Dewar’s 21-year-old Stone Toasted Scotch whisky is the first to utilize a unique finishing process

Dewar’s has long prided itself on innovation and experimentation, and the whisky brand’s Double- Double series is a perfect example.

Dewar’s first began double aging — the process of blending matured Scotch whisky, then placing it back into casks to mature even further —in 1881. The result: a supremely smooth and balanced finished product that made Dewar’s a household name for more than a century.

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Dewar’s pushed the bar even higher by introducing double-double aging in 2019. Double-double aging is a four-step process that starts with the maturation of single malt and single grain whiskies for over two decades. Those whiskies are then vatted separately, matured further and eventually combined for one final maturation before being finished in a special cask. This process produced a 32-year-old Scotch whisky that won Best Whisky in the World at the International Whisky Competition in 2020.

Now, Dewar’s has introduced the latest double-double iteration: a 21-year-old Stone Toasted Scotch whisky ($140; dewars.com). This Scotch whisky has been further elevated with a unique finish in magma-stone-toasted French oak casks, making Dewar’s the first whisky brand in the world to utilize the process, which is more prevalent in the high-end wine industry.

Stone toasting involves placing heated magma stones inside a metal cylinder in the casks to delicately and gradually “toast” them over the course of several hours. The heat opens the oak’s pores, and the finished whisky is enriched by a smooth symphony of flavors, which include notes of honey, caramel, stewed apples, pears, cinnamon, toasted oat and cereal grain.