New Booze: 18 Whiskies, 3 Liqueurs, Apple Brandy, Aged Vodka, and a New Rum
September 21, 2015
Behold a round-up of new liquor products hitting store shelves, including gin and sweet potato liqueurs, aged American apple brandy and Swedish vodka, rum meant for shots, and 18 new whiskies, most of them limited editions.
Sante Fe Spirits Slow Burn Smoked Gin Liqueur and Atapino Liqueur
Slow Burn
• 38% alcohol by volume • 76 proof • Base spirit is Wheeler’s Western Dry Gin • Smoked with hickory and apple wood • Lightly sweetened • Available only in 375 milliliter bottles • Limited release • MSRP in New Mexico is $25
Atapino Liqueur
• 38% alcohol by volume • 76 proof • Piñon nuts are soaked in Silver Coyote single malt white whiskey • Soaked for 2 months in a new oak barrel • Sweetened with hand-collected ponderosa pine resin and sugar • Available only in 375 milliliter bottles • Extremely limited, seasonal release • First run is available only through Santa Fe Spirits tasting rooms • MSRP in New Mexico is $30
Oak by Absolut Vodka
No info.
Captain Morgan Cannon Blast
No Info.
Jameson Caskmates
For the first time ever, local Irish micro-brewery Franciscan Well and Jameson Original shared casks to create one exceptional whiskey combining Jameson Original with stout beer. Born in 2013 over drinks at a local neighborhood pub in County Cork, Ireland, Caskmates was created by two longtime friends, Dave Quinn, Master of Whiskey Science at Jameson Distillery and Shane Long, Head Brewer at local Irish micro-brewery Franciscan Well.
Jameson shared its proprietary oak whiskey barrels from the Midleton Distillery with Franciscan Well, who created a unique Irish stout aged in Jameson barrels. Returning the gesture, the now stout-seasoned barrels were sent back to the distillery to be refilled with Jameson Original. As a result of its time spent in the stout-seasoned barrels, Jameson Caskmates has the triple-distilled smoothness of Jameson, but now with new added notes of coffee, cocoa, and hops.
Jameson Caskmates, suggested retail price $29.99, is now available in select retailers and neighborhood bars nationwide.
Corbin Cash Barrel Reserve Sweet Potato Liqueur
Corbin Cash Barrel Reserve Sweet Potato Liqueur is now available both on- and off-premise. The liqueur is made from 100 percent sweet potatoes grown on the 100-year-old family farm of Sweet Potato Spirits founder and distiller David Souza.
The fourth-generation sweet potato farmer started the Sweet Potato Spirits distillery in 2009 to make farm-to-bottle spirits from his own crops. He filled oak barrels with his new spirit and let them sit and mature. After a few years, Souza hit upon the use for his now-aged spirit: He mixed it with brown sugar and spices like vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, creating the world's first 100-percent-sweet potato liqueur.
The base spirit for Corbin Cash is distilled from sweet potatoes to a relatively low 140 to 150-proof, more like a whiskey than a vodka (which must be distilled to at least 190-proof). Corbin Cash Barrel Reserve Sweet Potato Liqueur is now available throughout the state of California. It is 70-proof (35 percent ABV), and the suggested retail price is $38 for a 750-mL bottle.
Copper & Kings American Apple Brandy
Louisville-based Copper & Kings American Brandy Co. is launching its first aged apple brandy expression this fall. A superb blend of copper pot-distilled apple brandies were aged in bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts and sherry casks. The blend has a minimum age of 4-year-old brandy, and is 100-proof.
The craft apple brandy is non-chill filtered with no post-distillation addition of apple flavor or essences, no boisé (oak flavor or infusion), sugar or caramel color for an authentic, uncorrupted natural flavor and natural color.
Copper & Kings Craft Distilled American Apple Brandy (100 proof/50% ABV)
$40 per 750mL bottle
Copper & Kings is available in 20 markets including: Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington DC and Wisconsin.
Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2015
The collection will once again feature five limited-release whiskeys of various ages, recipes and proofs. The 2015 Antique Collection whiskeys will be available in limited quantities starting in late September or early October. Suggested retail price is $80 each.
George T. Stagg
The powerhouse favorite of the Antique Collection, the 2015 George T. Stagg weighs in at 138.2 proof this year. This year’s release contains bourbon from barrels filled in the spring of 2000. This batch contained 128 barrels, a similar size batch as in previous years. Unfortunately these barrels yielded very little whiskey. Some of the barrels were nearly empty, containing only 1 or 2 gallons. Storage location of these barrels varied across a number of warehouses and several floors, but 84% of the original whiskey was lost to evaporation.
William Larue Weller
The Antique Collection’s uncut, unfiltered, wheated recipe bourbon is William Larue Weller. The 2015 offering was distilled in the spring of 2003 and aged on the second and sixth floors of Warehouses I, K, and L. This bourbon registers in at 134.6 proof – one of the stronger Weller releases.
Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye
Thomas H. Handy is the uncut and unfiltered straight rye whiskey. This year’s Handy was distilled in the spring of 2009; aged on the fourth and seventh floors of Warehouses I, K, and M, and weighs in at 126.9 proof.
Eagle Rare 17 Year Old
The 2015 edition has been aging on the first, second and third floors of Warehouses Q and I. This bourbon was aged for seventeen years.
Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old
Several years ago, barrels of fully matured Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old were put into a stainless steel tank at Buffalo Trace Distillery to prevent further aging. Since then, whiskey has been drawn each year for bottling. This is the last edition of Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old from that tank. Next year’s batch will be comprised of whiskey that is currently aging in barrels filled in April 1998 and subsequent releases will contain barrels filled in 1999 and so on.
Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach, Deanston 18YO and Ledaig 18YO
Burn Stewart Distillers is to release the second batch of three award-winning expressions from its single malt portfolio: Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach, Deanston 18YO and Ledaig 18YO. The new batch of Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach will be introduced at the end of October 2015, while the 18YOs will be released to market at the end of November 2015.
The second batch of these single malt whiskies follows three successful launches – Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach in October 2014 and Deanston and Ledaig 18YO in May 2015. All three expressions are un-chill filtered, meaning that nothing is added or taken away, leaving the spirit exactly as nature intended. The new bottles will be distributed across key international markets including: UK, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Glenrothes Reserve Collection: Sherry Cask Reserve, Bourbon Cask Reserve and Vintage Reserve
The Glenrothes Distillery introduces three new non-age statement single malt expressions–The Reserve Collection: Sherry Cask Reserve, Bourbon Cask Reserve and Vintage Reserve. The Glenrothes Reserves are a blend of rare and limited Vintages married together to produce distinctive expressions.
Sherry Cask Reserve (40% ABV; $59.99 SRP) is the first all first-fill sherry cask expression from The Glenrothes; it is matured predominantly in European oak.
Bourbon Cask Reserve (40% ABV; $59.99 SRP) is matured exclusively in American oak refill bourbon casks.
Vintage Reserve (40% ABV; $54.00 SRP) comprises 10 different vintages from the last three decades: 1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Parker's Heritage 2015 Release Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey
Heaven Hill Brands announces the 2015 limited edition release of Parker’s Heritage Collection—a unique Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey with malted barley and corn in the grain recipe. Heaven Hill, who holds the world’s second largest inventory of aging American Whiskey, will be shipping the one-of-a-kind bottling into selected markets across the country beginning in September in order to hit retail shelves in late September and October.
The Parker’s Heritage Collection series was originally conceived to showcase the quality and range of Heaven Hill’s American Whiskey holdings. The 2015 edition will feature an 8-year-old straight Kentucky Malt Whiskey, bottled at 108 proof (54% abv) and non-chill filtered. The barrels used for this year’s offering were part of an experimental run of a 65% malted barley/35% corn straight whiskey created by Heaven Hill Co-Master Distiller Craig Beam in late 2006. These barrels were put up into the 5th and 7th floors of Rickhouse Y in Bardstown.
The release will be comprised of one dump, which will be bottled at a robust 108° proof or 54% alcohol by volume. No chill filtering. Only 141 barrels will be allocated toward release, which will be offered at a national average retail price of $99.99 for the 750ml size.
Four Roses 2015 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon
Four Roses will release the latest in its series of limited-quantity bottlings this September. The 2015 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon is timed with the retirement of Master Distiller Jim Rutledge and the appointment of Brent Elliot to the post.
Four Roses is the only distillery that combines two mashbills with five proprietary yeast strains to produce ten distinct Bourbon recipes, each with its own unique characteristics. The 2015 Limited Edition Small Batch features a 16-year-old Bourbon from Four Roses’ OBSK recipe, a 15-year-old OESK, a 14-year-old OESK and an 11-year-old OBSV.
Bottled at barrel strength with a proof of 108.5. Four Roses will produce and distribute approximately 12,600 hand-numbered bottles of the 2015 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon, which are expected to hit retail outlets in mid-September, during National Bourbon Heritage Month.
Old Forester 2015 Birthday Bourbon
For the last 145 years, Old Forester has been made using the methods established by George Garvin Brown, the founder of Louisville-based Brown-Forman and Old Forester, America's First Bottled Bourbon. To commemorate Brown’s September 2nd birthday, Old Forester annually releases an expression of its bourbon. This year marks the 14th limited edition release of the 12-year-old product but the first time Birthday Bourbon is offered at 100 Proof.
Selected from a single day of production, this limited edition small batch bourbon is vintage-dated (June 13, 2003) – offering a one-of-a-kind character and flavor profile that will never be replicated.
Available starting in September, the 2014 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon will have a suggested retail price between $69.99-$79.99. Only 2200 (6 bottle) cases will be available for purchase nationwide.
Beach Whiskey
Beach Whiskey (SRP $27.99, 750ml) is made in the United States from corn at partner distilleries, before filtering and blending.
At launch, the Beach Whiskey portfolio includes Original (40% ABV / 80 proof), Bonfire Cinnamon (35% ABV / 70 proof), and Island Coconut (26% ABV / 52 proof).
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