Glen Scotia 8 Year Peated PX Cask Finish
When the COVID-19 pandemic broke in early 2020, one of its countless casualties was the shuttering of events to help minimize the spread of infection. The 2022 Campbeltown Malts Festival was the first one to be held since 2019 and like many other whisky festivals, special bottlings were released to mark the occasion. While Campbeltown only currently maintains three operating distilleries within the region and thus does not have quite the footprint as, say, the Feis Ile, the enthusiasm of all attendees and participants more than makes up for it. Glen Scotia was founded in 1832 by Stewart & Galbraith and Company. It has passed through several owners over the centuries and was most recently purchased by the Loch Lomond Group in 2014. While there are currently five core expressions, the Glen Scotia 8 Year Peated PX Cask Finish was matured for seven and a half years in American first fill bourbon barrels before spending another year finishing in Pedro Ximénez hogsheads.
Redbreast Tawny Port Edition
The Redbreast brand has long been fans of using cask maturation as part of their whiskey’s identity, such almost always utilizing some component of ex-sherry casks of some sort in their core offerings and many of their limited editions. The Redbreast Tawny Port Edition was launched in 2023 as the third release in the brand’s Iberian Series, which looks to pair whiskey with esteemed wine producers from the Iberian penninsula. It is a single pot still whiskies aged in ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks, then transferred to ex-tawny port casks before being married and matured in freshly seasoned tawny port hogsheads for 14-25 months, resulting in layers of influence.
Morris Australian Signature
Morris of Rutherglen is an Australian winery and distillery located in the northeast of Victoria province. Founded in 1859 by the one of the more prominent winemaking families in Australia, Morris is now run by sixth-generation winemaker Madden Morris. The history of spirit making is slightly shorter at Morris, where a still was installed in 1941 – now nicknamed “Ella”- but lay dormant for decades until being resurrected in the 21st century. The head distiller is Darren Peck, who has been crafting whiskies there since 2015 from local Australian barley and water, and aging them in casks made on site and used to previously hold red and fortified wines from the vineyard. The Morris Australian Sigature is, as the name would imply, their signature expression and anchor of their core offerings.