William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent family owned distiller that is headquartered in the United Kingdom and was founded by William Grant in 1886. It's now run by the fifth generation of his family and they distil some of the world's leading brands of Scotch whisky. Besides their award winning single malts they've now also been stepping up to the plate with blends.
Over the years they've acquired a variety of rare and precious whiskies which are being used to create fantastic blends that will be released in the coming months, simply known as the Rare Cask Reserves Collection. The first of these is the Ghosted Reserve and it will be released in March 2015. There are only 4100 individually numbered bottles available world-wide, just 300 of those available in Australia and Man of Many was lucky enough to be invited to try some.
The Ghosted Reserve is a blended malt of two exclusive whiskies hailing from closed and "ghosted" distilleries, hence the name. The first, Inverleven, that was operational from 1938 until 1991 and the other, Ladyburn, that was operational from 1963 until 1975. This unique blend inherits deep, oaky and slightly oily notes from Ladyburn but is complimented by the sweet fruitiness with hints of floral blossoms from the Inverleven. The blend has a decent kick at 42% ABV.
The Master Blender that is responsible for this unique blend, Brian Kinsman commented that this exceptional release is a high point of what blending can bring to the finest whisky, and a spirit that would win the deepest respect of their founder, William Grant. Each bottle is numbered and comes packaged in a beautiful box. After tasting we'd have to agree this is a masterpiece and truly fit for whisky enthusiast. This whisky is not only rare but it is unrepeatable.
A premium product deserves a premium price. These rare offerings will retail at $650 a bottle and will be available from Dan Murphy's and selected independent whisky retailers. Fitting for the launch of the Ghosted Reserve, our tasting was in Room 8 at the Russell Hotel, which is said to be one of the most haunted rooms in the country. The ghost of an old sailor apparently still possesses the room but he didn't bother anyone while we were enjoying our Scotch.
The second release in the collection has also been announced and it will be called the Cruinnich which will be available in May of this year. The word is Scots Gaelic for an assembly or a gathering and forms the spirit in which this precious whisky was selected. The Rare Case Reserve is a 21 year old Cruinnich and 4900 bottles will be available to Dan Murphy customers at a RRP of $180.
