Prima & Ultima from Diageo for the third time
Diageo has just announced the release of a new, third collection in its Prima & Ultima series. This time, whisky lovers from Port Ellen and Brora distilleries will find something to their liking. Whiskies from these distilleries have not seen the light of day in new editions for a long time, so including them in the new Prima & Ultima series is quite a treat. And Port Ellen and Brora are not the only rarities in the new collection.
The Prima & Ultima series has traditionally included whiskies sourced from casks that are in some way unique, often - in keeping with the idea in the series name - the first or last barrels of their kind. The series was first released in June 2020, and its content was due to Dr. To Jim Beveridge. Last year, a second series appeared, behind which was Diageo's champion buyer, Maureen Robinson. The current selection is the work of Dr. Craig Wilson, one of Diageo's master merchants.
The new series includes the following whiskeys:
Brora 1981 40yo (44.1% vol.)
Cragganmore 1973 48yo (44.8% vol.)
Lagavulin 1993 28yo (50.1% vol.)
Mannochmore 1990 31yo (45.1% vol.)
Port Ellen 1980 41yo (59.6% vol.)
Royal Lochnagar 1981 40yo (52.5% vol.)
Singleton of Glen Ord 1987 34yo (49.4% vol.)
Talisker 1984 37yo (51.9% vol.)
Without a doubt, the two whiskies of the distilleries closed in 1983, whose cult status prompted Diageo to consider and implement plans to reactivate them, are attracting the most interest. In the case of Port Ellen, the selector took into account the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, which had just been celebrated, and chose the last barrel from 1980, the year the Queen personally visited Port Ellen, the distillery and maltings there. The selected Brora, on the other hand, is the last barrel of 1981. In the words of Dr. Craig Wilson, this is one of the rarest editions of Brora to ever see the light of day.
The third edition of the Prima & Ultima series is limited to 317 sets, available at theprimaandultimacollection.com, and the purchase of one of them costs £36,500. Each set comes with 200 ml miniatures, as well as artifacts related to each of the distilleries from which the whiskeys were included in the current edition.
It is worth recalling that in 2017 Diageo announced a plan to restart the Brora and Port Ellen distilleries. In the case of the former, the inaugural firing after reactivation took place in May 2021. Construction work continues in Port Ellen.
Those interested in rare editions of whiskies from these two legendary distilleries are encouraged to visit the House of Whisky Online and see what can also be found on our shelves under the heading Brora i Port Ellen.
[13.06.2022 / photo: Diageo]