The flavor of cinnamon in wine of Don Valley

The spirit was filled into a single ex-Sherry cask at the Speyside distillery in 1940, shortly before The Second World War forced The Macallan to close for the first time in its history. Bottled at 41.6% abv, only 288 decanters are available worldwide, featuring eye-catching packaging: a mouth-blown glass decanter sitting on a bronze sculpture of three hands, created by Scottish artist Saskia Robinson. The hands represent the distillery workers of 1940 who made the whisky; former Macallan chairm ...

Leading Scotch whisky maker Diageo has unveiled the eight expressions that make up this year’s Special Releases. This is a sought-after annual collection of cask-strength malt and grain whiskies. The range, selected by master blender Dr Craig Wilson, includes famous names such as Lagavulin and Talisker, fellow single malts Clynelish, Cardhu, Oban, Mortlach and The Singleton of Glen Ord. There is also a rare single grain release from the Cameronbridge distillery. Dr Wilson chose the whiskies from ...

Whisky is emphatically a product of place. The flavours in the glass conjure images of the spirit’s origin, from an Islay malt’s distinctive peat smoke to the exotic perfume of a Japanese blend. Traditionally, however, that local accent is lost when spirit is filled into cask. The vast majority of Scotch malts and blends, for example, are matured in oak sourced from thousands of miles away, and previously used to age bourbon or Sherry. Some whiskies might venture into more exotic territory. Thin ...