{"id":36848,"date":"2021-03-26T16:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/post\/the-nightcap-26-march\/"},"modified":"2021-04-14T15:40:46","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T14:40:46","slug":"the-nightcap-26-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/post\/the-nightcap-26-march\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nightcap: 26 March"},"content":{"rendered":"

50-year-old <\/b>whisky<\/b><\/a> from <\/b>Highland Park<\/b><\/a>, a new distillery on Whisky Galore island and David Beckham. It’s all on The Nightcap: 26 March edition. Get stuck in!\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

A whole week has passed since we last filled our Nightcapping sack full of stories. Which means we get to do it all again this week. You might think that at some point not enough interesting things will happen in this lovely industry of ours and we won\u2019t have anything to write about. But we\u2019ve never had to find out. Because people keep doing cool, interesting or baffling things, like rebuilding a demolished pub brick by brick or putting <\/span>whisky<\/span><\/a> in mulberry wood casks. And we salute them for doing so. It means we\u2019ve got another cracker of a Nightcap to enjoy this week. So, what are you waiting for? Read on!<\/span><\/p>\n

If you like winning stuff by doing very little then the MoM blog was the place for you this week as we launched a bottle lottery for a <\/span>shiny new Macallan whisky<\/span><\/a> and a <\/span>#BagThisBundle competition<\/span><\/a> with Botanist Islay Dry Gin. If you enjoy <\/span>smoky blends with plenty of history<\/span><\/a>, fiery <\/span>zero ABV drinks<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>bargain vodka<\/span><\/a> you\u2019ll also love this week\u2019s work. There was also room on our blog for plenty of debate with Ian Buxton considering the potential of a <\/span>whisky bust that could be coming soon<\/span><\/a> and Henry asking if the <\/span>G&T is a cocktail<\/span><\/a>. Lucy, meanwhile, did some digging into the history of <\/span>Hennessy Cognac<\/span><\/a> as Adam\u2019s attention was taken by <\/span>Irish independent bottling<\/span><\/a> and the Curious Bartender popped by to give us some top tips for <\/span>making cocktails at home<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"On

The new dram certainly looks every bit as old and rare as it is<\/p><\/div>\n

Highland Park launches 50-year-old whisky<\/b><\/h3>\n

Highland Park<\/span><\/a> is flexing its considerable muscles this week by unveiling a new 50-Year-Old single malt. It\u2019s just the third time a half-century whisky has been released in the distillery\u2019s 223 year history, which should give you an idea of how significant this launch is. The 50 Year Old is the creation of a selection of nine refill casks laid down in 1968 that were married together in 2008 then re-racked into a handful of the finest first-fill sherry seasoned oak casks. Then, after a further 12 years of maturation, one of these limited casks was selected and married with a small quantity of the whisky from the 2016 release of 50 Year Old which in turn contained some whisky from the 2010 batch. Highland Park is describing this as a ‘solera’ as used in the sherry industry, which isn’t quite accurate, but certainly sounds colourful. <\/span>Gordon Motion, Highland Park master whisky maker, described it as \u201cspectacular\u201d. He reveals the spirit has both the rich sherried flavours from its final first-fill cask maturation, as well as all the delicate fragrance and flavours driven by the original refill casks. The whisky comes in a hand-made walnut box courtesy of John Galvin and the design has all the hallmarks of the Norse heritage Highland Park likes to reference nowadays. Of course, all of this comes with a considerable price tag of \u00a320,000, so it\u2019s unlikely any of us will get to taste it. Still, there\u2019s plenty of tasty Highland Park expressions to enjoy <\/span>right here<\/span><\/a>, which is a solid consolation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"On

Yes it looks like every other computer-generated distillery design<\/p><\/div>\n

Whisky Galore island getting its own whisky distillery<\/b><\/h3>\n

The island where author Sir Compton Mackenzie set his classic novel Whisky Galore<\/em> is about to welcome its first-ever <\/span>whisky<\/span><\/a> distillery. The team behind the\u00a0<\/span>Isle of Barra Gin brand<\/span><\/a> plans to create a new purpose-built whisky and gin distillery and visitor centre on Barra, where the original movie was filmed. The \u00a35m project will serve as the new home to the existing 300-litre Barra gin still, ‘Ada’ and have a plant for bottling and bonded warehousing, a small caf\u00e9\/bar and a retail area, all while creating at least 30 new local jobs. Whisky veteran Alan Winchester (of Glenlivet fame) has been brought on board to put his 40+ years of experience to good use, guiding Isle of Barra Gin founders Michael and Katie Morrison and helping to establish a flavour profile. The plan is for the site to be powered by renewable energy and for it to be built with sustainable materials, while a green travel plan that will limit the number of visitors driving to the site is also in development. Once completed, the distillery will be capable of producing over 300,000 bottles of single malt per year, with the firm planning to use spirit matured in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels, Cabernet Sauvignon casks and Oloroso sherry casks. The founders say the idea is to create a spirit that represents its island home and also reveals that ever since the launch of Isle of Barra Distillers, they\u2019ve consistently been asked if they produce whisky because of the instant connection people make with\u00a0the much-loved film and the book. If all goes well they should break ground in the middle of next year. Though you’ll have to wait a good while before it’s whisky galore on Barra.<\/span><\/p>\n