UK: Glenfiddich salutes Michael Jackson with whisky launch

Glenfiddich is to launch a new release of its Glenfiddich Rare Collection 40 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky in honour of whisky writer and broadcaster Michael Jackson, who passed away in the summer of 2007 aged 65.

Jackson had written tasting notes for each of the first four vattings of Glenfiddich 40 Year Old between 2000 and 2007.

The Scotch is distributed by First Drinks Brands and wholly owned by William Grant & Sons.

To produce this new release of Glenfiddich 40 Year Old, the Glenfiddich Malt Master, David Stewart selected five casks - a mixture of American and European oak - and blended them together with the remnants of the previous Glenfiddich 40 Year Old vatting, which contained whiskies first distilled more than 80 years ago. 

Stewart said: "Michael was a true pioneer of whisky writing and we were always delighted when he crafted such precise and pertinent tasting notes for Glenfiddich 40 Year Old."

The Glenfiddich Rare Collection 40 Year Old, bottled at the natural strength of 45.4% ABV, comes in a solid oak presentation box. 

It is available from specialist retailers and the Glenfiddich Distillery at GBP1,000 for a 70cl bottle.  All 600 bottles are individually numbered.

The revenue from the first bottle to leave the distillery will be donated to the Parkinson's Disease Society, the leading charity for supporting people with Parkinson's, a condition bravely battled by Michael Jackson for ten years.