Sherry

Mackmyra Motörhead

Mackmyra Motörhead

An age-old marketing trend has been the use of celebrities to promote brands and it has exploded in the whisky industry over the past couple of years. Before the surge, however, Swedish distillery Mackmyra partnered with English rock band Motörhead to help celebrate the group’s 40th anniversary in 2015. The band actively worked with the distillery to choose the barrels and blends, all aged at least five years. Drummer Mikkey Dee said “We think it’s great fun to launch a whisky in collaboration with a Swedish, world-famous distillery, Mackmyra. The whisky is incredibly good, with full character and fully flavoured with a superb bourbon touch” Motörhead’s front man Lemmy Kilminster was even more succinct: “Life is less painful with Motörhead Whisky. I may consider having a sip now and then.”

Mortlach 16 Year

Mortlach 16 Year

Mortlach was the first official distillery in Dufftown, founded in 1823 and known as “The Beast of Dufftown”. Operating relatively uninterrupted since then across several owners, it has long passed under the radar of many enthusiasts since its output has gone primarily into blends with only the occasional special single malt release. This changed in 2013 when the brand relaunched with more emphasis placed on its single malt offerings. This Mortlach 16, the Distiller’s Dram, comes from a new trilogy announced in 2018. Like all expressions since 1896, it is distilled 2.81 times, and matured entirely in ex-Sherry casks.

Ledaig 18 Year

Ledaig 18 Year

The Ledaig brand comprises one half of Tobermory’s output, a heavily peated malt in the 30-40ppm range. The Tobermory distillery, in fact, was originally founded as the Ledaig distillery in 1798. The distillery has four wash stills and four spirit stills, with production capable of a million liters of spirit a year after an upgrade in 1990. The water for the whisky is taken from a small, private loch close to the Mishnish lochs. While the number of offerings in the brand is limited, they occasionally include limited options often featuring special cask finishes or unusual age statements. The Ledaig 18 is finished in ex-Sherry wood, though the official details don’t seem to note specifically what kind of sherry. Others seem to think well of this scotch, as it has won several awards at recent spirits competitions.