Finished in casks imported from Tuscany, this new 92 proof expression is the result of result from the natural interaction between the brand’s 15-year-old expression and these wine casks. Crafted by Malt Master Stephanie Macleod and her team, the whisky was first matured in refill and hogshead casks before being finished for two years in rare Tuscan Bolgheri casks. Bolgheri, a famed wine region on Tuscany’s coast, is celebrated for producing bold, elegant red wines.

“In keeping with our approach to innovation and exploration, we wanted to use these beautiful Tuscan casks again, for a second expression, as they contrast so wonderfully with the signature character of Aberfeldy,” said Aberfeldy Single Malt Scotch Whisky Malt Master Stephanie Macleod. “Fifteen-year-old whisky is known for being at an age where the influence from the cask reaches a certain peak. Bolgheri wines are known for being robust and full of dark fruit flavours with intense oakiness. Combining the two has crafted a beautifully rich and rounded Single Malt with soft ripe red cherries and creamy vanilla notes, spice and layers of dark chocolate and scented oak.”

Aberfeldy 15 Year Old Bolgheri Red Wine Cask Finish is a continuation in the distillery’s limited-edition wine cask finished whiskies, where previous iterations have included a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, a Pomerol, a Bordeaux, and a Rhône from France.

Aberfeldy 15 Year Old Bolgheri Red Wine Cask Finish is available for $84.99.

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Created by Aberfeldy Malt Master Stephanie Macleod, the whisky features notes of cherry frangipane and vanilla spice with flavors of sliced green peppers and limes and finishing with soft oak.

The Aberfeldy Red Wine Cask Limited Edition series is a passion project of Macleod, with a focus on cask finishes that compliment the character of Aberfeldy. Macleod uses her skills in sensory analyses to observe the maturation and flavor development in each cask until achieving the desired flavors. This is the fourth cask finish in this award-winning series.

The Aberfeldy 18 Year Old Limited Edition finished in Tuscan Red Wine Cask (86 proof) is available now for $129.99.

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Double-aging the whisky in hand-selected, first-fill American Oak Bourbon casks for the first time has created a distinctly different experience for drinkers. This new expression builds upon the brand’s style of floral, honeyed Highland whisky, with a hint of smoke.

Showcasing up to 40 of Scotland’s finest single malt and grain whiskies, the new liquid was created by Dewar’s Master Blender Stephanie Macleod. “Curiosity has been at the cornerstone of the Dewar’s brand since John Dewar created the first whisky in 1846. And that sense of curiosity has carried through to how my teams and I develop our whiskies today,” said Macleod. “It was only natural to experiment and craft a new element to the maturation process, which has resulted in a distinctly different tasting experience.

“Having been experimenting with the influence of cask types on flavor and texture for the last ten years, we knew the time was right to bring some of what we have learnt to our core range of whiskies,” she added. “We wanted to take Dewar’s 12-Year-Old to the next level and bring the joys of quality Scotch whisky to a new generation of drinkers. Dewar’s whiskies have a characteristic floral and honeyed-style and we knew we could add a richer and more complex dimension through the use of first-fill American Oak Bourbon casks.”

All Dewar’s whiskies share one thing in common – they are double aged, a maturation process specific to Dewar’s that was perfected by the first Master Blender, AJ Cameron. 2022 marks the 125th anniversary since Cameron became the first Master Blender in 1897.

The new Dewar’s 12-Year-Old Blended Scotch Whisky is presented in a new, premium clear glass bottle with a modified base, label and enclosure.

Dewar’s 12-Year-Old Scotch Whisky is now available for $29.99 at 12.dewars.com and retail.

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Introducing Royal Brackla for a new generation of malt drinkers, Malt Master Stephanie Macleod has re-imagined the brand’s core range with maturation and finishing in selected casks. Each of the new expressions has been finished in sherry casks, including Oloroso, Palo Cortado and Pedro Ximénez.

The newly available offering includes Royal Brackla 12 Year Old, Royal Brackla 18 Year Old and Royal Brackla 21 Year Old, all bottled at a higher 92 proof, compared to the previous strength of 80 proof and without the use of caramel coloring and chill filtration.

“Royal Brackla possesses a clean acidity which allows it to cut through the powerful flavors taken on during aging in ex-Sherry casks. The type of cask is always chosen to complement the distillery’s signature character, not mask it,” said Dewar’s Malt Master Stephanie Macleod. “Finishing the aged spirit in these prized wooden vessels imparts each expression with incredible complexity, each with their own nuances and all with a superbly balanced finish, but most importantly, still allowing for Royal Brackla’s flavor profile to shine through. The secondary maturation phase gives an extra dimension to the whisky – like a layer of icing on a cake – it adds the finishing touch. The result is a sumptuous, fruitful dram with rich sherried notes and soft spicy overtones.”

Through extensive research, Macleod found that Royal Brackla’s whisky is excellent for taking on fortified wine finishes as the fruity, grassiness of the distillery’s character favors it. After several years of trialling and exploring different sherries, she has chosen to showcase three types from Bodegas Jose y Miguel Martin in Jerez, Spain in each expression.

Royal Brackla 12 Year Old was finished in Oloroso Sherry casks. Oloroso was chosen to age the 12 Year Old as it bestows notes of chocolate covered almonds, muscovado sugar and ripe fruits.

Royal Brackla 18 Year Old was finished in Palo Cortado Sherry casks. The casks from this unusual sherry were chosen to finish the 18 Year Old because it brings citrus notes and builds flavors of creamy vanilla, spices and soft fruits.

Royal Brackla 21 Year Old was finished in Pedro Ximénez, Oloroso and Palo Cortado Sherry casks. For the 21 Year Old expression, Macleod has layered casks from three sherries together to create further complexity. A blend of Pedro Ximénez, Oloroso and Palo Cortado was used to finish the oldest expression. The combination was picked as they create a wonderful balance of sherry and oak.

Brackla distillery was founded in 1812 by Captain William Fraser, but in 1833 its spirit pleased the palate of King William IV so greatly that he awarded it a Royal Warrant. It thereby became the first Scotch to be honored with regal approval, and was renamed Royal Brackla, raising whisky’s wider status to a drink fit for kings and queens. ‘The Drink Divine’, as whisky was known once it furnished the royal table, is one of the foundation stones in the story of Scotland’s national drink.

Royal Brackla is also helping Bacardi in its mission to become the most environmentally responsible global spirits company. The weight of the new range has been reduced, representing a reduction of nearly 29 tonnes of glass, 14 tonnes of CO2 emissions, and 26,000 liters of water within the first year.

“We’ve been distilling exceptional whisky at Royal Brackla for over two centuries, but every strong start needs the right finishing touch,” said Ian Taylor, Dewar’s Global Brand Director for Malts. The history, its role in making Scotch prestigious and the incredible quality of the whiskies we have in our reserve, all justified our decision to repackage and reassess the offering from Royal Brackla.”

Royal Brackla 12 Year Old, Royal Brackla 18 Year Old and Royal Brackla 21 Year Old are available to purchase in select markets in the US now including New York, DC and Chicago for $70.99, $299.99 and $599.99, respectively.

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This latest edition of the Dewar’s Cask Series features Dewar’s 8 year-old double-aged Scotch whisky which is then finished in Japanese Mizunara Oak casks for six months.

“The guiding principles in the creation of this whisky were balance and smoothness,” says Stephanie Macleod, Master Blender for Dewar’s. “This Mizunara finish enhances the signature Dewar’s heathery floral honeyed notes whilst subtlety imparting complex woody notes of sandalwood and cinnamon spice. It is an indulgent and pleasurable whisky with a rare breadth and depth of complex and subtle flavors. The smooth yet full-bodied finish makes it perfect to enjoy neat, on the rocks, in a classic Japanese style highball.”

Dewar’s Japanese Smooth 8-year-old Mizunara Oak Cask Finish is available for $24.99.

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This special limited-edition bottle features a 19-year-old blended Scotch whisky, double-aged and finished exclusively in American ex-bourbon casks. Created by Dewar’s Master Blender Stephanie Macleod, Dewar’s “The Champions” Edition is the first of its kind inspired by the rich legacy and ethos of the U.S. Open, “From Many, One”. The whisky embodies this through blending double aged grain and single malt whiskies to create one, with the resulting liquid for this rare edition.

The silver bottle design is also a nod to the U.S. Open trophy, reflecting the “Champions” namesake of this special offering designed specifically for the 121st U.S. Open Championship, which took place at Torrey Pines. Part of the bottle proceeds will go towards the USGA Foundation, which celebrates, serves and advances the game of golf.

“We’re thrilled to launch the Dewar’s 19-year-old ‘The Champions’ Edition bottle, right in time for the 2021 U.S. Open and Father’s Day,” said Brian Cox, Vice President of Dewar’s North America. “Designed for golf and whisky aficionados alike, this first of its kind blend is inspired by our exciting partnership with the U.S. Open, as well as our sporting legacy and commitment to supporting ‘champions’ in all endeavors. They hold the same passion, tenacity and commitment to their craft that we do.”

This marks the first release in the series. As part of their multi-year agreement, Dewar’s will produce a commemorative bottle edition each year until 2023 as the official blended scotch whisky and proud supporter of the US Open Championship.

Dewar’s “The Champions Edition” is available in extremely limited quantities for $79.99.

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Marking the brand’s 175th anniversary this year, this new iteration of the Dewar’s Cask Series features its signature 8 year-old double-aged Blended Scotch whisky, finished in ruby port casks.

Following the launches of Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth Rum Cask Finish and Dewar’s Ilegal Smooth Mezcal Cask Finish, the third edition in the brand’s cask-finished series reflects the brand’s passion for bringing together unexpected flavor traits.

“With its full bodied yet refined mouthfeel and unique flavor profile – which features subtle notes of stone fruits, dark red fruits and honey – Dewar’s Portuguese Smooth is designed to be a veritable celebration of the two cultures of Scotland and Portugal,” says Stephanie Macleod, Master Blender for Dewar’s. “Thanks to a unique production process where the 8-year-old scotch is double aged for extra smoothness and then finished in casks that previously held fine ruby port wines, ” Dewar’s Portuguese Smooth has a satisfyingly unusual, yet super smooth, taste that is ideally enjoyed anyway you like – be it neat, on the rocks, in a highball or as a great alternative to beer and wine for food pairings. It’s really about your mood, time, place and company – be it in person or remotely.”

Dewar’s Portuguese Smooth 8-year-old port cask finish will be available for $21.99.

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The Exceptional Cask Series consists of rare single cask expressions, double-casks bottlings and small-batch releases, and is a passion project of Malt Master Stephanie Macleod. The program gives Macleod the chance to observe the nuances of maturation and flavor development, using her skills in the sensory analyses of whisky through the exploration of different cask types.

Aberfeldy 20 Years Old Small-Batch initially spent 20 years in hand-selected refill casks before being transferred to mature for a further year in Sauternes wine casks. Sauternes is a sweet wine from France.

“When finishing whiskies, I want to complement the distillery character,” says Malt Master Stephanie Macleod. “Aberfeldy has a glorious honeyed richness, and with this expression, I wanted to add a further layer of flavor complexity and enhance the maturing malt but not mask it. The Sauternes wine cask helps highlight Aberfeldy’s sweet notes of honey and brings golden syrup balanced with citrus peel, peaches and almonds.”

Additionally, Aberfeldy has also released Aberfeldy 18 Years Old finished in French Red Wine Casks from Pauillac, Bordeaux. Initially spending 18 years in a combination of refill casks, the whisky has undergone a finishing period of around 4-5 months in Pauilliac wine casks, a rich and complex red wine from Bordeaux.

Pauillac is one of the most sought-after wine regions in Bordeaux. Home to world famous wineries, the appellation produces a collection of fine red wines that are unrivaled in terms of quality. Having the deepest gravel in the Médoc*, with some chalk and clay, soils and microclimates play a vital role in Pauillac. In Bordeaux, proximity to the river is also all-important. Vineyards located at the river’s
edge bask in a microclimate, and this is where the highest quality wines in Bordeaux are found.

MacLeod carefully monitored maturation and flavor development in the casks until the desired flavor profile had been achieved. Pauillac is a robust wine, so the goal was to use this cask type to complement and elevate the signature character of Aberfeldy, not mask it. “Pauillac casks are the aristocrats of the Médoc, they provide notes of black cherries, blackberries and a cedar wood spice,” MacLeod says. “Aberfeldy’s wonderfully soft signature honey and creamy vanilla notes are invigorated with swathes of plush ripe fruits and lovely nutty aromas to create an incredibly elegant and fruitful whisky.”

Aberfeldy 20 Years Old Small-Batch is priced at $200 and will be available exclusively in the US. Aberfeldy 18 Years Old French Red Wine Cask expression is Priced at $120.

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Dewar’s Ilegal Smooth’s 8-year-old mezcal cask finish offers brown spirit drinkers a refreshing alternative. “We’ve blended our signature recipe of up to 40 single malts and grain whiskies that have laid in casks for at least 8 years, double aged the blend to ensure our distinctive extra smooth Dewar’s profile, and then finished in ex-Ilegal Mezcal casks, sourced from Oaxaca, Mexico, all fulfilled in our ageing warehouses in Glasgow,” says Dewar’s Master Distille Stephanie Macleod. “Dewar’s Ilegal Smooth’s unique flavor profile features subtle notes of caramel, sliced green pepper and a wisp of smoke – making it an ideal pairing for your next dinner party, or as a spirit to enjoy neat, on the rocks or in highball recipes.”

“Many of the barrels utilized in aging mezcal are used whisky barrels. It’s a nice shift to have our used Ilegal Mezcal barrels crossing borders to age whisky in Scotland.  The finished product is delicious” adds John Rexer, Founder of Ilegal Mezcal. “Ilegal Mezcal is made in Oaxaca, Mexico by Oaxaqueños. The company is composed of Mexicans, Guatemalans, Mexican Americans, an El Salvadoran American, Venezuelans, an Ecuadorian, New Yorkers, Californians and a Philadelphian … people from an array of ethnicities and cultures. We live, work, and play across borders. This partnership between Ilegal and Dewar’s is about sharing cultures and creating an opportunity for education around the mezcal category.”

Dewar’s Ilegal Smooth 8-year-old mezcal cask finish will be available for $21.99.

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Enter Dewar’s Master Distiller Stephanie MacLeod. The first female named Master Blender of the Year by the 2019 International Whisky Competition, she created and launched two new blended scotch series, Dewar’s Double-Double and Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth Rum Cask Finish. The latter is the first in a line of annual cask series since the Scotch Whisky Association’s historic decision this year to allow a wider variety of casks for use in aging.

I chatted with MacLeod about how she got into whisky, given her science background, inspiration and her role as a woman in whisky.

The Whiskey Lifestyle: Given your STEM background, what drew you to Dewar’s?

Stephanie MacLeod: Yes indeed my background is science, and my career in the whisky industry began in research, specifically Scotch whisky research. The research group I was part of at the University of Strathclyde were trying to unlock the secrets of maturation, and therefore, why whisky tastes the way it does. I found it a fascinating subject, and it was then that I knew that whisky was where I wanted to continue my career. The Scotch whisky industry offers careers in all the STEM subjects, and we encourage graduates, and those from other industries to consider Dewar’s and Bacardi.

TWL: Once at the distillery, what led you to blending and distilling?

SM: At the University of Strathclyde much of the work that we carried out used Sensory Analyses techniques, and so when I joined Dewar’s I was drawn to the technical side of spirit production, and in particular the sensory analyses of the whisky. The Blending together of single malts and single grains to form the Blended Scotch whisky seems like a simple process, however, when we factor in the individual spirit characters of each make, the wood type in which they are matured and the length of time spent in the cask – the number of variables that have to be considered when blending is incredible. It’s my job to harness these variables because no matter what the inventory situation is, the unique character of our blends must be maintained to ensure that our Dewar’s drinkers receive the flavour that they love.

TWL: Now that you’re at the helm of creating the liquid, what is your vision for how Dewar’s moves forward?

SM: Scotch whisky is made to be enjoyed and shared, I want people to come together when enjoying Dewar’s, talk about it, try it with food, and then explore more in the range. The Dewar’s house style is approachable but also complex, and we want to highlight and experiment with all the facets of the character of Dewar’s.

TWL: You recently launched two separate blended scotch series, Dewar’s Double Double Series and Dewar’s Cask Finish Series. What were the inspirations for each?

SM: The Double Double is a set of three Blended Scotch whiskies – 21, 27 and 32 Years Old. I wanted each age expression to showcase a different aspect of the Dewar’s house style, so the 21 reveals the elegant fruity and vanilla notes of Dewar’s, the 27 exposes the citrus and honey notes, while the 32 explores the mysterious smoky character of Dewar’s. We wanted to create the smoothest Blend yet, we already ‘Double Age’ which means that after we blend our malts and grains together to form the Blended Scotch whisky, we take the blend and fill it back into casks with no maturation potential for an additional period of maturation, in order that the disparate flavour profiles of the individual spirits interact with one another to create a greater perception of smoothness. So this is what we do for all the marks, so for the double double range, I tapped into the archives – A.J. Cameron, our first Master Blender, would take the malts by their region, blend them and then double age them, or ‘marry’ them as it’s traditionally known, and then blend them together. So, we took that concept, and for each variant, we blended the malts together and then blended the grains together and then double each blend for 1 month, we then blended the malts and grains together and double aged the blended scotch whiskies for 1 month, and finally the 4th step, we took each blended scotch whisky and filled each age into a different type of sherry casks – so the 21 was finished in Oloroso Sherry, the 27 was finished in Palo Cortado, and the 32 was finished in Pedro Ximenez casks. The Dewar’s Cask Finish Series is exploring the versatility of our blends through different cask finishes, so although the climates of Scotland and the Caribbean couldn’t be more different, the combination of Dewar’s 8 year old with the subtle notes of Caribbean rum, threading through is a glorious combination – there are more expressions to come, so watch this space.

TWL: Blending and distilling are still very male-dominated professions. How has that influenced how you do what you do? Does being a woman give you a different perspective? Similarly, people often equate scotch as being something that older white men make. How do you see your work and Dewar’s as changing that perception? 

SM: More and more women are joining the whisky industry, in the technical side of the business, but I do understand that there is still that perception of male domination in the whisky. However, at Dewar’s and Bacardi we are doing all that we can to encourage women outside and inside our business to consider the blending, distilling and engineering side of our business, and it’s not just the agenda of gender that we are moving to the fore, but diversity in our industry is also key to the success of our whisky brands.

TWL: What’s the biggest misconception that people have about Dewar’s?

SM: I can’t really comment on the misconceptions, but the things that we focus on are: that the range of Dewar’s Blended Scotch whiskies, starting with Dewar’s White Label are all Double Aged (the explanation of this process is described in my response to Q4) – this is a costly process in terms of casks, warehouse space and people, but we truly believe that it makes our blends smoother. We are committed to age statements for our older variants (8 years onwards). Dewar’s is proudly a Blended Scotch whisky, which means that we blend different malt whiskies and different grain whiskies that have been matured in variety of cask types: Casks that have previously held Scotch whisky, Bourbon casks and Sherry casks, and all of our distilling, maturation and blending is carried out in Scotland.

TWL: What’s your favorite city to drink in?

SM: In the US, I love NYC, also Boston, and I adore Portland, Oregon.

TWL: If you could drink whiskey with one person, dead or alive, who would it be? And why?

SM: I’ve often wondered what our founders John Dewar Senior and his two sons John and Tommy would make of our business today, and also our first Blender A.J. Cameron. So I would love to share a dram of new whiskies with them.

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