Diageo is set to release a new 39-year-old single malt Scotch whisky from The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery.
Diageo master blender Maureen Robinson said: “I am in a privileged position to be able to use the skills I’ve acquired over my more than forty years at Diageo and apply them to experiment with flavour; something The Singleton gives me the freedom to do. This whisky marries my work in Scotland and my own personal experiences of flavour recollections through vivid memories of visiting family-owned wine estates in France where I travelled years ago. I was adventurous in my approach over the years with this whisky, drawing on memories of tasting the ripened grapes fresh off the vines, and newly uncorked wine around a table with my friends. Tasting a dram takes me back to that time; a shared epicurean adventure and moment of indulgence.”
The launch marks Singleton’s longest secondary maturation to date and, the whisky itself will have aged in, what the drinks giant calls, an “inventive” blend of casks, including those which had previously matured port, red wine, Pedro Ximénez & Oloroso, and then finished in French Bordeaux casks.
Robinson, who has seen the whisky through its 27-year secondary maturation over a quarter of a century ago, revealed how she took a Singleton which had aged 12 years and rehoused it in hand-selected European oak casks which had previously held port wine, red wine and a blend of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso wines. 27 years later, Robinson married these whiskies together in casks that previously held the most celebrated of European wines – Bordeaux.
The inspiration behind the design of the presentation case allegedly comes from Robinson’s travels to the wineries of southern Europe.
The Singleton 39-Year-Old will retail for £2,295 (US$2,680 excluding duty and taxes) per bottle. There will be only 1,695 bottles of the single malt Scotch available globally.
