GreatDrams marks the easing of lockdown with Lockdown Lock-in special release – Available Now

For our second set of new releases for the year, we have mixed things up a little to have a range with an Islay single cask, a single grain from Strathclyde, a PX single cask from Craigellachie and a blended malt we have called The Lockdown Lock-in Dram. We always do our best to release totally different flavour profiles and to bring unique styles and production methods to consumers who otherwise would not be introduced to such gems, and this lineup is no different.

“Who, at the beginning of this decade, would have thought that whisky tastings would go virtual (and work really well!), that we would have no summer programme of events to see and pour our whisky for our awesome customers at. This whisky, The Lockdown Lock-in Dram, with its luscious notes of vanilla and honey is a smooth, easy-drinking blended malt whisky created to raise a glass to one another as we move through this challenging time and look forward to brighter times” – Greg Dillon, co-founder of GreatDrams.

As a company of two people, husband and wife duo Greg & Kirsty Dillon, we are able to be really nimble when it comes to what we do with our range, what we release and when we release new limited edition whiskies.

“This was all about doing something a bit different, maybe a bit quirky, but fundamentally the whisky is fantastic with so many layers and depth of flavours. Lockdown was hard for all of us in different ways, this is just our small way of marking this with a whisky to be shared, to bring a smile to those enjoying it and to remind ourselves of the journey we have all unexpectedly been on for the last fourteen months or so”.

THE GREATDRAMS SUBSCRIPTION HAS BEEN REVAMPED TOO

Named “Best Whisky Subscription for Exclusive Bottles” by IndyBest from The Independent… Are you looking to expand your whisky collection with some exclusives that cannot be bought in shops or even online? Looking for the ultimate present for the whisky lover in your life, the one who is always tremendously hard to buy for? Look no further than the GreatDrams Whisky Subscription, delivering bottles only available to subscribers every two months.

We utilise our knowledge, experience, skill and network to source members of The GreatDrams Subscription exclusive whisky bottlings from casks of ours that you simply cannot find anywhere else.

Each is selected by Greg & Kirsty for a variety of reasons; interesting flavour profile, unique cask maturation, interesting back story, rare distillery and many more. Our reasoning and journey to selecting each cask will be communicated with each bottle you receive.

Each subscription level includes a virtual whisky tasting for all subscribers every two months.

The full currently line up in the GreatDrams range is: 

THE LOCKDOWN LOCK-IN DRAM BLENDED MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
As featured in Mail+, this whisky, with its luscious notes of vanilla and honey is a smooth, easy-drinking blended malt whisky created to raise a glass to one another as we move through this challenging time and look forward to brighter times.

“We have already seen a lot of movement of this release in the gifting market as people look to buy something to mark the occasion when they get to dram together once again – or even for those who don’t know what to get the whisky lover in their life,” notes Greg, “it is already a crowd pleaser!”

Age: 12 Years Old     |     Cask: Ex-Bourbon casks     |     ABV: 48.2%     |     Only 500 bottles ever released

CRAIGELLACHIE 7 YEAR PX SHERRY CASK OLD
We love the Craigellachie Distillery, always have, always will, and this is a release driven by participants on our private virtual whisky tastings. Over 200 of them got to try this as we introduced cask samples to our whisky lineups and this whisky was loved by so many groups we felt compelled to do a small run of just a hundred bottles for those who wanted to get involved in this special whisky. This whisky has been matured for its whole maturation term in a Pedro Ximenez cask (known as PX in the industry) which has given it a stunning meaty flavour profile full of rich fruit and a pang of sweetness too owing to its time in the PX cask.

“Yes, only 90 bottles of this one have been produced, and all because of the awesome feedback we received when cask samples of this gem were used on our virtual tastings during the Christmas season” – Kirsty

Age: 7 Years Old     |     ABV: 48.2%     |     Only 90 bottles ever released

STRATHCLYDE 15 YEAR OLD SINGLE CASK SINGLE GRAIN SCOTCH WHISKY

As you’ll know, we love grain whisky so this is our core Single Cask Single Grain whisky release for 2021. Expect notes of toffee, fudge, stewed apples with a thick, oily mouthfeel evoking cereal and spicy notes whilst being incredibly smooth at the same time with honey and burnt brown sugar notes present too.

Age: 15 Years Old     |     ABV: 48.2%     |     Only 200 bottles ever released

ISLAY SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
We have always wanted to bottle an Islay whisky, and our awesome customers have been pestering us to do so for a long time… finally it is here! A heavily peated whisky from the mystical island of Islay, matured in First Fill Bourbon Barrel and laden with beautifully balanced, classic Islay peated whisky notes as well as lovely soothing vanilla and citrus fruit notes along with cinnamon and warming spice notes too.

Age: 7 Years Old     |     ABV: 48.2%     |     Only 243 bottles ever released

All our releases are non-chill filtered and of natural colour.

“We have been toying with when to release our ancient Girvan for a while now and it felt right to do so now as it is just over 30 years old, is so rich and luxurious in its flavour composition and, frankly, like all our releases, we fell in love with it… who doesn’t love an ancient grain whisky?!” – Greg

In addition to new releases, GreatDrams is now taking bookings for private virtual whisky and gin tastings September through December, so far since lockdown was announced GreatDrams’ virtual tastings – public and private – have had over 2,000 participants and has added a fun dimension to what we do. Greg notes that he “never expected to do virtual tastings, and set the first one up as a way to get around 20 people to have a drink with him to alleviate the monotony of lockdown and it just spiralled from there”.

To get in touch and talk whisky contact Greg@GreatDrams.com or to buy limited edition whisky www.greatdrams.com/whisky-shop

ABOUT GreatDrams

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GreatDrams is all about raising spirits
Award-winning from our first dram, with one of our most recent award wins being in the most prestigious global whisky competition describing our whisky as being “amongst the finest products in the world”, we will introduce whisky drinkers to their next favourite. GreatDrams is a family business bringing great quality, limited edition whiskies and whiskeys to the people, all at a fair price. Never repeating our products, and never compromising on flavour.

GreatDrams was launched with the aim to make great whisky more approachable & available. We are experts in finding incredible tasting rare casks of whisky.

With twenty awards under our belts, we have a proven track record for producing great tasting whiskies that are recognised and awarded by both consumer and industry judging panels… that sell out every single time as well, which tells us all we need to know.

We love what we do and are constantly searching for whisky that not only has a story behind every drop and means something to us, but tastes sensational.