Whisky Focus - House Of Hazelwood

William Grant & Sons set to launch House of Hazelwood 18, 21 and 25 old premium blended whiskies.

William Grant & Sons has revealed a new premium blended Scotch whisky brand named House of Hazelwood.

House of Hazelwood will initially launch with three premium age statement expressions, the House of Hazelwood 18, 21 and 25 year old. William Grant describe the new brand as an elegant and vivacious new blended Scotch whisky which has been inspired by family luminary Janet Sheed Roberts (1901 to 2012) and expressed through the spirit of the great Art Deco cities that influenced the world in her heyday.

During her rich and vibrant life, Janet Sheed Roberts lived in Hazelwood House, a house close to the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. It was from Hazelwood House that she revelled in learning and progress, spending considerable time after her studies travelling the world, attending shows, parties and company ceremonies. In fact, inside Hazelwood House you can still find the beautiful art deco artefacts, pictures and stories from those days.

Janet Sheed Roberts was a rare and extraordinary woman whose spirit inspired five generations of one of Scotland’s most famous private distillers, right back to its founding father, William Grant. When Master Blender Brian Kinsman set out to create a range of whiskies to pay tribute to its family doyenne, it was natural that he might first look to the two distilleries closest to her heart: Kininvie and Girvan, as well as the family’s private collection.

Grants tell me that the House of Hazelwood 18 Year Old is inspired by the classic elegance of Paris in the 1920s. This release they say reveals an elegant and classic whisky, perhaps the purest expression of Kininvie and Girvan spirits in the range, and married in tuns of Portuguese oak. Presented in a 50cl bottle and bottled at 40% ABV,  the House of Hazelwood 18 Year Old has an expected RRP of £50.

House of Hazelwood 21 Year Old they tell me is inspired by the sultry beauty of Mumbai in the 1920s. This release represents a bolder, somewhat spicier and more robust whisky balanced to perfection by the ageing of some of its malts for 21 years in sherry casks made of European oak. Presented in a 50cl bottle and bottled at 40% ABV,  the House of Hazelwood 21 Year Old has an expected RRP of £75.

Sitting at the top of the range is the House of Hazelwood 25 Year Old which has taken its inspiration from the classic elegance of Shanghai, a city which stood at the centre of Cathay elegance in the 1920s. This release represents the Master Blender Brian Kinsman's most prized expression. Each rare single malt earned its place in Kinsman’s final selection, and the blend was then married in American oak, allowing sufficient time for the complex and diverse flavours to infuse and mellow. They describe the resultant majestic whisky as unique, rare and very special. Presented in a 50cl bottle and bottled at 40% ABV,  the House of Hazelwood 25 Year Old has an expected RRP of £115.

The packaging of the three new whiskies takes its inspiration from three of the most mesmeric cities at the forefront of the Art Deco movement: Paris, Mumbai and Shanghai. The design focuses on the creation of a distinctive visual leitmotif associated with the luminosity of each city.

House of Hazelwood will initially launch in February 2016 exclusively in travel retail until September 2016 when it will then launch in a few select markets around the world.

If you cant wait until February you will find a superb range of premium blended whiskies as well a huge range of single mat whiskies available from specialist Whisky retailers such as The Whisky Exchange
 

• UK Shops
   
• USA Shops
   
• European Shops
  

Whisky Focus