Wemyss Malts continues its 15th anniversary celebrations this year with the return of Velvet Fig.
Velvet Fig was Wemyss Malts first limited edition blended malt released back in 2014 and received its flavour led name in reference to the rich flavours from the sherry cask maturation.
It’s now back in the form of a 25 year old sherry cask blended malt composed from casks of Highlands, Speyside and unpeated Islay whiskies.
The original release was hugely successful and Velvet Fig later went on to win the Best Scotch Blended Malt at the 2015 World Whisky Awards.
The original Velvet Fig is now finished, and is still often fondly remembered and talked about among Wemyss Malts fan. With such fan reverence Wemyss Malts tasked themselves to bring back Velvet Fig and continue their exploration into sherry cask matured malt whiskies.
In 2019, Isabella Wemyss, production director for Wemyss Malts, secured five casks of exceptional 1994 vintage sherry cask matured malt whisky from undisclosed Highlands and Speyside single malt distilleries and the blending team used these as the base to develop the new premium age statement Velvet Fig recipe.
Blender and brand manager for Wemyss Malts Steven Shand said: ‘With the Speyside and Highland casks as the base of the whisky we set about combining additional old casks of whisky from our stocks to add a velvety body, richness and complex wood tannin.
‘By carefully selecting and adding several 1988 vintage casks of unpeated, sherry matured Bunnahabhains as the final 29% of the recipe we were able to achieve an aroma, flavour and body that did justice to the Velvet Fig name.’
The resulting whisky is an exquisitely fruity, rich and complex malt whisky with aromas of antique wood, vintage leather and velvety flavours of dark fruits and chocolate. It has the natural colour of deep copper and has been bottled non chill-filtered at 42.3%abv and carries a 25 year old age statement.
The whisky was unveiled at Wemyss Malts 15th anniversary celebration at Gosford House earlier this month and was initially preview released to Wemyss Malts Cask Club members.
The release is now available in the UK, EU and Asia with a suggested retail price of £126 in various spirits retailers and from wemysmalts.com.
The Wemyss Malts Cask Club, launched in 2019 offers members access to exclusive bottlings, previews of new releases, competitions and the latest news. Membership is free and can be joined via www.wemyssmalts.com/cask-club
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