range is comprised of a 60-year-old single malt, a
49-year-old, a 35-year-old, a 28-year-old, a 25-year-old and a 3-year-old.
The
60 YO, which is the oldest release from Fettercairn to date, was distilled in
1964, the year distillery manager Stewart Walker was born. Similarly, each
bottle signifies a specific landmark event, including the final and youngest
single malt in the collection, the three YO, distilled in 2021, coinciding with
the launch of the Scottish Oak Programme. The initiative aims to create a
circular economy for locally grown oak and includes the planting of the
Fettercairn Forest, which will eventually create oak to be used in Fettercairn
casks.
The whiskies are presented in handcrafted Scottish oak
cabinets and feature brass, copper and patina as a nod to the distillery’s
cooling ring. Each bottle sits on a coaster that depicts the whisky’s tasting
notes. The
Fettercairn 200th Anniversary Collection was available from September for
£100,000 (US$127,640) in select regions, including Taiwan, Singapore, the UK,
France and Canada.
CARDHU
Cardhu distillery in Speyside is, upon arriving at it, like many others in the area. There are beautiful stone buildings, a large forecourt, a visitor’s centre, stills, washbacks, casks… the things one would expect to find at any whisky-making outpost in the region. But it has a most curious and unique history. It is when you pierce below its surface to understand more of its past that you realise this was no ordinary distillery. The history of Cardhu is forever entangled with the stories of two of the sharpest, most inventive and strong-willed women in Scotland’s early whisky narrative: Helen and Elizabeth Cumming. The former laid the foundations for success while the latter built on those and took Cardhu to being one of the most important in the region.
To celebrate its 200th anniversary, Cardhu remembered its difficult early days in debuting a
12-year-old single malt on International Women’s Day.
In memory of Cardhu’s ‘original female pioneers’, the packaging also
features an image of Helen waving a red flag, which she used to signal for
neighbours to hide their illicit stills from the approaching authorities.
The
release panel consisted of Diageo whisky specialist Eve Murphy, Cardhu
distillery manager Roselyn Burnett and Diageo archivist Jo McKerchar, all
ladies distinguished in the field of Scotch Whisky.
The 12-year-old Cardhu single malt is bottled at 40%
ABV and retails for £58 (US$74). The team at Cardhu worked hard to make the
200-year anniversary bottle something that speaks to the inspiring example that
Helen and Elizabeth set two centuries ago. Never afraid to test boundaries, the
women who were, and remain a huge part of Cardhu have once again achieved
something special with this beautiful red wine cask edition.
The expression is the first from the distillery to have
been matured exclusively in ex-wine casks, which provide ‘fresh berries and
blackcurrants’ on the nose, while the palate offers ‘cinnamon spice, demerara
sugar and dark chocolate’.
Cardhu has a history of pioneering women at its
forefront, something unheard of when the distillery began 200 years ago. It
took innovation and courage to go against the grain in the way the Cumming
family did, and with this in our heritage it was only right we did something
bold to celebrate such an anniversary. As a perfect example of the Speyside
style of whisky, it was exciting work for their blending and distilling experts
to create an adapted iteration of what people expect from the distillery, while
perfecting the liquid to ensure it retains those classic notes which people
look for from Cardhu.
MILTONDUFF
To celebrate its 200th anniversary, Speyside-based
distillery Miltonduff, known for being part of many great blended Scotch
whiskies, including Ballantine’s, released its oldest single malt – a
41-year-old whisky matured in Sherry oak casks, which was distilled in 1982,
through Duncan Taylor. Described as ‘rich and full-bodied’, the 41-year-old
whisky carries fruit notes and creamy overtones.
Miltonduff single malts have rarely been seen since the
1980s. In 2005, the distillery was sold and is currently undergoing an
extensive upgrade. Despite being a relative unknown, Miltonduff is the second-largest
whisky distillery in the Chivas group — its output of about 5 million litres
per year is second only to The Glenlivet.
Miltonduff was, briefly, part of Allied Distiller’s
Caledonian Malts range (alongside Laphroaig, Tormore, Scapa and Glendronach)
but other than a limited edition 18-year-old cask strength bottling and a 15-year-old single malt in 2017 under the Ballantine’s brand, no official releases have
taken place under Chivas Brothers' ownership.