This month, Brown-Forman will debut a new “Whiskey Row” series from Old Forester with an inaugural release called 1870 Original Batch, according to the Courier-Journal. The series, which commemorates Old Forester’s history on Louisville’s Main Street Whiskey Row district, will include four expressions of whiskey that are based on actual products and oral history. 1870 Original Batch, which will be available in select markets at $44.99 a 750-ml., celebrates the year Old Forester became the first batched Bourbon. Bourbons from barrels in three different warehouses were blended for a 90-proof product meant to reflect inconsistencies in the original’s formulation. The series, which will eventually be produced at Old Forester’s planned Whiskey Row distillery, will feature three more expressions based on whiskies produced through 1923, when the brand left Whiskey Row. Currently, 1870 Original Batch is produced at Brown-Forman’s Shively facility.
Park City, Utah-based High West Distillery has reintroduced one of its limited edition whiskies for the winter season. First launched earlier this year on Valentine’s Day, A Midwinter Night’s Dram is a limited release version of High West’s Rendezvous Rye, finished for several months in both Port and French oak barrels. The 98.6-proof expression—which features notes of vanilla, caramel, cinnamon and dried fruit—is now available at select retail outlets, priced at $79.99 a bottle. High West Distillery’s portfolio has a current U.S. footprint of 40 states.
Waconia, Minnesota micro-distillery J. Carver Distilling has sent its first shipment of craft gin and vodka to Minneapolis-St. Paul liquor stores, the local CBS affiliate reports. Last spring, owner Bill Miller purchased a 17,000-square-foot former Pontiac dealership and has turned it into a distillery able to produce 600 cases a month. The company focuses on craft recipes made from locally sourced ingredients, such as wheat grown 20 miles away from Waconia. Miller says he plans to open a tasting room within the next year and will look into making different whiskey and barrel-aged products. J. Carver Premium Gin and Vodka retail at about $20-$24 a bottle.
Novato, California’s Square One Organic Spirits is launching new citrus-based vodka Square One Bergamot to select markets ahead of a national rollout next February. Grown predominantly in southern Italy and along the Mediterranean Sea, the bergamot is a sour orange with a peel that is floral and tangy, the company says. The unfiltered vodka is created by layering the citrus with essential oils of pressed mandarin, navel and tangerine oranges and the essences of ginger, coriander and juniper botanicals. Square One Bergamot is currently available in California, Illinois and Missouri at $35 a 750-ml. bottle and $4.99 a 50-ml. bottle.
Vermont-based craft whiskey distiller WhistlePig has debuted The Boss Hog: Spirit of Mortimer, a new limited edition expression. Created to honor the memory of WhistlePig’s deceased mascot, a pig named Mortimer, The Boss Hog: Spirit of Mortimer is a 100% rye whiskey aged for nearly 14 years and bottled at full barrel strength. The 117- to 124-proof entry is currently available nationwide, priced at $189 a 750-ml. The Boss Hog: Spirit of Mortimer follows last year’s launch of WhistlePig’s original The Boss Hog label, a 100% rye whiskey aged 12.5 years.
Stoli USA’s Stolichnaya has released the third and final entry in its ultra-premium Elit Pristine Water Series vodka collection. Available this month, Elit Pristine Water Series: Andean edition is crafted with natural spring water sourced from the Andes Mountains, as well as distilled spirit made with grain harvested from SPI Group’s Tambov, Russia-based farm. The limited edition, 40%-abv expression, which is packaged in a Glencairn Crystal bottle, retails for around €3,000 ($3,729). The Andean edition joins the Elit Pristine Water Series’ previous Himalaya and New Zealand editions, launched in 2011 and 2013, respectively.
William Grant & Sons, is hearkening back to the earliest days of the category, launching a “replica” of the first single malt marketed by its Glenfiddich distillery. To create the 1963 replica whisky, Glenfiddich malt master Brian Kinsman pulled from various casks to match the archived liquid and ledger notes from the original. The finished product is 80 proof, with packaging styled to echo its ancestor, and retails at a suggested $100 a bottle. The limited edition is now hitting the U.S. market on allocation with a supply of 2,000 cases. The launch is being 
backed by print and digital executions—including full-page spreads in major newspapers—recreated from the original whisky’s advertising materials.
Diageo has officially unveiled a new flavored extension to its Crown Royal Canadian whisky brand, Regal Apple. The new offering is a blend of Crown Royal whiskies infused with natural apple flavors from Regal Gala apples and retails at $24.99 a 750-ml. Regal Apple joins 2012 entry Maple Finished in the Crown Royal flavor portfolio.
All information courtesy of Shanken News Daily
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Brown Forman’s Old Forester Bourbon has unveiled its Whiskey Row Series, a new lineup inspired by the brand’s history. Rolling out this month, the Whiskey Row Series makes its debut with 1870 Original Batch, which commemorates the year Old Forester switched from being sold by barrel to becoming a batched Bourbon. 1870 Original Batch is made according to brand founder George Garvin Brown’s 1870 batching process, using barrels from three different warehouses. Priced at $44.99 a 750-ml., the 90-proof expression will be available in select cities, including Chicago, Denver, Louisville, Nashville, New York City, Seattle and San Francisco.
Terlato Wines has officially launched Langley’s No. 8 gin in the U.S. Produced by Birmingham, England-based Langley Distillery, the small-batch London-style gin is made with a proprietary blend of botanicals, including juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, cassia bark and nutmeg, among others. Langley’s No. 8 is currently available in select markets, priced at $42 a bottle.
William Grant is launching a new single grain Scotch whisky brand, Girvan, which is made at its grain distillery in Ayrshire and distilled predominantly from wheat, with a small amount of malted barley. The line will include a non-age-stated No. 4 Apps edition ($45), as well as 25-year-old ($400) and 30-year-old ($600) expressions. Nash says the core No. 4 Apps—named for the patented column still from which it’s produced—is a sweet, lighter whisky that’s versatile and amenable to cocktails in addition to drinking straight.
Diageo recently placed a high-profile bet on single grain whisky with the global launch of Haig Club ($70 a 750-ml.), developed in partnership with soccer star David Beckham and British entrepreneur Simon Fuller. Rolling out currently in the U.S., China, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore with additional markets upcoming, Haig Club is intended to attract both novice consumers and Scotch whisky cognoscenti.
Ireland’s Teeling Whiskey Co. is planning to launch a 46%-abv single grain offering—fully matured in California Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels—in the U.S. next year. Teeling’s newcomer will join another rare Irish single grain whiskey, Greenore, on the market. Greenore, which includes 8-year-old, 15-year-old and 18-year-old variants, is now part of the Beam Suntory portfolio, and is produced at the Cooley Distillery that Beam acquired from the Teeling family in early 2012.
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