Dufftown's Glenfiddich distillery releasing special edition to help Ukraine
Glenfiddich is releasing an exclusive limited-edition whisky to raise funds to help the people of Ukraine.
A special edition of 460 bottles of the Glenfiddich Spirit of Speyside will be auctioned online.
Claudia Falcone, the distillery's global brand director, said: "Our teams around the world have been so shocked by the continuing impact of the conflict on the people of Ukraine and neighbouring countries that we decided to do what we can to help.
"We have decided to use this year’s Spirit of Speyside exclusive bottling to raise as much money as possible to support the Disasters Emergency Committee and their invaluable efforts in helping Ukrainian citizens and refugees on their long road to recovery in the months ahead."
The bottles have been created by Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich’s Malt Master, who has selected whisky from three different oak barrels.
Brian said: "This is a truly unique micro-vatting of three hand crafted barrels coopered by Ian MacDonald, our former head cooper.
"In 2009, Ian took it upon himself to experiment with building a barrel using a variety of oak types – virgin American oak, ex bourbon oak and traditional refill American oak.
"His aim was to see how the casks would mature and how each type of oak would contribute to the final flavour.
"We're now extremely happy to reveal the results with this one-off release of 460 bottles."
Brian describes the whisky as being "lively with a zesty fruitiness".
Bottled at cask strength, it has an ABV of 60%.
Each 70cl bottle will be hand numbered and signed by Brian.
The online auction will take place shortly after the Spirit of Speyside whisky festival, which is taking place in Moray between April 27 and May 2.
Joe Wilson is head curator at Whisky Auctioneer.
He said: "The Glenfiddich Spirit of Speyside bottling is a highly sought-after release, so we would expect that this rare 2022 edition to raise a great amount for such a worthy and important cause.
"To ensure as much as possible can be raised we will be waiving our selling fees and donating the 10% buyer’s commission."
The online auction will take place at whiskyauctioneer.com from Thursday, May 5, to Monday May 9.
All proceeds will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee (dec.org.uk).
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Whisky Auctioneer aims to be the global market leader and trusted authority on the buying and selling of whisky and spirits at auction. Founded in 2013 and located in Perth, the very heart of Scotland, they utilise their expertise and knowledge combined with their auction platform to increase interest and passion in the whisky and spirits community.
