Ballotin Chocolate Peanut Butter Whiskey Cream

Pasote Tequila has debuted new packaging across its whole line of agave spirits. The new bottles feature the brand’s name on colored labels with Aztec gods and warriors—a black label for Blanco, red for Reposado, and orange for Añejo—as well as a new white band across the bottles’ stoppers. While the bottles and labels have changed the liquid inside remains the same and is still produced from 100% estate grown blue agave. Pasote’s Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo offerings retail for $49-$69, and its Extra-Añejo sells for around $190.

Austin, Texas-based Garrison Brothers Distillery will release Laguna Madre on May 8. The new, limited-edition Texas straight Bourbon is the most ambitious expression Garrison Brothers has produced, the result of four years of aging in white oak barrels followed by four years in French-imported Limousin oak barrels. Only 2,000 bottles will be available nationwide. Each bottle is housed in a display case framed by a photo of its namesake Gulf Coast waters and hand-signed and numbered by master distiller Donnis Todd. Laguna Madre is at 50.5% abv and will retail for $300 a bottle at the distillery and in select outlets nationwide.

Austin, Texas-based Ballotin Whiskey’s latest release is Ballotin Chocolate Peanut Butter Whiskey Cream. Blending the brand’s barrel-aged whiskey with dairy cream, the release elaborates on Ballotin’s previous Chocolate Whiskey Cream and is a permanent addition to the lineup, which also includes Chocolate Mint, Caramel Turtle, and Bourbon Ball, among others. It’s at 17% abv and retails for a suggested $22 a 750-ml. Ballotin Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream is available now across Ballotin’s more than 30 state distribution area.

Jura Whisky has added a new 12-year-old expression to its U.S. portfolio of single malt Scotch expressions. The new offering first matures in ex-Bourbon casks before finishing in Oloroso Sherry casks. It joins Jura’s 12-year-old, Seven Wood, and 18-year-old expressions, and retails for around $50 a 750-ml.

Honkaku Spirits is debuting Takamine Whiskey in the U.S. market. Made at Japan’s Shinozaki Distillery, Takamine is an 8 year-old, 80-proof, 100% barley, koji-fermented whiskey. Koji (aspergillus oryzae) is a mold that grows on grains, breaking the starches into sugars which yeast can then convert into alcohol through fermentation. Koji has been used in Japan for more than 1,200 years to make sake as well as soy sauce, miso, shochu, and other familiar umami-laden Japanese products, according to the company. Aged in virgin American oak and ex-Bourbon casks, Takamine is rolling out now across 15 states, distributed by Winebow and retailing at $99 a 750-ml.