Diageo bottles exclusive single malt Scotch for fans

Diageo is releasing a series of five triple-matured single malt Scotch whiskies over the next six months that will be exclusively available to the Friends of the Classic Malts fan club.

A Royal Lochnagar and Talisker will be the first two releases in Diageo’s Friends of the Classic Malts bottlings

All five releases have been designed to offer Friends of the Classic Malts a selection of whiskies that “have been matured in a totally different way from the familiar Classic Malts bottlings and the Distillers Editions of the same single malts”.

As such, all five expressions have been given a triple maturation, firstly matured in refill casks, before being transferred to charred American oak hogsheads and matured a third time in European oak refill casks.

The first two, which are being released this month, will be limited editions of Royal Lochnagar and Talisker. The further three editions will be revealed in January 2014 and rolled out between January and June.

Just 24,000 bottles across all five expressions will be produced for the UK, Germany and Switzerland only, available online or at distillers at an RRP of £80.

Julien LeBescond, senior brand manager for Scotch Single Malts for Diageo Western Europe, said: “These are truly special whiskies which we are proud to offer as an exclusive reward to our loyal members of Friends of the Classic Malts.

“We greatly value their support and enthusiasm, and we’re confident that they will enjoy these exciting and unique liquids which we asked our master blenders to prepare just for them.”

The Friends of the Classic Malts is a community of around one million single malt Scotch whisky fans. Consumers can join the club for free, and receive exclusive offers and competitions, and free guided tours at Diageo’s 12 Classic Malt distilleries in Scotland.