Ardbeg Spectacular
The Ardbeg Committee was founded in 2000, born from a fan club of sorts started in 19999. Ardbeg was officially founded in 1815, though it had been producing whisky there for over almost twenty years there previously. It shuttered in the early 1990s and was purchased by Glenmorangie in 1997 and reopened, with the Ardbeg Committee soon following to foster love of the brand and make sure the distillery never closed again. While the Committee offers communications and solidarity for the affecionados, there has also been yearly whisky releases under the Committee banner. The 2024 Committee offering is the Ardbeg Spectacular, which was matured in a blend of ex-bourbon and ex-port casks. This is different than past releases that made use of cask finishing. The circus connection is unknown.
McCarthy’s 6 Year Oloroso Finish
McCarthy’s was founded by Steve McCarthy and first released as a whiskey in 1996, serving in the vanguard of American single malt whiskies. Hailing from the Mount Hood region of Oregon, McCarthy’s barley is sourced entirely from Scotland and is peat smoked. The early releases earned high praise from whiskey reviewers like Jim Murray but they have not rested on their laurels. The McCarthy’s 6 Year Oloroso Finish is distilled from heavily peated Scottish barley and aged in Oregon oak casks before being finished for an unknown amount of time in Spanish ex-Olorosh sherry casks.
Ledaig Rioja Cask
Tobermory was founded in 1798 on the Isle of Mull. The distillery’s main output falls under the Tobermory brand and is used in some blends like Black Bottle, but they also produce a smaller mount of peated single malt sold under the name Ledaig, the original name of the distillery. The Ledaig Rioja Cask is the first in the Sinclair Series, launched in 2020. Regardless, this peated single malt is aged in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in ex-Rioja casks.