Dear whisky lovers and enthusiasts,

One of our most cherished moments in the whisky calendar is the annual announcement of the Diageo Special Releases collection – a group of limited edition and natural cask strength whiskies that are highly anticipated around the world and revered for their quality and collectability.

So highly awaited are the releases, you may have noticed that we struggle to keep them under lock and key. Special Releases has rapidly become the worst kept secret in Malts due to your enthusiasm and dedication to the collection.

Spoiler alert! This year’s collection of ten bottlings includes two more exceptional releases from Port Ellen and Brora, and two European oak matured malts from Blair Athol and, very rarely, from Glen Elgin one of Speyside’s hidden secrets. We have a 17 Year Old Teaninich, an 18 Year Old unpeated Caol Ila, and one of my personal favourites, Lagavulin 12 year old. Following our two previous releases of The Cally and The Cambus single grain whiskies we also include a 52 Year Old Port Dundas.

However, for many the most exciting whisky here will be the 32 Year Old Convalmore, a whisky that has matured over the years into a quite spectacular drinking malt.

I’m sure there’s something here for everyone to look forward to when they are released late this year.

We would like to confirm the truly impeccable line-up of this year’s collection of ten bottlings below:

BLAIR ATHOL™ 23 year old
Distilled 1993 ABV 58.4%
Region: Highlands
Cask: Ex-Bodega European Oak Butts
No of bottles: 5,514

BRORA™ 34 year old
Distilled: 1982 ABV 51.9%
Region: Coastal Highlands
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads
No of bottles: 3,000

CAOL ILA™ 18 year old
ABV 59.8%
Region: Islay
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads
Limited quantities available worldwide

CONVALMORE™ 32 year old
Distilled: 1984 ABV 48.2%
Region: Speyside
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads
No of bottles: 3,972

GLEN ELGIN™ 18 year old
Distilled: 1998 ABV 54.8%
Region: Speyside
Cask: Ex-Bodega European Oak Butts
No of bottles: 5,352

LAGAVULIN™ 12 year old
ABV 56.5%
Region: Islay
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads
Limited quantities available worldwide

PORT DUNDAS™ 52 year old
Distilled: 1964 ABV 44.6%
Region: Lowlands
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads
No of bottles: 752

PORT ELLEN™ 37 year old
Distilled: 1979 ABV 51%
Region: Islay
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads & Refill American Oak Butts
No of bottles: 2,988

TEANINICH™ 17 year old
Distilled: 1999 ABV: 55.9%
Region: Coastal Highlands
Cask: Refill American Oak Hogsheads & Refill American Oak Barrels
Limited quantities available worldwide

But you didn’t think we’d give it all away, did you? For those eagle eyed readers, you’ll have noticed there are only nine bottlings above. We’re keeping one in our back pocket as a surprise for you all later on this year.

We will launch Special Releases as per previous years in early autumn and will keep you abreast of the exciting developments along with the final variant.

We look forward to raising a dram with you later on this year to celebrate the launch of the 2017 collection.

All the best,
Nick

@SpecialReleases
#SpecialReleases2017