Take a Walk on the WILDMOOR Side

Since being founded in 1887, William Grant & Sons has built its reputation on high-end single malt whiskies, in particular world-famous names such as Glenfiddich and The Balvenie. It is still a family-owned company today. The brief to Master Blender Brian Kinsman was to use the inspiration of the Scottish landscapes and to make use of the company’s vast portfolio of aged whiskies from across Scotland, amassed over decades. The result, WILDMOOR, is a luxury blended Scotch whisky, combines reserve malts and grains. It includes seven expressions, ranging from 21 to 40 years.

It is the access to these private vaults of whiskies that has allowed the breadth of expression across the range. Casks may contain up to 40 or 50 distilleries, explained Kinsman, some under company ownership and others from distilleries it has enjoyed longstanding relationships with. Rediscovering these treasures and playing with this broad canvas have meant he has had the opportunity both to experiment and to curate. He commented: “With access to the family’s private vaults of prized liquids, I was able to explore intense flavours. I delved deeper into my personal memories of these wild places, and what was initially a single whisky has become a series of extremely old and prestigious blended malts and blended whiskies, each one a multi-sensory tribute to Scotland’s vast terrain.”

The bottle itself is tactile and a keepsake in itself, crafted with rippling grooves through the glass, reminiscent of the coarse terrains of the provenance.  Having been matured for decades in sherry casks, the liquids have developed a rich colour and distinctive profile – bottling the untamed diversity of Scottish scenery. 

An added dimension of the range, adding to the rich character, is the finishing in Sherry butts, after maturation in European and American oak barrels.

Why the name WILDMOOR for this luxury blended Scotch whisky?

Evocative of the brooding moorlands and rugged coastlines of Scotland, WILDMOOR is described by the Scotch whisky firm as 'a whisky more wild' and ‘new to world’, paying tribute to the untamed elements of the country. William Grant has set out to create a ‘flavour map of Scotland in a glass’ and WILDMOOR deliberately avoids an association with a single distillery or a uniform house style. Just as the landscapes of Scotland are diverse and often dramatic, so the approach of this range speaks more to the concept of ‘terroir’ and ‘provenance’, more commonly associated with fine wines.

Kinsman comments “We had a vision for WILDMOOR; to create a whisky that embodied the raw majesty of Scotland’s wildest places, the awe- inspiring landscapes. With access to the family’s private vaults of prized liquids, I was able to explore intense flavours. I delved deeper into my personal memories of these wild places, and what was initially a single whisky has become a series of extremely old and prestigious blended malts and blended whiskies, each one a multi-sensory tribute to Scotland’s vast terrain.”

The WILDMOOR range

There are seven whiskies in the WILDMOOR range, with five available in the U.K (two are excusive to China/Taiwan and Global Travel Retail exclusives) and expression offering a diversity of aroma, depth and complexity. 

At the ‘younger’ end of the range is Dark Moorland 23-Year-Old, a blend of Highland and Speyside malts combined with Lowland grain whisky. The finishing is in oloroso Sherry casks. This was in fact my favourite, with a rich character that developed in the glass and a rounded smoothness on the palate.

Midway in age is 30-year-old Rugged Coast, also finished in oloroso Sherry casks and taking inspiration from Scotland’s dramatic western coast. It displays a smoky, peaty character and notes of apricots and prunes.

The oldest expression in the collection is Black Mountain 40-Year-Old, evoking the dark mountains of northern Scotland. It has an intensity and concentration about it, with a blend of rare grain and Highland malts, and enhanced by stock held in obsolete (ghost) distilleries. This has been finished in Pedro Ximinez (PX) Sherry cask.

A Word from the Master Blender

After nosing and sampling over 250,000 casks, Brian Kinsman is a man who is steeped in whisky – being granted the title of Master Blender in 2009. But what exactly does it mean to be a Master Blender? It's an accolade for only a handful of experts in the whisky industry. It means creating and perfecting diverse whiskies, from single malts to blends, whilst overseeing and quality-controlling every stage of the whisky-making process. From cask selection to maturation, marrying and bottling. To oversee revered brands with big commercial expectations riding on them, Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, is no mean feat.

In Summary

WILDMOOR is a bold initiative from William Grant & Sons, and given it has opened up the family vaults, it is not one taken lightly. It has not only created a new brand, but also enters the luxury segment of blended Scotch whiskies, competing with the likes of Johnnie Walker Blue Label [link to article] and Royal Salute. We expect this to make a splash in the high-end luxury whisky segment, as it marries storytelling, provenance and top whisky-making.

Select WILDMOOR whiskies are available in the UK at The Whisky Shop The Whisky Exchange and Selfridges.