Ailsa Bay Inaugural Release 2016

A uniquely distilled & meticulously balanced single malt whisky, from Scotland's Ayrshire coast. Ailsa Bay distillery, located in the Girvan Grain distillery complex, Ayrshire was built in 2007 and released this, its first expression in 2016. While the majority of Ailsa Bay’s whisky styles will be used for a variety of blends within owner William Grant & Sons portfolio, its peated run – that lasts for just one week per year – is reserved for the Ailsa Bay single malt. Rather than simply blending casks together after maturation, Kinsman has also adopted a Japanese-style of whisky production and vatted two different distillates produced at Ailsa Bay together before the new make is filled into cask. As well as being the company’s first peated whisky brand, Ailsa Bay is also the only Scotch whisky to undergo a process called ‘micro maturation’. The distillery’s new make spirit is first filled into Hudson Baby Bourbon casks that are between 25-100 litres in size, for six to nine months. The relatively small casks – traditional American oak barrels can contain up to 200 litres of spirit – enables intense rapid maturation. The liquid is then transferred into virgin, first-fill and refill American oak casks for several years. The process is the first of its kind within the Scotch whisky industry, although some Cognac producers also practise micro maturation. The three cask types are then blended together and bottled without chill filtration at 48.9% abv. This inaugural bottle has a granite insert, taken from Ailsa Craig itself. Limited to 4500 bottles.