Whisky Focus - Shetland Reel Whisky

Shetland Reel the first ever "Bottled in Shetland" whisky released.

The Shetland Distillery Company, which plans to open Scotland's most northerly distillery on the far north Shetland Island of Unst has released four different single malt cask strength whiskies under the name Shetland Reel. The whisky was produced and matured at Portsoy (Glenglassaugh distillery perhaps?) in Aberdeenshire on the Scottish mainland and transported to Unst where it was bottled.

The company plan to eventually produce whisky at Unst but for now whisky enthusiasts can view these four single malt bottlings of Shetland Reel as a taste of things to come in the future.

The four casks which were produced at Portsoy, most likely at the Glenglassaugh distillery in Aberdeenshire, then shipped from Aberdeen to Lerwick on the overnight ferry. They were then transported via another two ferries and across the island of Yell before reaching their final destination in the far north of Unst.

Only after a suitable period of resting were they bottled as the first ever "Bottled in Shetland" single malt Scotch whisky. The four casks were 50L capacity octaves, two of them were refill Scotch whisky casks and two were German virgin oak casks.

Twenty-one bottles have been produced of a peated whisky from one of the German oak casks. This has a price of £130 per bottle. The remaining 151 bottles from the other three casks are on sale at £100 per bottle and you will be pleased to hear all four of the whiskies are non-chill filtered, bottled at cask strength and have no added colouring.

The whiskies will go on sale on 1st September 2015 but further information can be sought by emailing whisky@shetlandreelgin.com and pre-ordering will also be available at the same email address.

Stuart Nickerson, director of The Shetland Distillery Company, said: "This is a hugely exciting development for us and for Scotch whisky.

"It literally puts Shetland on the map as far as whisky production is concerned – and for the first time.

"These four casks represent a start to whisky production in Shetland and we have plans to introduce more ‘Bottled in Shetland’ Scotch whiskies, with the long term plan being to install our own distillery and start distilling Scotch whisky on Unst."

Mr Nickerson has a 35 year pedigree in the Scotch malt whisky industry, having managed several distilleries and revived Glenglassaugh Distillery before selling it to the BenRiach Group.

He and his wife Wilma own The Shetland Distillery Company along with Frank and Debbie Strang, owners of the Saxa Vord Resort in the beautiful island of Unst.
 

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