Following the success of predecessor United Distillers’ Rare Malts Selection series, the marketing wonks at Diageo sat down around the turn of the millennium and decided to try and make more money from their remaining stocks of long-aged whisky. By tweaking the Rare Malts template of largeish batches of cask strength whisky from a mix of familiar and obscure distilleries - and adding younger whiskies and fancier individual packaging to the recipe - the Special Releases were born.

After testing the market in 2001 with a soft launch comprising a 28-year-old Talisker 1973 for Oddbins and the first Port Ellen Annual Release, the first full slate of Special Releases appeared in 2002, with highlights including the first Brora 30-year-old, Dalwhinnie 1966 and Lagavulin 25-year-old. Over the next few years the annual launch of Diageo’s Special Releases became the platform for dozens of sensational whiskies from the company's huge portfolio of whisky distilleries, with seminal bottlings from Talisker, Convalmore, Glenury Royal and many more. 

The Special Releases have been the most significant series of official bottlings of whisky this century and there’s no doubt that many of the classic drams released over the years will still be discussed (and, hopefully, opened and drunk) for decades to come.