London, 23rd March 2021: Beam Suntory’s Laphroaig is excited to announce the launch of 10 Year Old Sherry Oak – a new take on its iconic single malt, and a welcome addition to the core range – available from Monday 12th April at The Whisky Exchange, Whisky Shop and Master of Malt.
Finished in Oloroso sherry casks for twelve to eighteen months, this new expression combines the unforgettable flavour of the Laphroaig 10 Year Old with the sweet and aromatic flavours of the sherry casks. Each cask has been carefully selected to compliment the distinct taste of Laphroaig, adding a complexity and balance which is sure to excite Laphroaig lovers everywhere.
Laphroaig Sherry Oak shines an auburn and tawny colour, and has a rich, full bodied flavour. The marriage of casks creates notes of Manuka honey, bacon, and maple syrup, alongside the classic smoke, seaweed, and hint of salt that Laphroaig is known and loved for. As with all Laphroaig expressions, the finish is long-lasting, sweet, and spicy.
Since 1815 Laphroaig has been creating premium single malt Scotch whisky, and the new Sherry Oak finish presents a new flavour profile for lovers of the Islay-distillery’s unforgettable flavour. For the discerning whisky lover, who is drawn to Laphroaig as the most richly flavoured of all Scotch whiskies, this is a must-have cabinet addition.
John Campbell, Laphroaig Distillery Manager, has said “We are so excited to announce the release of our unique and premium expression, Sherry Oak, taking our iconic Laphroaig 10 Year Old and finishing it with the sweet flavours of Oloroso sherry cask. This is a perfect accompaniment to any whisky collection and a celebrated addition to the Laphroaig range.”
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Sweet and peaty with medicinal notes, Manuka honey, with strong clove aroma but also grilled smoky bacon, a distinctive character of sweet leather, iodine, and pine tar.
Palate:
Sweet and aromatic, with rich wax and furniture polish notes followed by treacle toffee, maple syrup, bitter dark chocolate combined with oak shavings, pine needle and cedar scented wood.
Finish:
The finish is long sweet and spicy with chestnut honey and antiseptic aroma lingering.
Colour:
Tawny, Auburn.
Maturation:
European Oak Oloroso Sherry Finished + Refill Oloroso Sherry matured + American Oka ex-Bourbon Matured.
Serving:
Best served neat, with ice or a drop of water.
ABV:
Bottled at 48% ABV
£65 | 48% | 700ml
Available from The Whisky Exchange, Whisky Shop and Master of Malt
2nd November 2020: Laphroaig, the UK’s number one peated single malt*, has announced the launch of a new fully integrated above the line campaign. It is aimed at capturing the unique reactions of consumers attempting to describe the smoky flavour of this iconic Islay single malt.
Basking in the divisive, yet unforgettable, taste of Laphroaig, the campaign will appear across broadcast TVC (30”) with social and digital media (15”) going live from 1 December.
‘You’ll always remember your First Laphroaig’ is the next chapter of Laphroaig’s Opinions Welcome advertising campaign and the idea that everyone has their own, often unexpected but always unique reaction to this whisky. The new creative plays on this concept via the coming together of first time Laphroaig drinkers.
Filming genuine members of the public across a variety of ages and backgrounds, each individual is handed a bottle and glass and invited to enjoy their first sip. Beginning with trying to pronounce the name of the infamous liquid, what ensues is a variety of facial expressions that range from hesitant and unsure, to full-blown dislike, pleasant surprise and deep love for the taste – each perfectly capturing the experience without the need for words. The film concludes with two of the brand’s newest and biggest fans fervently nodding and proclaiming their newfound love for Laphroaig.
Perfectly articulating Laphroaig’s personality in a way that transcends traditional whisky advertising, the playful yet honest persona positions the experience of drinking a Laphroaig as a memorable one, no matter the outcome.
Nick Ganich, Head of Brands, Edrington-Beam Suntory UK said, “The idea that Laphroaig isn’t for everyone is what makes it such an iconic and inclusive brand. You may love or indeed dislike the taste, but what is certain is that drinking Laphroaig is a deeply personal experience that elicits great emotion and often debate amongst our customers and consumers.”
Jim Robinson, Managing Director, Warp & Woof said: “Bringing this core part of the brand’s personality to life through the campaign has been a lot of fun and something we believe will encourage thousands of soon to be die-hard fans to discover Laphroaig.”
The campaign will also feature as part of Video on Demand through Sky Go, ITV and All 4 and in a variety of formats across both Instagram and Facebook. Furthermore, it will stretch across UK retail and e-commerce outlets featuring Laphroaig’s “Opinions Welcome” gift packs in the lead up to the key Christmas period.
To find out more about the campaign or Laphroaig more generally visit www.laphroaig.com. Alternatively subscribe to the Laphroaig UK YouTube channel or check out Facebook and Instagram for updates and news.
*Nielsen / CGA MAT Combined Sept 2020
BOWMORE UNVEILS ‘THE ART OF TIME®’
UNLOCKING AND CELEBRATING A LEGACY OF OVER 240 YEARS
London, 17th September, Bowmore unveils a new major global campaign celebrating the ‘The Art of Time®’, since 1779. For the first time, we will tell the Bowmore story in depth, unlocking the rich layers of our heritage and paying homage to the craftsmanship and legacy behind our single malt.
‘The Art of Time’ is a global marketing campaign, which will be released in October 2020. It will be deployed across traditional media, social and digital commerce platforms with new still and dynamic content, secondary imagery and a set of key visuals. It will also be executed in stores with dedicated displays for mass retail, and premium visibility and window displays for whisky specialists and department stores, and for events.
‘The Art of Time’ tells the story of Bowmore’s exceptional quality and how our whiskies benefit from the power of time, becoming even more beautiful and precious over the years.
Bowmore is a pioneering house and the oldest licensed distillery on Islay; we have been refining our craft for over 240 years, and we still handcraft our malts today. ‘The Art of Time’ is central to the way we make our whisky. We invest more time than necessary at every stage of our process. We have our own proprietary malt barns, hand-turning our barley. We allow for perfectly timed fermentation periods. And we take our time to hand-select our casks, nosing every single one before it is filled with our new make. This care and attention to detail is what creates the complex balance of not just mild smokiness, but also maritime minerality and fresh stone fruit notes which is so characteristic of our timeless house style. This is the reason why Bowmore ages like no other, making us one of the world’s most collectible Islay malts today.
‘The Art of Time’ has provided the canvas for a refreshing new approach to Bowmore, ensuring a single identity across the core and prestige range, featuring a striking new colour palette and visual feel, inspired by the Islay coastal landscape coming together with the whisky itself.
For the campaign’s distinctive new visuals, Bowmore has drawn inspiration from its stunning surroundings, specifically Islay’s black stone formations that also surround our distillery. These formations have a strong connection to Bowmore’s own story, and Islay is home to some of the oldest strata in the world. These rocks have been shaped over a long period of time, transformed by seasons and enriched by the wild elements, just like our whisky.
Black stones also bring us back to the origins of the Bowmore name. Some historians believe it to be derived from a small black reef just outside Lochindaal whilst others reference the Norse for sunken rock, bogha mor, as its origination. Whichever may be true, this black stone is meaningful to our home and our name. It is central to our new visual identity and the foundation of our new key visual, leveraging black rocks as a metaphor to visually bring to life the layers of time and its transformative power. From rough beauty, our new make, to the smoothest layer of all, our Bowmore whisky, Bowmore is a masterpiece sculpted by time.
Céline Daniel, Global Marketing Manager at Bowmore, comments, “We are delighted to unveil our new ‘The Art of Time’ campaign, bringing Bowmore to life in a bold new way but importantly, remaining grounded in our history and roots on Islay. This is the first time we will be exploring Bowmore’s history and craftsmanship with such depth and with such consistency at a global level.
“We believe that Bowmore is a work of art, and our understanding and respect for time is central to how and why we craft our whisky. With this campaign, we will show how Bowmore uses time to transform our celebrated single malt into a true masterpiece. By drawing inspiration from the black rocks surrounding our distillery, we are also paying homage to the way time has shaped not only our whisky, but also Islay itself.”
‘The Art of Time’ global campaign is launching shortly after Bowmore announced its first collaborative creation with Aston Martin in August 2020, the Black Bowmore DB5 1964, a striking concept which brings together an iconic whisky and a legendary car in a bottle of equal parts, featuring exceptional single malt and a genuine Aston Martin DB5 piston with only 25 bottles* for sale. This partnership with Aston Martin reinforces Bowmore’s commitment to taking the time to create something special, with the craft and patience required to make sports cars and single-malt Scotch whisky very much intertwined.
Gordon & MacPhail, the single malt Scotch whisky creator, has unveiled a new addition to its ‘Private Collection’: Gordon & MacPhail 1948 from Glen Grant Distillery. At 70-years-old, it is the oldest expression from the Speyside distillery ever bottled.
The latest release closely follows the acclaimed 50-year-old Gordon & MacPhail 1968 from Caol Ila Distillery, the oldest single malt ever bottled from the Islay distillery.
The rare and exclusive Gordon & MacPhail 1948 from Glen Grant Distillery was matured in Cask 2154, a first fill Sherry butt filled on 11 June 1948 – six years before barley rationing restrictions were lifted following the Second World War. Only 210 decanters of this highly sought-after whisky are available to purchase.
The ‘Private Collection’ comprises a selection of rare single malts from celebrated, little-known, or closed distilleries personally selected by members of the Urquhart family, owners of Gordon & MacPhail.
Members of four generations of the Urquhart family nurtured Cask 2154. John Urquhart selected the cask with his son, George, back in 1948. George oversaw storage of the cask in the fabled Warehouse No. 5 at Glen Grant Distillery. His eldest son, Ian, monitored the whisky and, in May 1968, arranged for the Sherry butt to be moved to Gordon & MacPhail’s Elgin warehouse. Ian’s nephew, Stuart, the company’s Operations Director, selected Cask 2154 for bottling on 19 October 2018.
Stephen Rankin, Gordon & MacPhail’s Director of Prestige and member of the fourth generation of the Urquhart family, reflected: “Our family has matured single malt whiskies for 123 years, each generation passing on its knowledge of how to combine spirit and oak to create exquisite whiskies. Four generations of my family have carefully nurtured Cask 2154 over its 70 years to produce this unique whisky.
“My great-grandfather, John, selected the first fill Sherry butt in 1948 to fill with new-make spirit from Glen Grant. My family has patiently watched over this cask, regularly monitoring and sampling the whisky, recognising the right moment to bottle it at its ultimate peak. This masterpiece epitomises the skill and craft involved in matching a cask to new-make spirit, as well as our dedication to creating unique and intriguing whiskies.
“Thanks to the notable influence of the Sherry butt on the spirit over the years, the elegant whisky displays flavours of dried fruit, orange zest, and cracked black pepper whilst maintaining a long, smooth charred oak finish. The remarkable 70-year-old malt also has delicate smoky notes, a reminder that, in 1948, the distillery would have been using traditional practices on their floor maltings and local peat as a fuel.”
Bottled at cask strength (ABV 48.6%), the amber coloured single malt is presented in an exquisitely engraved, hand-blown crystal decanter. The stunning whisky is framed in a striking wooden presentation case, with doors which smoothly slide open to reveal the precious contents.
In April 2018, Gordon & MacPhail streamlined its portfolio of single malt Scotch whiskies. Over recent months, the company has unveiled several remarkable ‘Private Collection’ releases: Gordon & MacPhail 1968 from Caol Ila Distillery and Gordon & MacPhail 1954 from Glenlivet Distillery.
Gordon & MacPhail 1948 from Glen Grant Distillery will be available for purchase worldwide from selected specialist retailers* (UK RRP £17,500**).
For more information, please visit www.gordonandmacphail.com.
#GordonandMacPhail
*Gordon & MacPhail 1948 from Glen Grant Distillery will be available to purchase in the US in spring 2019.
**Prices in international markets may vary due to local taxes and import duties.
As you know at Malt Marketing we always like to keep you updated with news and all that’s happening in the world of premium whisky and if ever the term ‘premium’ was to be applied to any whisky, The Macallan would probably be first inline to be bestowed with such a title. With the recent opening of their new multi-million pound distillery and visitor centre, there is always something exciting happening in the world of Macallan. Below we share a clip from their recent Macallan Distillery light show held in celebration of this grand opening.
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