2019 Special Releases Collection Unveiled – Scotch Whisky News

This year’s line-up was launched at an exclusive event at Somerset House in Central London, where guests were guided through a sensorial journey, transporting them from the hustle and bustle of the city to the wild Scottish habitats that inspired this year’s ‘Rare by Nature’ theme.

This carefully selected line-up features discoveries from Diageo’s most precious stocks maturing in Scotland. The collection celebrates whiskies with distinctive maturation techniques, rare finishes and unexpected taste profiles, with this year’s cask strength bottlings bringing to life each distillery’s unique character. Featuring expressions from famous, to supreme examples of the less well known and even closed distilleries, the bottlings are all extremely rare and sought-after whiskies.

Ewan Gunn, Diageo Global Whisky Master, comments, “Discerning drinkers around the world will delight in this new collection. From the hand selected Single Malt Scotch to the visually arresting bottles, they each tell a strong story of the extraordinary place and the people who have shaped each dram. These prestigious and limited-edition bottlings offer fans an opportunity to collect and explore some of our rarest stocks.”

Here is just a snap shot of this year’s line-up:

• Cardhu 14-Year-Old: Smooth and generous, a small batch double matured for two years in Amontillado sherry-seasoned hogsheads
• Cragganmore 12-Year-Old: An unusual smoky expression of a Speyside classic, never released before, matured in refill American oak casks
• Dalwhinnie 30-Year-Old: Extra-mature & gentle highland malt with rich flavours from over thirty years of maturation in refill hogsheads and butts
• Lagavulin 12-Year-Old: Powerful & peaty, the king of Islay, a small batch of Lagavulin matured in refill American oak casks
• Mortlach 26-Year-Old: Rich & bold, a small batch of ‘ The Beast of Dufftown’ matured in first-fill Pedro Ximenez/Oloroso-seasoned casks
• Pittyvaich 29-Year-Old: A 1989 ghost, double matured in Pedro Ximenez & Oloroso sherry seasoned casks
• Talisker 15-Year-Old: Rugged & smoky, made by the sea, the first ever release of Talisker as a 15 year old, matured only in freshly charred American oak hogshead
• The Singleton of Glen Ord 18-Year-Old: A previously unreleased expression of lively rich fruit & spiced oak matured in freshly charred American oak hogshead

About Diageo’s Special Releases

During the late 1980s, the benchmark expressions of single malt whiskies from six single malt distilleries became well known under the CLASSIC MALTS name. Interest in older and rarer malt whiskies in general also grew during this period. One product of this was the RARE MALTS, a series of rarer releases begun in 1995, and which ended in 2005. There remained a demand for unusual, distinctive, often older, unrepeatable cask strength bottlings, usually of the CLASSIC MALTS. Such bottlings allowed collectors, connoisseurs and enthusiasts to enjoy and experience remaining older stocks, and/or unusual expressions of a distillery’s character – a treasure trove of priceless malts. To satisfy this demand, the SPECIAL RELEASES series was born in 2001, and the annual collection – with familiar names and some surprises – has been eagerly awaited by enthusiasts ever since.

You can view our 2018 Special Release collection here.