Manager's Choice
22 December 2009
The Managers Choice
In February 2009, distillery managers and sensory experts met at Blair Atholl distillery in Pitlochry to select the very finest casks from 27 of Diageo's distilleries around Scotland.
After much discussion the best were selected during a series of blind tastings. Those chosen were bottled at cask strength and 2009 sees the first six released with the remainder to follow in batches of six.
The first set comprise of:
Oban
Cask: 1186 Bodega Sherry European Oak
Bottled: @ 58.7% ABV, 534 bottles produced
Click here to purchase Oban Manager's Choice
Teaninich
Cask: 9802 Rejuvenated American Oak
Bottled: @ 55.3 ABV, 246 Bottles produced
Click here to purchase Teaninich Manager's Choice
Glen Elgin
Cask: 3678 Rejuvenated European Oak
Bottled: @ 61.1% ABV, 534 bottles produced
Click here to purchase Glen Elgin Managers Choice
Cardhu
Cask: 3363 Bourbon American Oak
Bottled: @ 57.3% ABV, 252 bottles produced
Click here to purchase Cardhu Manager's Choice
Linkwood
Cask: 10552 Bodega Sherry European oak
Bottled: @ 58.2 ABV, 480 bottles produced
Click here to purchase Linkwood Manager's Choice
Mortlach
Cask: 6802 Bourbon American Oak
Bottled: @ 57.1% ABV, 240 Bottles produced
Click here to purchase Mortlach Manager's Choice
Nick Morgan from Diageo has this to say about the Manager's Choice.
"We have occasionally issued single-cask bottlings of individual single malt whiskies before, for instance for visitors to the annual Islay Festival. And single-cask bottlings of our malts can sometimes be obtained from independent bottlers. But this is a much more ambitious venture - the most extensive collection we've ever released of single cask malt whisky bottlings, from 27 of our operational malt distilleries, involving both the well-known and those whose product isn't widely available.
"Each individual distillery cask selected by the experts after an extensive examination has doubly earned its place in The Managers' Choice, regardless of its age: because it faithfully illuminates that distillery's individual DNA, and also because it will offer the connoisseur a different, interesting and perhaps unexpected experience of that whisky."
