Diageo has launched the Rare Series, one of its most exclusive collections to date, featuring the oldest whisky the company has ever bottled.
Totalling two centuries of ageing between them, these five irreplicable single malts were selected by Diageo’s master blender Dr Craig Wilson from its maturing stock of more than 10 million casks.
The series was launched with an immersive event at London photography studio Park Village. An ethereal Highland landscape was projected behind a long table, laden with displays of vibrant florals and other decorations to signify the flavour profiles of each whisky. The whiskies were displayed on a bespoke plinth designed to mimic the granite stoppers in each bottle.
Wilson expressed his delight at the collection’s release. “We have been working on these whiskies for a good few years and it has been a great project to be part of. It’s very rare in projects like this that you actually get the opportunity to have complete creative freedom,” he said.
“What myself and the team have been trying to do is create a collection that works well as a whole… with diverse flavours and different approaches to whisky making. The collection is talking about geographical scattered treasures, but for whisky makers like myself, the scattering and diversity is very much in the style as well.”
Senior brand ambassador Ewan Gunn called the Rare Series an “exciting and evolving collection”. There are plans to release future iterations, but Gunn explained the release dates will be determined by the blending team and their cask selection process.
Tasting the Rare Series Single Malts
Clynelish 1983 Rare Series (49.5% ABV)
This single malt dates from the year that Clynelish’s sister distillery, Brora, was mothballed. Matured in American oak hogsheads, it displays Clynelish’s renowned waxy character with notes of green apple peel, vanilla cream-filled pastries, lemon cake and floral honey. Water pulls out tropical notes of pineapple and overripe banana along with woodier florals.
Gunn refers to Clynelish as a distillery that “defines elegance”. “As a brand it flies a little below the radar, but as a liquid it is absolutely adored by whisky makers, blenders, distillers, and whisky aficionados and collectors.”
Glenury Royal 1970 Rare Series (62.4% ABV)
The jewel in the collection’s crown, this 55-year-old single malt from ghost distillery Glenury Royal is the oldest whisky Diageo has ever bottled. Located in Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, the distillery was closed in 1985 and demolished in the 1990s. “When you are nosing and tasting this whisky,” Gunn says, “you are tasting a slice of distilling history.”
Favourable climatic conditions for ageing have helped the whisky retain its strength, as Wilson explains: “The high temperatures and very low humidity have meant the atmosphere is pulling water out faster than alcohol… [it] is concentrating in flavour over time.”
Those flavours present harmoniously, with aromas of apple crumble, toffee, ginger ale, fresh lime and tart berries before a more savoury, peppery palate.
Blair Athol 1991 Rare Series (50.8% ABV)
This 34-year-old Highlander was matured in ex-Sherry European oak casks and finished in Pedro Ximénez-seasoned new American oak hogsheads. High levels of extraction from the European oak casks have lent plentiful dried fruit notes (raisin, prune and cherry) to Blair Athol’s nutty, spicy profile, while the PX casks add notes of ground coffee, fresh black fruits and kirsch-filled chocolates.
“We rarely bottle Blair Athol at this kind of high age point,” Gunn noted, “but I think it wears this high age exceptionally well.”
Talisker 1992 Rare Series (60.1% ABV)
Drawn from an experimental and previously un-bottled batch, this single malt was finished for more than 20 years in American oak hogsheads seasoned with Amoroso, a lightly sweetened style of sherry. Talisker’s peaty, maritime backbone is prominent with seaweed crackers, peppery smoke and gentle oiliness alongside toffee apple and dried herbs. Water brings out fruitier notes of ripe melon and strawberry.
For Gunn, there are few whiskies more emblematic of the place they’re made than Talisker: “You smell it and you are transported — straight to the distillery, straight to the sea.”
Caol Ila 1983 Rare Series (56.4% ABV)
This Islay single malt was matured in American oak casks and married in European oak puncheons. At 42 years old, it is the oldest single malt Diageo has released from Caol Ila to date. Wilson says it was an easy cask selection: “It still has so much life, so much vibrancy.”
It is citrussy and sweet with notes of lemon meringue pie, elderflower cordial, buttery pastry and vanilla pods alongside hints of rosewater and frangipane, all wrapped up in floral smoke.
Distribution of the Rare Series single malts will be handled by Diageo’s Private Client team. Interested buyers can register at rare-series.com.
Read the full article at Exploring Diageo’s Rare Series Single Malts
