A. SMITH BOWMAN DISTILLERY EXPANDS EXPERIMENTAL OAK SERIES WITH HUNGARIAN OAK, THIRD RELEASE EXPLORING OAK VARIETALS

As the final release in this limited series, Hungarian Oak will be available via online lottery running August 11 – August 18

FREDERICKSBURG, VA (August 4, 2025) – A. Smith Bowman Distillery today announces the release of Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak, the third and final experimental whiskey from its Abraham Bowman Oak Series. Designed to explore cask maturation in different oak varietals from around the world, as well as the effect charring has on the flavor of whiskey, the Abraham Bowman Oak Series first launched in March 2024 with the release of French Oak and then continued in November 2024 with the release of American Oak. For its third release, Hungarian Oak boldly pushes the boundaries of whiskey making by introducing a whiskey that redefines the possibilities of flavor through innovation and craft.

“The Abraham Bowman Oak Series was about challenging everything we thought we knew about aging whiskey,” said A. Smith Bowman Distillery Head Distiller David Bock. “This experiment started more than fourteen years ago with former Master Distiller Truman Cox. French Oak and American Oak dazzled us with impressive flavors and now, Hungarian Oak has delivered another delicious and unexpected whiskey. In many ways, all positive, Hungarian Oak is the opposite of what we expect from our extended aged whiskey. I know Truman would be proud to see this innovation deliver such a wonderful product.”

Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak is made from a blend of liquids aged for 12 years in charred Hungarian Oak barrels. Bottled at 115 proof, this bourbon has a brown velvet color. On the nose, the aroma of candied apricot engulfs your glass, unfolding layers of warm honey apples and a pronounced smokey dark chocolate on the pallet. The finish lingers on the sides of your tongue with notes of dried fruit and char.

“What surprises me about Hungarian Oak is the lack of pepper or spice, which we have come to expect from our barrels that are aging ten or more years,” said Bock. “Hungarian Oak barrels seem to have replaced any spicy notes with a flavor profile that is rich and glossy. Hungarian Oak is one of the most well-rounded whiskeys I have tasted and I’m excited for our fans to try this release.”

Inspired by his pioneering spirit, the Abraham Bowman Collection features limited-edition releases that honor Abraham’s legacy of innovation, mastery and adventure. More than 150 years before his great-grandson established Virginia’s oldest distillery, Abraham traversed the territories of the Thirteen Colonies as a Colonel of Virginia’s 8^th Regiment. The 8^th regiment played a vital role in the Continental Army’s fight for independence.

The Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Collection of whiskeys began in 2010 with the release of Abraham Bowman Rye Whiskey. Each edition of the Collection reflects innovation and creativity coming from Master Distillers Brian Prewitt, the late Truman Cox and current Head Distiller David Bock. Previous releases in the Abraham Bowman Collection have explored different mash bills, aging techniques, proofs, finishes and more.

The opportunity to purchase a limited bottle of Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak will occur through an online lottery taking place from August 11 – August 18. Consumers nationwide are invited to enter the lottery; however, winners MUST purchase in-person at the A. Smith Bowman gift shop within three weeks of winning. Limit one entry per person. To enter, please submit a form here. Winners will be randomly selected on August 20 and notified via email immediately following the selection. Each 750ml bottle will be sold at the suggested retail price of $79.99, excluding state taxes and fees.

For more information about the Abraham Bowman Collection, visit asmithbowman.com/spirits.

About A. Smith Bowman Distillery

As Virginia’s oldest distillery, A. Smith Bowman Distillery’s rich history dates back to 1927, when Abram Smith Bowman purchased 7,200-acres in Fairfax County, Virginia. Named Sunset Hills Farm, the Bowman Family were grain and dairy farmers until the fields became so abundant that Bowman needed a use for the excess grain. In 1934, he built a groundbreaking distillery on the farmland and, with the help of his two sons, produced the first-ever batch of Virginia Gentleman Whiskey

Today, the historic distillery has relocated 60 miles away to Fredericksburg, where it operates as a small, family-owned company continuing the time-honored traditions on which it was founded, producing premium handcrafted spirits in small batches and experimental editions that embody innovation at its core. Award-winning products produced at A. Smith Bowman Distillery include Bowman Brothers Small Batch Bourbon, John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon, A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Bourbon, the Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Collection, Deep Run Vodka, Sunset Hills Gin, George Bowman Caribbean Rum and Mary Hite Bowman Caramel Bourbon Cream, among others. In 2023, Cask Strength won Gold medals at multiple competitions including the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the American Whiskey Masters.

For more information on A. Smith Bowman Distillery, visit asmithbowman.com.

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If there was ever a month for adventure, August is it. It’s a time to embrace sun-drenched weekends and further flung getaways to soak up the last of the season. Summer holidays already complete? Seize the small moments. A long weekend walk, a lazy brunch with highballs, or a dram under the stars at the end of a night all offer their own delights. The labels on our whiskies tell the stories of their liquid adventures – each label a map to find your way. How you choose your adventure is up to you.

August Outturn is now live.

PLEASE NOTE BOTTLES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ONLY IN VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER (call Legacy Liquor Store at 604-331-7900)

CRANBERRY REVERIE

CASK NO. 28.108

CASK:  1st fill ex-bourbon barrel

AGE:  12 years

INVIGORATING AND REFRESHING

CASK NO. 162.5

CASK:  New chinkapin oak barrel

AGE:  5 years

MELTS IN THE MOUTH

CASK NO. 89.22

CASK:  1st fill oloroso hogshead

AGE:  15 years

WANDERING ALCHEMY

CASK NO. N/A

CASKS:  Bourbon, Oloroso, PX & HTMC barrels and hogsheads

AGE:  10 years

CAMPFIRE CONVERSATIONS

CASK NO. 10.268

CASK:  Refill ex-bourbon hogshead

AGE:  18 years

BROWSE AUGUST OUTTURN HERE

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The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada
Suite 160
104 – 1240 Kensington Road NW
Calgary, AB  T2N 3P7
403-969-8225
curious@smws.ca
www.smws.ca

NEW AND EXCLUSIVE:
NC’NEAN CALVADOS CASK

Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange, we’re delighted to introduce this single cask Nc’nean. We walked the warehouses of the leading light in sustainable Scotch whisky and selected our favourite cask. It’s a seven-year-old, drawn from a calvados cask, offering notes of fresh apples, lemongrass and sage, leading into a gently waxy palate, with notes of green pear, chamomile, lemon balm and a hint of ginger.

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Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange

Nose: Creamy toffee and hazelnuts, créme brûlée and oatcakes. Crisp barley sugar contrasts against savoury grain, alongside sweet and sour orchard fruit.
Palate: Sweet and creamy, with white chocolate, apple sauce, crunchy pears and white peppery spice. Flapjack grain notes develop along with more apple: sharp green& sweet red.
Finish: Oat cookies with dried apple chunks and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

House Malts
Celebrating the legacy of the Morrison family

Our House Malts have been carefully selected to honour the proud distilling heritage of the Morrison family – once owners of the legendary distilleries Auchentoshan (Lowlands), Glen Garioch (Highlands) and Bowmore (Islay).

EXPLORE & BUY

ABERARGIE DISTILLERY MARKS FINAL BARLEY HARVEST AHEAD OF INAUGURAL SINGLE MALT LAUNCH

‘From Grain to Glass’

Aberargie, Scotland – As harvest season unfolds across Scotland’s rolling fields, Aberargie Distillery is marking a milestone moment with the crop of its farm-grown barley – the last to be harvested before the distillery’s widely anticipated debut single malt launches in early 2026.

With its first spirit laid down in 2017, Aberargie is no ordinary newcomer. The distillery stands on a 300-acre farm near Perth owned by the Morrison family – a name synonymous with Scotch whisky for five generations. From grocers and brokers to blenders, bottlers and distillers, the Morrisons have played a central role in shaping the Scotch whisky industry for over a century. Today, that legacy continues at Aberargie: a fully independent, family-run distillery built on home ground.

Located seven miles south of Perth, Aberargie is one of the few distilleries in Scotland to use 100% estate-grown barley, cultivated entirely on the Morrison family’s land. This farm-to-bottle philosophy is at the heart of Aberargie’s ethos, which delivers full traceability, terroir, and complete control over quality from seed to spirit.

This year’s harvest includes the distillery’s signature Golden Promise barley, a heritage variety known for its full-bodied profile, buttery texture and oily richness. Once widely used in the 1960s by distilleries such as The Macallan, Golden Promise is now a rarity in modern Scotch production, favoured only by distillers who choose flavour over yield. Grown directly in front of the distillery itself in clear view of the stills, it is a testament to Aberargie’s commitment to tradition and depth of character.

In addition to Golden Promise, the team also grows Laureate barley, a modern, high-performing variety selected for its clean, bright spirit yield and reliability in Scottish growing conditions. Combining both strains ensures a balanced, structured, and flavour-forward whisky.

Every grain harvested this season will go directly into whisky production on-site, reinforcing Aberargie’s true grain-to-glass approach. With all distilling, blending, maturation, and bottling carried out in-house, and whisky matured exclusively in first-fill casks, Aberargie aims to deliver a single malt rooted in provenance and shaped by the Scottish landscape.

“This is a significant harvest for us. The last one before we bottle our very first single malt,” said Graeme Mackeddie, Head of Distilling at Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers. “Growing our own barley gives us unmatched control over flavour and consistency. Golden Promise is a heritage barley that brings richness and depth to our whisky. This barley isn’t known for its high-yielding properties; it’s chosen for quality, and that’s why we have chosen to grow this strain on our farms.”

Set to launch in 2026, Aberargie’s inaugural release promises a flavour-first single malt defined by heritage grain, natural depth, and a strong sense of place. It results from years of patient farming, careful distilling, and thoughtful maturation until the spirit is at its peak.

Aberargie also marks a symbolic return to distilling for the Morrison family, who last operated their own distillery before the sale of Morrison Bowmore to Suntory in 1994. Today, under Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, the family’s focus is clear: building brands with legacy, maturing whisky with patience, and investing in people, all while remaining proudly independent.

For more information on Aberargie Distillery and Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, head to https://www.morrisondistillers.com

About Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers
Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers is an independent, family-owned company based in Perth, Scotland. Rebranded in 2020, MSWD represents five generations of Morrison whisky heritage under one name, with a focus on single malt production, brand development, blending and bottling. Its flagship brands include Aberargie, Old Perth, Mac-Talla, Càrn Mòr and Bruadar.

At the heart of MSWD’s operations is Aberargie Distillery, built on a family-owned farm near Perth. From the first fill in 2017, the distillery represents the Morrison family’s return to distilling after the 1994 sale of Morrison Bowmore to Suntory. With the first release of Aberargie being anticipated for launch in 2026, this is the cornerstone of the business.

Glengoyne 18 Year Old

Matured in a generous share of Oloroso sherry casks, our 18 Year Old Highland Single Malt is rich, rounded, and full-bodied, with indulgent notes of marzipan and a long, warming finish.

COLOUR
Medium gold with a rich glow.

NOSE
Awash with red apple, ripe melon and fresh banana. Heavenly and well rounded, it drifts into hot porridge topped with brown sugar.

PALATE
Full bodied, round and rich. At first macerated fruits, marzipan and walnuts; then warm spices, dry cocoa and lingering Seville marmalade.

Glengoyne 21 Year Old Sherry Oak

Matured exclusively in sherry casks, our 21 Year Old Sherry Oak Highland Single Malt is a festive delight – Christmas cake in a glass, brimming with honey, rich fruits, and a gentle cinnamon spice on the finish.

COLOUR
Deep Copper, meandering legs

NOSE
Red apples, toffee, sherry, spicy strudel.

PALATE

Lots of Sherry, honey, oak with a developing aromatic sensation. Ends with a heavenly cinnamon nip.

DISCOVER NEW YAMAZAKI:
18 & 25 YEAR OLD

The unmistakable style of Yamazaki owes much to careful fermentation, distillation and blending – but it’s the influence of Mizunara that sets these two whiskies apart.

This native Japanese oak is famously difficult to work with, but the flavours it imparts are captivating. Yamazaki is the only distillery on earth with the stocks to produce these single malts.

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ARDNAMURCHAN 

NORTH STAR – AW EXCLUSIVE

We’re delighted to present our latest Abbey Whisky Exclusive, created in partnership with the award winning independent Scotch whisky bottler, North Star Spirits. Distilled at Ardnamurchan in 2019 and fully matured in a peated sherry butt, this rare release was bottled at natural cask strength, 52.6% vol and limited to just 60 bottles. To make the experience even more special, each purchase includes a 3cl miniature of the very same whisky, the perfect chance to share a dram with someone special and spread the whisky love.

This is a rare opportunity to enjoy an exceptional whisky release that captures the craft and quality of both Ardnamurchan and North Star Spirits.

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Fort William and Campbeltown are two of Scotland’s better known west coast towns. The intrepid explorers that we are we’ve visited both and brought back some exceptional whisky. No fridge magnets or cuddly highland cows for us.

When not exploring the westernmost points on the map we’ve been doing a little blending, and we think you might enjoy what we’ve been up to.

Campbeltown

We’re not ones to use superlatives or exaggeration but our Campbeltown Mega Blend might be the best thing to come out of Kintyre since Paul McCartney noticed mist rolling in from the sea. We’ve taken whisky from all the working distilleries in Campbeltown and blended them into something special. This isn’t just a blend, this is a mega blend. Each whisky was aged for a minimum of 9 years and each brings something special to the palate. There are only a few hundred bottles, we wish we could have made more.

A couple of new dogs

A new Wee Mongrel and a Drookit Dug for 2025. The Drookit Dug is what we call our session dram, something really good that you don’t need to save for a special occasion. We created this with ourselves in mind, for evenings when a couple of friends drop round for a catch up. It’s a mix of malt and grain whiskies created from the same parcel of stock as before, but each has had another year to mature. One of the interesting aspects of Drookit Dug is it’s 45.2% vol but still cask strength, and created from whisky aged for a minimum of 9 years.

Our Wee Mongrel has a louder bark. With more than a hint of sherry this is fully sherry cask matured, refill Oloroso butt and 1st fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead with whisky aged for at least 22 years. It’s cask strength and very, very good. We believe this is our finest Wee Mongrel to date, let us know if you agree. We also think it’ll be our last Wee Mongrel for the foreseeable future. The whiskies we use are now so expensive it’s becoming cost prohibitive. We’ll see.

The highest peak

Iconic, bigger than anything in the country and quite the challenge, but enough about our famous rally win a few months back, instead let us introduce you to our Ben Nevis single malt. Ben Nevis has such a unique distillate character, it’s here in abundance but beautifully balanced with the wood, rounded by 26 years of maturation. The Ben Nevis distillery sits in the shadow of the UK’s highest mountain at Fort William. While most people return with blisters and knee problems we picked up a rather special 1999 hogshead. This is an exceptional single cask, single malt. Ben Nevis’s Japanese owners wisely keep most of their whisky for themselves, but we know a man who knows a man and were fortunate to get this little gem. We even managed to stop Chris from mentioning the war…

Ben Nevis 1999  Aged 26 Years

Aged beautifully in an ex-bourbon hogshead so there’s only 220 of these. Don’t delay. We avoided the obvious stereotypes and have Koi carp on the label as a gentle nod to the owners of Ben Nevis distillery.

Wee Mongrel

2025’s Wee Mongrel is a sherry finished stunner, if we do say so ourselves. A blend with a minimum age of 22 years there are, and will only ever be, 497 bottles. Probably our last Wee Mongrel we are sorry to say.

Campbeltown Mega Blend

Specially selected single malt from every working distillery in Campbeltown, expertly blended by our own fair hands. 1st fill bourbon Glen Scotia, 12 and 16yo Kilkerran and 10 and 21yo Springbank.

Drookit Dug

It’s back for 2025, but not for long… A perfectly balanced blend of grain and malt that have each been matured for a further 12 months. 45.2% ABV cask strength. At only £45 we think it’s perfectly priced as well.

On Our Travels

We’ll be in Sweden in September, sharing stories about our spirits and asking what the rallying is like to anyone we meet. We’ll be doing something similar in Denmark in October. Check our social media for news on venues and dates nearer the time.

We’re also attending the Glasgow Whisky Festival on November 8th. If you’re at any event we’re at please do come over and say ‘hello’, while we know we’re extremely important now we still like to make time for the little people…

LIMITED NUMBERS AVAILABLE

As ever at Little Brown Dog we are only able to bottle a small number of each of our whisky releases. We choose them carefully, each one is a whisky we’d drink ourselves, each one is different, there’s something special about it, that’s why we chose it. We like nothing better than talking about whisky and answering any questions you might have, so find us on social media. All of our available releases are on our website too.

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Over the past few weeks we’ve shared the exciting opportunity to own a private cask of Kingsbarns whisky — and the response has been incredible. Whether you’ve been dreaming of a smooth ex-Bourbon barrel or the rich depths of an ex-Sherry hogshead, this is your moment to claim one and watch your own whisky mature in our bonded warehouses.

Your cask includes:

• 10 years’ storage & insurance
• Online system to manage and view your cask
• Sample requests throughout maturation

If you’ve been meaning to join our cask community, now’s the time — once these are gone, they’re gone. Reserve your cask below. If you would like any more information or to discuss your options, please email: casks@kingsbarnsdistillery.com

Slàinte,
The Kingsbarns Team