Wolfcraig unveils first range of premium bottlings in Glasgow
FINE malt and grain whiskies took centre stage in a recent event from whisky company Wolfcraig Distillers.
The company, founded in 2020 by a cadre of whisky industry veterans, launched its debut product – a 30 year-old blended Scotch – earlier this year and showcased three additional products – a 14 year-old blended Scotch and a 35 year-old blended grain whisky, as well as a premium gin – at an event in Glasgow’s One Devonshire Gardens.
The products were created by industry veterans Richard Paterson and Ian MacMillan, Wolfcraig’s master blenders.
Introducing the 14 year-old blend as ‘Scotland in a bottle’, MacMillan explained that the whiskies in the blend had been sourced from distilleries ‘all over different parts of Scotland’ before being blended together and finished in a combination of Pedro Ximénez, Amontillado and Moscatel casks.
The 35 year-old blended grain, meanwhile, was described by Paterson as having flavours of caramel and manuka honey.
He noted that the blend contained spirit from several Scottish grain distilleries that are now closed, reinforcing the rare and unique nature of the blend.
“We get a lot of snobbishness about grain whisky, but you really have to let it mature,” he said.
And the 30 year-old blended Scotch, finished in Pedro Ximénez casks, was described as having notes of sun-kissed raisins and sultanas.
In addition to unveiling their product range, the event saw the team – which was also represented by director Jamie Lunn and marketing manager Lauren Gray, reiterate its commitment to building its own whisky distillery and visitor centre.
Wolfcraig was recently denied planning permission for a multi-million pound distillery in Stirling and is now in talks with other local authorities about building a facility elsewhere.
Paterson said Wolfcraig will not be in any hurry to release spirit once it has begun production.
“Even when we have a new distillate, we’re not going to release it immediately,” he said.
“We’re not going into this new spirit malarkey. We’re going to mature our whiskies. We’re going to let them settle down in American White Oak. And when we think the time is right, after maybe eight years or ten years, then we’ll put it into the market.”
