William Grant & Sons – the family-owned luxury spirits maker behind Glenfiddich – has launched its latest range, Wildmoor, a seven-strong collection of blended Scotch whiskies aged between 21 to 40 years old. The new range was crafted by the distiller’s world-renowned master blender, Brian Kinsman, a scientist by training who joined the brand in 1997 as a whisky chemist. So proud of what’s they’ve achieved with Wildmoor, Kinsman is touting the range as being “a flavour map of Scotland in a glass.”

Around 60 years ago, William Grant & Sons began to source and stockpile some of the most prized malt and grain whisky from “every corner of Scotland” and, according to the brand, this “painstakingly” curated collection of rare, aged whisky would go on to become its private reserve today, widely considered to be one of the world’s finest private whisky collections. It’s this reserve that Kinsman tapped to create Wildmoor, the result of a slow process of experimentation with the end goal of discovering the perfect blend, and one that does justice to the whiskies from which it came from whilst honoring Scotch heritage. The result is an unapologetically Scottish whisky inspired by the wild beauty of the land from where it came. Wildmoor has Scotland flowing throughout its proverbial veins; everything from the design of the bottle, with its bumpy, uneven surface symbolizing the rugged terrain of the Scottish wilderness, to the varying flavor profiles across the range that speak to the uniquely Scottish combination of smokey sea air, oak and rare grain.

The Wildmoor range consists of seven unique expressions available across the globe, with some regional and retail exclusives. The ‘Dark Moorland 23’, ‘Rugged Coast 30’, and ‘Black Mountain 40’ year old blends fly a global flag and are available across most regions including the USA and Europe. Meanwhile, catering to a burgeoning and sophisticated eastern palette is the brand’s ‘Heather Valley 21’ and ‘Ancient Moorland 23’ variations – both are exclusive to Taiwan with the latter also being available in China. The remaining pair, ‘Waking Forest 23’ and ‘Tropical Coast 30’, round off the blended Scotch septet and are available across airport retail around the world.

As part of the build up to Wildmoor’s launch, William Grant & Sons took to the Scottish Highlands with a cohort of whiskey tasters and tastemakers in tow. Hypebeast was invited along to experience what Brian Kinsman called “personal”, referencing his own memories of “the raw majesty of Scotland’s wildest places” that Wildmoor has come to embody. Amongst the liquids tried was the ‘Dark Moorland 23’, a whiskey made from a blend of Highland and Speyside malts with Lowland grain, with a rich flavor that takes from the Oloroso sherry cask it’s finished in. The ‘Rugged Coast 30’, finished in the same casks are the aforementioned 23 year old, imbues a proudly and unmistakably Scottish smokiness with hints of stone fruit. Whilst the ‘Black Mountain 40’ – the “peak of the range”, in the brand’s own words – is a blend of incredibly rare grain and liquids from so-called “ghost distilleries”, those which no longer operate or produce whiskey, but whose stock still remains in very limited quantities. It’s a special whiskey, an elegant drink finished in a Pedro Ximenez cask with a complex, deep and nuanced flavor profile. Wildmoor’s brand ambassadors were on hand throughout the trip, each of whom was chosen by the brand for their organic connection to the spirit of the new range. Amongst these was Scottish adventurer Aldo Kane, a well-travelled world explorer who shares the brand’s vision for people to be reconnected with nature. Another was wild chef William Hamer of Wild Kabn Kitchen, a master of open flame cooking who’s cooking “delves into a profound connection with the Scottish landscape”.

Wildmoor is available now at select premium whiskey retailers worldwide, with more information available via the brand’s website.

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