Rampur Asāva
Rampur distillery was founded in 1943 in the Indian city of Rampur, making it the oldest distillery in India and also part of the Radico Khaitan liquor conglomerate. The company has a portfolio producing spirits for the Indian domestic market, the international market, and the Indian military market, along with neutral spirit for use in a variety of commercial products. They also own their own bottling plant, enabling them to incorporate much of the production process. Rampur is part of the international portfolio. Situated at the base of the Himalayas, the location and elevation give it greater climate variance not seen elsewhere in India. The Rampur Asāva are aged for a time in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to casks formerly containing cabernet sauvignon wine from India. This expression was first released in October 2020.
Tamdhu 15 Year
Tamdhu distillery was founded in 1896 in the Speyside village of Knockando, Scotland. Much of the next century passed without note, including some periods of dormancy related to war and supply shut off, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that more investments were made to increase production output. It is the last distillery in Scotland to use a Saladin box in production. Currently able to produce 4.5 million liters a year, most of the Tamdhu spirit is used in blended scotches like The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark. However, some single malts do escape. This Tamdhu 15 is, like all their single malts, completely matured in ex-sherry casks.
Royal Brackla 16 Year
From the Cawdor Estate (as in, “Thane of Cawdor,” if you remember Shakespeare’s MacBeth), the Royal Brackla distillery’s fame as the “King’s own whiskey” (circa 1833) brings a new entry to the Scotchology crew: the Royal Brackla 16. Finished in first-fill ex-oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 40% abv (80 proof), this 16-yr old barley malt is one of Dewar’s (Bacardi) series of releases entitled “The Last Great Malts of Scotland.”