Kentucky’s Covered Bridge Whiskey Company has expanded its offerings, adding a new rye whiskey to its Ruddell’s Mill label. The 47.2% abv whiskey is distilled from a high-rye mash bill that also includes malted barley. The brand is named for the founder of a gristmill that operated in Bourbon country during the early years of Kentucky whiskey production. Ruddell’s Mill rye is now available in select markets across the U.S. through Worldwide Libations for around $50 a 750-ml.
E.& J. Gallo has launched a new 19-year-old expression in the Germain-Robin family of brandies. The 41.4% abv single barrel brandy is distilled from Pinot Noir grapes from the Anderson Valley in Mendocino county and matured in Limousin oak barrels. Germain-Robin Pinot Noir Single Barrel is now available at the company’s California Brandy House in Napa for $250. It will soon be available in other select locations across the U.S.
Rothes, Scotland’s the Glen Grant Distillery is celebrating the 60th anniversary of distiller Dennis Malcolm with a new 60-year-old single malt whisky. The Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition is bottled at 52.8% abv and is drawn from a single ex-Oloroso Sherry cask filled in October, 1960. Only 360 Glencairn decanters are available in select global retailers with each bottle selling for €25,000 (roughly $30,000).
Peoria, Illinois-based JK Williams Distilling is adding two new products to its lineup. Distilled six times, Blueprint Vodka (40% abv) is the first clear spirit from the company, featuring the Peoria skyline and a local bridge on the bottle. The distillery is also launching its new Bridge Series with American Wheat Whiskey, made from 95% wheat and bottled at 47% abv. It will retail for $50 a bottle at select Illinois retailers as the third release from JK Williams since it launched its initial offerings in the fall of 2020. Named for a storied bootlegger, JK Williams’ previously released Gold Zephyr Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Stormy River High Rye Whiskey.
Actress Eva Longoria has introduced a new luxury Tequila brand, Casa del Sol. The new franchise includes 100% Blue Weber agave Blanco ($60 a 750-ml.), Reposado ($70) and Añejo ($100) expressions, the latter two of which are aged in Martell Cognac barrels. Alejandra Pelayo, Casa Del Sol’s head of production, is a protege and goddaughter of the late Patrón master distiller Francisco Alcaraz. Casa del Sol is launching now in California, Colorado, and Florida ahead of a national rollout slated for early next year.
Lux Row Distillers is releasing a new Bourbon in partnership with conservation organization Ducks Unlimited. The new release is called Daviess County Double Barrel Bourbon and is a variation on Lux Row’s existing Daviess County Bourbon. Created by Lux Row master distiller and Ducks Unlimited member John Rempe, it’s finished in Missouri white oak barrels with toasted heads and bottled at 48% abv. The label features an inset of the Ducks Unlimited duck head logo. The Double Barrel Bourbon is available in mid-September, with limited supplies retailing for a suggested $50 a 750-ml.
YaVe Tequila has extended its range with a Reposado expression. Aged eight months in American oak barrels, the brand’s new Reposado is bottled at 40% abv and retails at $60 a 750-ml. It joins the existing Blanco Tequila in the YaVe range, which is distributed across eight markets (and ships to 33 states nationwide).
Compass Box has introduced a new blended malt Scotch whisky called Orchard House. Compass Box says the majority of the recipe is made from stocks of spirit purchased from distilleries known for their fruit-forward flavor. These spirits were then aged in a variety of casks including first fill ex-Bourbon barrels, Oloroso Sherry-seasoned butts, and French oak custom barrels. Retailing at $50 a 750-ml. and bottled at 46% abv, Compass Box Orchard House will be part of the brand’s core collection and will debut widely in October.
Beam Suntory has released 100 bottles of the Yamazaki 55 Japanese whisky in select global markets. The 46% abv offering is a blend of whiskies distilled in 1960 and 1964, with the older whisky maturing in Mizunara oak and the younger whisky in white oak, before bottling in 2020. The whisky is available in the U.S., U.K., mainland China, and Taiwan, among other nations, for a suggested price of $60,000 a bottle. For each bottle released, Beam Suntory will donate $5,000 to the White Oak Initiative, a group focused on sustaining America’s white oak forests.
Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily
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