KA Spirits, which claims the title of Turkey's first independent whisky bottler, has announced the launch of its inaugural release.

The Project W Glenturret Ruadh Maor, from the Crieff-based Glenturret Distillery, has been bottled at cask strength of 55.8% ABV and will be available in a limited run of 288 hand-numbered bottles.

It will be the first in a series on non-age-statement whiskies from different distilleries released under the Project W label, with a single cask release from Mannachmore next in the pipeline.

KA Spirits was founded by five Turkish entrepreneurs with a mission to make premium Scotch whiskies available to Turkish consumers. The company is pushing for growth, with plans to purchase more casks for its own bottlings and also move into whisky importing to bring beloved Scotch and international whisky brands to Turkey.

Burkay Adalig, a whisky author and Keeper of the Quaich, is acting as an advisor to KA Spirits in cask selection and brand creation. “I’m thrilled and honoured to be a part of this great initiative,” he said. “We wanted to debut with a distillery close to my heart, the Glenturret, which was the first-ever distillery I visited many years ago and ignited my passion to become a whisky author.”

Turkey is now the 10th largest market for Scotch whisky exports, according to figures from the Scotch Whisky Association. Scotch exports to the country reached £131 million in value in 2023 — a 24 per cent year-on-year increase and a 178 per cent increase since 2019.

Adalig added: “There’s a large number of whisky collectors in Turkey and KA Spirits is happy to contribute to these great collections with the first-ever Turkey-led independent bottling brand, the Project W.”