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Jefferson’s Bourbon Ocean Aged at Sea fully matured Kentucky bourbon was put on a ship and set on its way to cross the equator four times, stopping at five continents and more than 30 different ports. The movement of the ship forced the liquid in the whiskey barrels to be in constant motion, coming in contact with the wood more often. According to Jefferson’s, this added salty, caramel elements that round out the bourbon's profile. Photo: Supplied -
Bruichladdich Octomore 07.4 Virgin Cask
Octomore is Bruichladdich’s attempt at the world’s most heavily peated series of single malts. The latest radical expression was distilled from barley peated to 167 parts per million and matured in virgin oak, pairing the the smoke rich spirit with sweet honeyed vanilla characters. Bottled at seven years old at a colossal 61.2 per cent ABV. Photo: Supplied -
Michel Couvreur Intravagan’za Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky
The whiskies of Michel Couvreur are distilled in Scotland before undergoing maturation in rare sherry casks in Burgundy, France. This single malt was matured for between two and three years and bottled at its 50 per cent ABV cask strength. Photo: Supplied -
Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection 1838 Style White Corn
This new release bourbon reprises the use of white corn from Woodford’s original whiskey production process in the late 1830s to 1850s. The result is a spirit that is lighter in body with a softer, sweeter, fruit-forward profile. Photo: Supplied -
Starward Wine Cask Single Malt Whisky
Exclusively matured in South Australian Shiraz barrels, Starward Wine Cask Single Malt Whisky is uniquely Australian and a world first. Photo: Supplied -
Kilchoman 100 per cent Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
All parts of the production process for the 100 per cent Islay have taken place at the Kilchoman distillery – from barley to bottle. The barley is grown, malted, distilled, matured and bottled on-site. Photo: Supplied -
Mortlach Rare Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
A new expression from Speyside’s Mortlach, which unusually employs three stills of different shapes and sizes, producing three different kinds of spirit that are then combined for maturation. This process dubbed ‘2.81 distilled’ is responsible for creating Mortlach’s thick, rich and muscular distillery character. Photo: Supplied -
Colonel E.H. Taylor Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
Sometimes innovation happens by accident. A group of ageing bourbon barrels at Buffalo Trace Distillery were left exposed to the elements throughout summer after a tornado tore through Kentucky in 2006. Far from damaging the whisky, the sun and wind created a bourbon especially rich in flavours. Photo: Supplied -
Glenfiddich 15 Year Old
The use of a Solera vat in Scotch whisky was pioneered by Glenfiddich on its 15 year old expression. After ageing in European oak sherry casks and new oak casks, the whisky is mellowed in a large oak tun inspired by the sherry bodegas of Spain and Portugal. Never emptied, and kept half full of whiskies since 1998. Photo: Supplied -
Auchentoshan Three Wood Scotch Whisky
Scotland’s only triple distilled single malt, Auchentoshan’s new make spirit is 81 per cent ABV, the highest strength distillate of any single malt producer in the country. ‘Three Wood’ is matured in three different cask types, moving from American bourbon to Spanish Oloroso Sherry and finally Pedro Ximenez Sherry, creating a rich, complex whisky. Photo: Supplied -
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Glenmorangie has a well-earned reputation for disturbing Scotch whisky's norms, and it's a risk that is clearly paying off.
Dr Bill Lumsden, its director of distilling and whisky creation, has been recognised as the world's finest, named as master distiller/blender of the year at Whisky Magazine's Icons of Whisky 2016 awards.
The decorated doctor is known for pioneering innovation, especially with Glenmorangie's Private Edition range, released every year since 2010.
Whisky's golden boy on the latest Scotch trends
Recently voted the world's best Master Distiller/Master Blender, Glenmorangie's Dr Bill Lumsden discusses why Scotch whisky is more popular than ever. With vision from Glenmorangie
"I think people, particularly within our industry in Scotland, maybe take things a little bit too seriously and lose sight of the fact that whisky's supposed to be fun," Lumsden tells Executive Style. "It's supposed to be enjoyable to drink it."
Private education
Previous Private Edition instalments include Ealanta - a whisky that spent 19 years in virgin American oak, Companta - aged in a combination of Burgundy and Rhone Valley wine casks and Artein - finished in 'Super Tuscan' wine barrels from Italy.
I actually sincerely hope we do upset the traditionalists, because it's something different.
Dr Bill Lumsden
Glenmorangie Milsean, meaning 'sweet things', is the seventh and latest release. This time Lumsden started out with an old-fashioned British sweet shop as his inspiration, styling a cask finish to suit.
Portuguese wine casks still dripping with their former contents were deeply toasted to caramelise the sugars deeper into the wood, with the objective of adding notes of candy to the finished product.
The playful sweet shop theme is maintained in stripey red and white packaging that will undoubtedly stand out on a shelf next to any of his rivals' products. Does he risk upsetting Scotch whisky's Old Guard?
Doing things differently
"Not only do we run the risk, but I actually sincerely hope we do upset the traditionalists, because it's something different," Lumsden says. "I love the packaging because it beautifully reflects the nature of the product."
Lumsden spurns the "somewhat staid" approach of some of his counterparts in Scotch whisky.
"There's one or two people in particular who are very solidly traditional and there's one gentleman who shall remain nameless who always says, 'what you're doing Bill, it's not real whisky'.
"And I'll say, 'fair enough - you continue to sell 40,000 cases and we'll sell 500,000 cases [a year]'.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what they think. I want to appeal to as many drinkers as possible and I want people to have a smile on their face when they drink our product," he says.
Franz appraisal
Whisky aficionado Franz Scheurer says Lumsden has been at the forefront of experimentation for so many years that it's difficult to perceive anything he does as 'out of the ordinary'.
"It's all in a day's work for him, but yes, for the traditionalist it can be 'sacrilege'," he says. "He certainly made a great whisky with Milsean albeit, in my book, a little short."
The refreshingly frank Lumsden agrees, suggesting he may have overdone the finishing stage. The Milsean was intended to be in the wine casks for five years, but it leached off the caramelised sugars far quicker than anticipated, so was removed after two and a half.
"If I'm honest about it I probably should have taken them out after two years. The base French oak is starting to come through and dominate a bit," he volunteers.
Old-fashioned flavours
Nevertheless, Lumsden says a glass of Milsean has its intended effect of transporting him, "straight to an old-fashioned sweet shop with its sweet and spicy bouquet, with hints of sugar cane, ripe fruits and fudge".
"I'm still pretty happy with it, but I think it could have been better."
He can't have missed the mark by too much. Top whisky critic Jim Murray awarded Milsean 94 points in his 2016 Whisky Bible.
Scroll through the gallery to see James Atkinson's selection of 10 whiskies featuring production twists ranging from unique to bizarre.