HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Inaugural whisky releases are coming thick and fast this year, and Blair Bowman is champing at the bit to uncover the greatest new drams of 2021
Champing at the bit to uncover 2021's greatest new drams, Blair Bowman has plenty to look forward to
Inaugural whisky releases are like buses – they arrive in threes, or indeed all at once. In recent months, we have seen a flurry of distilleries coming of age, and interestingly seven of them – according to my research – started distilling in 2017, meaning that their prized spirits can now be released as ‘whisky’ following the all-important three years of maturation. It is, however, entirely up to the individual distillery whether or not to bottle their three-year-old, or keep it tucked away in the barrels a little longer.
More often than not, new distilleries find this a rather straightforward decision. Keen to increase cash flow as soon as possible after burning through their initial float, they’ll want to crack those casks open pronto. But not at the expense of quality.
Following the initial investment of building their distillery, they continue laying down casks of spirit. Most savvy new owners will also plan to release a three-year-old whisky, and as such ensure they make the right spirit in the right cask, in order that the three-year milestone sees a whisky mature enough for sale.
Recently a new whisky distillery in England was on the brink of releasing its inaugural whisky. I had even received a ‘save the date’ invitation for a Zoom tasting of said new water of life. But while the anticipation mounted, I was told a few weeks before the event that they had decided to postpone the release and give the whisky more time to mature. An interesting last-minute decision, but quality over quantity reigns supreme as always.
In fact, there are several new distilleries in Scotland that have claimed they won’t release a drop of their whisky until it is over 14 years old. A bold statement – clearly they’re not in a rush to push out a young whisky – and presumably they’ve the swelling bank accounts to match such grand plans.
Starting in the summer of 2020 and continuing on through the year, we saw several exciting newbies pitching their inaugural releases to the world.
Ardnamurchan Distillery is one such distillery, releasing their AD: 09/20:01, a six year old, just a few months ago. A combination of bourbon and sherry casks were used in the making of the spirit, with a fifty-fifty split of unpeated and peated whisky. With black pepper spice and strawberries, this cracking whisky is reminiscent of a sprightly Talisker.
When Nc’Nean Distillery on the Morvern Peninsula joined the new whisky release club with their Ainnir, they auctioned off the first ten bottles for charity. Incredibly, bottle number one sold for a stonking £41,001 – quadruple the previous record for a first bottle inaugural release. The whisky sold out remarkably quickly, and a Batch One release arrived soon after which was fragrant, fresh, and had citrus and tropical fruit notes.
Of course, judging a bottle by its packaging is not the right tack, but
Raasay’s inaugural release has also taken the whisky world by storm with its stunning appearance. Having visited Raasay in February 2020 – a column about this memorable adventure featured in Scottish Field’s April 2020 edition – I was incredibly excited about taking my first sip. With notes of sea salt and black pepper with honeysuckle, redcurrants, black cherries and chocolate fudge, it was every bit as impressive as I had hoped.
Following hot on their heels, we are patiently (or impatiently) awaiting Dornoch Distillery’s first liquid gold, as well as whisky from Lindores Abbey and Torabhaig distilleries – we are expecting great things from all of them.
One of the most interesting things about inaugural releases is that they are pieces of whisky history that mark significant moments in a distillery’s journey. Regardless of how they are received, each release goes down in the history books. The most important thing for these exciting new businesses is to create a core range of products that people come back for time and again, keeping their business sustainable and viable.
The next 12 months will see plenty more new distilleries sticking their heads above the parapet and launching themselves into the whisky world for the first time. I know I’m not the only one counting down the days.
“Keen to increase cash flow as soon as possible, they’ll want to crack open those casks pronto