The legendary British rock group Status Quo have teamed up with a Glasgow-based firm to release a new whisky marking the 50th anniversary of their bestselling LP, Piledriver.
Quo and Caskade Drinks Ltd, an independent bottler specialising in limited-edition drinks releases, have overseen the launch of Piledriver Blended Malt, a seven-year-old Blended Malt whisky restricted to just 500 bottles.
It's the third release in Caskade's limited-edition Artist Collection.
The first was last year's Born in a Storm by Deacon Blue, a single cask Orkney 13 Year Old Single Malt handpicked by the Scottish band to celebrate 35 years of their acclaimed debut album, Raintown.
It was followed earlier this year by Grace Notes, a limited-edition single malt bottling released in collaboration with Celtic Connections to celebrate the festival’s 30th anniversary.
Status Quo to play gigs at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Bandstand
Status Quo's Piledriver Blended Malt was especially chosen by Quo founder and frontman Francis Rossi and the band itself, under the tutelage of famed ex-Edrington blender Max Mcfarlane, to pay homage to the 50th anniversary of the album.
Piledriver, which peaked at number eight in the British album charts in January 1973, contained such Quo classic songs as Paper Plane.
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The album is a bona fide 1970s rock classic, an all-time fan favourite and is famously the first album the band recorded by themselves, cementing it as a pivotal and essential part of not just the band's own legacy, but of the wild and free-spirited era in which it was forged.
It is described as having delicate notes of Oloroso sherry cask, rich marzipan and a slightly higher ABV.
Status Quo’s Piledriver Blended Malt is available to buy via caskadedrinks.com
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Gareth Croll of Caskade Drinks said: “Status Quo are famous for their precision guitar riffs and perfectly balanced anthems, so we reckoned we absolutely had to make this a symphonic blended whisky that nods to their character and unique sound. Max [Mcfarlane] really knocked it out of the park blending this one".
He added: "The Artist Collection was conceived as a way of bringing together some of the most respected names in whisky and music for one off collaborations that you usually don't see every day.
"Each release is designed from the bottom up by the artists involved - from the liquid to the label. And, like a good piece of art, it is always limited.
“Every drop of liquid is chosen because it is of the highest quality and compliments the artist's original idea for the release. It's a way of putting cherished artists' and whisky makers' favourite whiskies in the spotlight and celebrating their collective talents".
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