Drinks company Diageo owns many different distilleries, including some of the best known names in scotch like Lagavulin, Talisker, Oban, and Mortlach. Each year, whisky from these distilleries and others are unveiled as part of the Special Releases Single Malt Scotch Whisky collection. This year’s set is called Spirited Xchange 2.0, the second edition with this theme, and it includes single malts from some of your favorite whisky makers that are available for the very first time.
“Each year, our Special Releases collection showcases hand-selected, distillery-first expressions that push the boundaries of traditional whisky-making,” said Diageo master blender Stuart Morrison in a statement. “This collection is about curiosity and what happens when you challenge yourself to think ‘what if.’ This has led us to explore a variety of exciting maturation techniques, from selecting a novel combination of casks for the Singleton to taking both Ramandolo white wine and Sangiovese red wine casks to finish Mortlach and bringing a totally new dimension of flavor to its unmistakably umami identity.” In other words, the distilleries behind the whiskies might be familiar and beloved names to scotch whisky fans, but the releases in the collection are unique expressions that have never been done before and feature special artwork and labels, making the bottles true collector’s items.
This year’s Special Releases collection consists of eight different whiskies, and we were able to try them all. Lagavulin “Fireside Tales” ($180) is a 12-year-old whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels and refill American oak hogsheads and European oak butts. The spirit still has the distillery’s signature smokiness, but there are bright fruit notes on the palate as well. Mortlach “Midnight Dusk” ($300), meanwhile, is a non-age-statement whisky—the only one in the collection—which was aged in refill and ex-bourbon American oak barrels and then finished in Ramandolo white wine and Sangiovese red wine casks to give it a lighter, fruitier character.
As for Oban’s “Coastal Orchard” ($120), it was aged for 10 years, first in refill American oak barrels and then partially finished in new charred Oloroso-seasoned American oak. Talisker “Tidal Churn” ($105) is on the younger side, an 8-year-old single malt aged in refill and ex-bourbon barrels and finished in stone-spun and toasted American oak. According to a rep, “stone-spun” refers to barrels that were literally spun with stones inside them to create indentations that expose new layers of wood to the whisky.
Next in the lineup is the Singleton of Glen Ord “Autumn Walk” ($155), a 14-year-old whisky given a unique maturation. The spirit was aged in bourbon barrels, rejuvenated ex-wine barrels, and refill casks for a decade, then finished in experimental casks with European oak and unique Pyrenean oak cask-ends to create a sweeter and spicier flavor profile. Benrinnes “Grand Crescendo” ($480) is the oldest whisky in the collection, aged for 21 years, eight of which was in refill casks before being double matured for 13 years in wine-seasoned American and European oak and rejuvenated casks with charred ends. Next comes Caol Ila “Ambrosial Feast” ($110), which was matured in refill and rejuvenated casks and ex-wine American and European oak barrels. Lastly, perhaps the least known name in the collection, is Roseisle “Origami Kite 2,” a 12-year-old whisky given a fairly standard maturation in refill and ex-bourbon barrels. This is just the second release from Roseisle, which opened in 2010 and launched its first whisky about a year ago.
You can purchase the different expressions in Diageo’s Spirited Xchange 2.0 from specialty whisky retailers or directly from the Malts.com website. And if you’re looking for expressions from this year and previous years, check out the Whisky Exchange.
