Alcademics

All the Irish whisky brand owners conveniently announce their new releases in time for St. Patrick's Day. Here are new ones hitting the market. 

Rebreast 15-Year-Old

New York, NY (August 10, 2010) – Pernod Ricard USA® and Irish Distillers, makers of Jameson® and Midleton® Very Rare, Redbreast®, Powers® and Paddy® Irish Whiskies, announce the arrival of Redbreast 15 Year Old Pot Still Irish Whiskey to the U.S. This distinguished and awarded pure pot still whiskey – the only traditional Irish pot still whiskey available today – will be available for sale in select retail and on-premise outlets throughout the U.S.

“Redbreast is a very special unblended whiskey – triple distilled and made with malted and unmalted barley,” said Wayne Hartunian, Vice President Whiskey for Pernod Ricard USA. “Redbreast 15 Year Old is without doubt one of the finest expressions of whiskey making in Ireland – a true collector’s item – dubbed the 'Irish Nectar' and chosen as Irish Whiskey of the Year 2007 by Jim Murray, Whiskey Connoisseur and publisher of Jim Murray’s renowned Whiskey Bible.”

The Redbreast brand and specifically Redbreast 12 Year Old, was first launched in 1939 as the brand name given to the pot still whiskey supplied by Jameson to whiskey bonders before bottling at the distillery became the norm in 1968. Stocks of whiskey in bonders’ stores petered out, and thus Redbreast all but disappeared until Redbreast 12 Year Old was re-launched by the distillery in the 1990s as a single pot still whiskey. Redbreast 15 Year Old pure pot still whiskey, the latest addition to the family, is distilled from malted and unmalted barley in traditional copper pot stills and matured for a minimum of 15 years in a combination of old Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and fresh American bourbon whisky barrels. Like all good whiskeys it is strongly flavored and assertive, making it a rare treat for the connoisseur of fine old whiskey.

Redbreast 15 Year Old will retail for a suggested price of $74.99/750ml.

Knappogue Castle Twin Wood

KNAPPOGUE CASTLE® DEBUTS SHERRY-CASK FINISHED, 16-YEAR OLD IRISH SINGLE MALT

Knappogue Twin Wood New York, NY, February 7, 2011 - Knappogue Castle®, producer of a super-premium line of single malt Irish whiskies, announces the release of a distinctive, new, 16-year old single malt Irish whiskey: Twin Wood, a whiskey aged in two types of barrels, a first for the brand. After 15 years and three months in bourbon casks, this latest offering from Knappogue Castle, spent a final nine months aging in sherry casks - hence its name.

Mark Andrews III, son of the founder of Knappogue Castle, developed this latest aged whiskey as a tribute to the brand's heritage. In the late 1980s he first brought to market the legendary Knappogue Castle 1951. Arguably the oldest and rarest Irish whiskey in the world, it was aged for 36 years exclusively in sherry casks before being bottled in 1987. Twin Wood, a refined 16-year old whiskey only recently bottled, spent the final nine months maturing in casks specially infused for Knappogue Castle with Oloroso Sherry. This sherry-cask finishing has added complexity and notes of nutty, sherry maltiness to Knappogue Castle's characteristic, smooth, mellow taste.

Always innovating, the Andrews family has built Knappogue Castle, which is pronounced nah-POGUE', like brogue, into a global brand, bottling Irish single malts when others were only bottling blends, and offering a range of vintages including 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. In early 2010 Andrews offered a very limited quantity of Knappogue Castle 1994 Master Distiller's Private Selection, a product with even more age, greater complexity, and more finesse than previous vintages.

With only 1,900 signed and numbered bottles produced, the Knappogue Castle® Twin Wood 16 Year Old Irish Single Malt Whiskey will be available at select retailers and on-premise nationwide starting in late-February. It carries a suggested retail price of $100. The Knappogue Castle 1951 is still available by special order and retails for around $1,800.

Michael Collins 20 Year Single Malt

Michael Collins 10 Year Old Single Malt and the newly packaged Michael Collins Blended Irish Whiskey will be available nationwide in January, 2011.

Michael Collins Irish Whiskeys are proudly handcrafted at the Cooley Distillery. Cooley is the only distillery in Ireland to double distill
their whiskeys and use peated malted barley. Made with locally harvested Spring barley, Michael Collins Irish Whiskeys are distilled with local mountain spring water that is soft and pure and matured in small bourbon
seasoned casks where the cool, moist Irish air brings the whiskeys to maturity.

Michael Collins 10 Year Old Single Malt is double distilled in small, long-necked copper pot stills, from both malted barley and peated malted barley and matured in small bourbon seasoned casks for a minimum of ten
years. The result is a single malt, with a slightly sweet nose, that is rich and complex with hints of ripe fruit, meadow flowers and peat. Clean and smooth, the medium to dry finish has a lingering light smokiness.

Michael Collins 10 Year Old Single Malt is available in the 750ml size with a suggested retail price of $39.99.

Michael Collins Blended Irish Whiskey is available in 50ml, 750ml and Liter sizes and has a suggested retail price of $26.99-$28.99 (750ml).