GSN Spirited News: March 8th 2022 Edition

Brown-Forman has released the 2022 edition of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby bottle, with art from artist Jaime Corum. This year’s bottle features Corum’s painting “Dreams in Bloom” of three thoroughbreds racing. The 1-liter bottle retails for $50 and is available across the U.S. In addition to the yearly bottling, Woodford has teamed up with Williams-Sonoma to release the Woodford Spire cocktail mixer, made with cranberry and lemon. The mixer joins Woodford’s other Williams-Sonoma mixers like the Mint Julep and Whiskey Sour.

El Luchador Tequila has relaunched with a full portfolio of aged and unaged bottlings. The brand will now include four expressions: Blanco ($40), Reposado ($45), and Añejo ($50), all bottled at 40% abv, and a 55% abv Distill-Proof Blanco ($50). All four bottles feature a Luchador’s face on the label—a masked Mexican professional wrestler—with different background colors (green, silver, red, and red and green, respectively). An extra-Añejo is expected to join the range down the road.

Hendrick’s has unveiled a new limited edition gin, Neptunia. Retailing at $40 a 750-ml., the newcomer is bottled at 43.4% abv. Part of master distiller Lesley Gracie’s Cabinet of Curiosities, the new expression uses a blend of Scottish coastal botanicals—Hendrick’s distillery is located two miles from the sea in Girvan, Scotland—and has a sea foam green label.

Monfleurie Cognac Grand Champagne has launched a new ultra-luxury offering. The Cognac, bottled from two barrels of eau-de-vie that have matured since 1960 blended with select spirits from the Maison Boinaud cellars, is bottled at 40.6% abv and doesn’t contain any added coloring or flavoring. While Monfleurie L’Orchidee is blended with multiple Maison Boinaud Grande Champagne eau-de-vies, over two-thirds of the bottling come from the 1960 vintage barrels. Monfleurie L’Orchidee is available through the brand’s website for $2,900 a 750-ml. or $395 a 100-ml.

Baltimore-based Sagamore Spirit is debuting a new Rum Cask Finish rye whiskey. First offered exclusively at its Baltimore distillery in 2019, a new version of Rum Cask Finish is now making its way to shelves nationwide. For this year’s release, Sagamore Spirit took a blend of its 5- and 6-year-old straight rye whiskies, placing some in hand-selected South American barrels, and the rest in Jamaican barrels, aging both for an additional 10 months. The 98-proof Rum Cask Finish will be on shelves for a suggested retail price of $79.

Diageo has expanded Bulleit’s frontiers, adding new ready-to-serve cocktails for both the brand’s Bourbon and rye whiskies. The cocktails—a rye-based Manhattan and a Bourbon-based Old Fashioned—are bottled at 37.5% abv and come in both 375-ml. and 750-ml. bottles. The new permanent additions to the brand’s portfolio are now available across the U.S. where the 750-ml. bottle carries a suggested price of $30.

Bardstown, Kentucky’s Heaven Hill has kicked off its new Heritage Collection with a 17-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The whiskey, bottled at 59.1% abv, is made from Heaven Hill’s 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley mash bill, and blended from 28% 20-year-old barrels, 44% 19-year-old barrels, and 28% 17-year-old barrels. The Heritage Collection 17-Year-Old Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey will be available in limited quantities across the U.S. for around $275 a bottle.

Brown-Forman’s Slane Irish Whiskey has announced a new limited-edition bottling, set to hit shelves across America this month. Slane Special Edition is a 45% abv blend that takes the brand’s original triple-cask whiskey and tweaks it, introducing a greater portion of whiskies matured in new oak, alongside the usual used whiskey and Oloroso Sherry casks. The whiskey and its abv are a nod to Slane Castle’s 40-year history as a concert venue and the 45 RPM record. Slane Special Edition carries a suggested retail price of $37 a 750-ml.

Nashville, Tennessee-based Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery, part of Constellation Brands, is launching Nelson Brothers, a new line of whiskey. Nelson Brothers will debut with two releases in Nelson Brothers Classic Bourbon and Nelson Brothers Reserve Bourbon. The former is a straight Bourbon blend, bottled at 46.6% abv, that will launch this spring priced at $37 a 750-ml. while the latter is at 53.9% abv and will be available nationally this month for $60 a bottle. The Nelson Brothers label will serve as the distillery’s premium brand going forward alongside flagship brand Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey.

Teeling Irish Whiskey, part of the Bacardi USA portfolio, has announced Wonders of Wood Single Pot Still Chinkapin Oak Whiskey. The release is distilled from 50% malted and 50% unmalted barley, matured entirely in new Chinkapin American White Oak barrels, and was bottled at 50% abv. The Wonders of Wood releases see Teeling experiment with more unique varieties of wood, pushing Irish whiskey into new frontiers. Roughly 6,700 bottles of Teeling’s new whiskey will be available in the U.S. beginning in June and July for $99 a bottle.

Global Brand Equities has launched Sunny Vodka, partnering with Shaw-Ross International and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. Created by influencers Stas Karanikolaou and Zack Bia, the 40% abv vodka is distilled from corn in Charleston, South Carolina before filtering through California limestone. The new vodka carries a suggested price of $25 a a 750-ml. and is available in retailers like BevMo and Wally’s as well as through the e-commerce app Gopuff. The launch is kicking off with California, Las Vegas, Florida, and New York.

Heaven Hill has announced the spring 2022 bottling of Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond. This season’s release is a 17-year-old Bourbon distilled in 2004 and bottled at 50% abv. The barrels for this wheater were selected from three different floors of Heaven Hill’s rickhouse V. This spring’s release is available in limited quantities across the U.S. for a suggested price of $185 a 750-ml.

Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Brews News: March 8th 2022 Edition

Constellation Brands has extended Kim Crawford with an RTD Iced Tea Wine Spritz. The new RTD is a blend of the brand’s New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with iced tea, flavoring, and seltzer. It’s available in Lemon and Peach flavors and comes in 4-packs of 12-ounce cans. Both new releases carry a suggested retail price of $15.

Prestige Beverage Group is releasing a new line of ready-to-serve 1.75-liter premixed cocktails under its Kinky brand. The lineup includes Kinky Aloha Breeze, Patio Punch, and Margarita, all bottled at 9.95% abv and retailing at $20 a 1.75-liter. Kinky’s new 1.75-liter cocktails are rolling out nationally.

Jack Daniels is rolling out its range of RTD cocktails nationally this month following a launch in select states last year. Made with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, the lineup includes Jack & Cola, Jack, Honey & Lemonade, and Jack Apple Fizz. The retail price for a 4-pack of 12-ounce Jack Daniel’s Canned Cocktails is $13 and single cans sell for $4.

Raleigh, North Carolina-based Next Century Spirits has partnered with golf great Greg Norman on a new brand of RTDs called Caddy Clubhouse Cocktails. Initially the brand includes two offerings: the Transfusion, a vodka-based, carbonated craft cocktail with natural grape, lime, and ginger flavors; and the Half & Half, made with vodka, iced tea, and lemon flavors. Caddy Clubhouse Cocktails ($12 a 4-pack of cans) will be available in limited markets starting April 1 with a nationwide rollout to follow.

Pernod Ricard has brought Jameson into the RTD market with Jameson Ginger & Lime. The new 6% abv RTD is made using Jameson’s flagship whiskey, lime and ginger flavoring, and sparkling water. The new release is set to hit shelves across the U.S. in 4-packs of 12-ounce cans in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Jameson Ginger & Lime marks the brand’s first RTD in the U.S. and carries a suggested retail price of $15 for a 4-pack.

Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: October 20th 2020 Edition

Newport, Oregon-based Rogue Ales & Spirits is launching an addition to its line of canned cocktails. Rogue Ginger Lemon Whiskey Mule is the first in the series to use whiskey as its base spirit, joining three vodka-based offerings and a Gin Fizz. It’s at 7.5% abv and contains a blend of Rogue Spirits whiskey aged between 4 and 6 years along with ginger, lemon, simple syrup, and sparkling water. It is available nationwide now, retailing in 4-packs of 12-ounce cans.

Cincoro Tequila, the brand founded by Michael Jordan and other NBA owners, has released a limited number of 1.75-liter bottles of its Añejo Tequila. Each bottle is individually numbered and will be available for purchase on Cincoro’s website. Interested consumers can register now for a chance to buy. The 1.75-liter bottles will be available in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nashville, Dallas, and Houston.

Palm Bay International is launching Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Retailing at $65 a 750-ml., the newcomer is triple-distilled from a blend of malted Irish barley, unmalted Irish barley and Irish barra oats. It was aged five years in first use ex-Kentucky Bourbon and ex-Oloroso Sherry casks and was bottled at 43% abv. Rolling out nationwide, it joins Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin in the Drumshanbo range.

Herradura Tequila, part of the Brown-Forman portfolio, is introducing a new permanent extension to its range. Herradura Legend is an Añejo Tequila matured for 14 months in heavily charred, new American White Oak barrels. Herradura makes its own barrels and deeply grooves them to expose the Tequila to more layers of toasted oak. Legend will initially be available in select markets, including New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina retailing at $125.

Boston, Massachusetts-based Latitude Beverage has added a new Bourbon to its Wheel Horse Whiskey brand, following the launch of Wheel Horse rye earlier this year. The 50.5% abv whiskey is aged between two and four years from a mash of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley. The whiskey was distilled at the Owensboro Distilling Company in Kentucky and is now available in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Tennessee for around $28 a 750-ml.

Bacardi is debuting three new offerings from its Exceptional Cask series of single malt Scotch whiskies: Aberfeldy 18 Years Old ($120, 43% abv), Aberfeldy 20 Years Old ($200, 43% abv), and Craigellachie 24 Years Old ($300, 52.2% abv), all of which are rolling out this month. Each expression in the Exceptional Cask series is hand-selected by malt master Stephanie Macleod.

Sweet Amber Distilling Co. has announced a new cask strength program for the Blackened American whiskey line. The whiskey, called Batch 106, is a blend of Bourbon and rye that’s bottled at 55.35% abv. According to the company, the whiskies in the blend are an average of eight years old. Like the wider Blackened release, Batch 106 is finished by playing music through the spirit, in this case Metallica’s S&M2 collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony. Blackened Batch 106 is available for around $55 in Kroger Supermarkets in Kentucky and in Tampa, Florida at Luekens Wine & Spirits.

Constellation Brands has extended Svedka with a new range of canned Vodka Soda cocktails. The new offerings, made with real fruit juice and natural flavors, are at 8% abv and come in Strawberry Lemonade, Black Cherry Lime, and Mango Pineapple flavors. They’re rolling out now, retailing at $13 a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans, and $3 an individual can.

Beam Suntory has launched Suntory World Whisky Ao, its first global blend of whiskies, to 16 travel retail markets. The 43% abv blend is assembled from Beam Suntory’s Scottish, Canadian, American, and Japanese distillers by fifth generation Suntory chief blender, Shinji Fukuyo. This marks the first international launch for Ao, which was previously released in April 2019 as an exclusive for the Japanese market. Suntory World Whisky Ao retails for around $71 a bottle.

Lucas Bols USA has launched a new, non-alcoholic version of its Damrak gin, called Damrak Virgin 0.0. The spirit alternative is made with citrus peels, lavender, and coriander seeds, among other botanicals, and aims to mimic the flavor of Bols’ alcoholic Damrak gin. It’s now available nationwide in retail channels as well as online via the brand’s website and Amazon.

Frankfort, Kentucky’s Pinhook has announced its 2020 Vertical series whiskies. The new releases are Bourbon War 5 Year, bottled at 52% abv, and Tiz Rye Time 4 Year, bottled at 48.5%. Both whiskies are sourced from MGP. Pinhook will release new editions each year until the Vertical series gets to 12-year-old whiskies. The whiskies retail for $50 and $45, respectively, and are now available in 25 states and through Breeze, the company’s text message-based e-commerce channel that allows fans to text a photo or description of one of Pinhook’s whiskies to a personal shopper who then sources the spirit.

Louisville, Kentucky’s Barrell Craft Spirits has introduced a new addition to its BCS (Barrel Craft Spirits) line, a 15-year-old Bourbon. The whiskey is blended from straight Bourbons distilled in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, and bottled at 52.45% abv. Barrel’s BCS Bourbon is rolling out now in limited quantities—only 12,000 bottles will be released—and will retail for around $250 in select stores across the company’s 45-market distribution footprint. In addition to this new release, the BCS line also includes another whiskey and a rum.

Compass Box has announced the Peat Monster Arcana, the latest whisky celebrating the company’s 20th anniversary. The 46% abv whisky is made from a base of cask strength Peat Monster that aged for an additional two years before blending with malt whiskies from the Talisker, Miltonduff, and Ardbeg distilleries. The Peat Monster Arcana is rolling out this month in limited quantities across the U.S.; only 3,900 bottles will be available for a suggested price of $95 a 750-ml. This is the third celebratory whisky the company has released for its 20th anniversary, following Hedonism Felicitas and Rogues’ Banquet.

Elenita, a new brand of sparkling mezcal cocktails, is debuting across California. The 5% abv range includes Cucumber Lime Basil and Pineapple Jalapeno offerings and retails at $36 an eight-pack of 12-ounce cans on the company’s website. In addition to online, Elenita is available at select Total Wine and BevMo outlets among other on- and off-premise locations. The brand’s mezcal base is made from 100%-Espadin agave and distilled in Oaxaca.

Brooklyn, New York-based Widow Jane has announced the next batch of Decadence, the company’s maple syrup cask-finished whiskey. The 45.5% abv Bourbon starts as Widow Jane’s standard 10-year-old whiskey before finishing in casks used to age Crown Maple Syrup. This iteration of Decadence is rolling out now in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Texas, and will retail for around $80. Each batch of Widow Jane’ Decadence comes in at around 3,300 bottles of whiskey.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: June 30th 2020 Edition

Beam Suntory has relaunched Old Tub, one of the oldest brands from the James B. Beam Distilling Co., as a limited release Bonded Bourbon. The 50% abv whiskey is non-chill filtered and calls back over 140 years to the early days of Beam. Previous bottlings of Old Tub were exclusively available at Jim Beam’s visitor center. Old Tub is rolling out now across the U.S. for a suggested price of $23 a 750-ml. and will be available at select retailers for a limited time.

Constellation Brands has officially launched a new line of Svedka flavors called Pure Infusions. The 30% abv spirit comes in three flavors—Strawberry Guava, Ginger Lime, and Dragonfruit Melon—each containing 70 calories per 1.5-ounce pour. The trio is available nationwide in 750-ml. and 1-liter bottles for a suggested price of $15 and $16, respectively.

The Equiano Rum Co. has launched its flagship expression in the U.S. A blend of rums from two distilleries—Gray’s in Mauritius and Foursquare in Barbados—Equiano retails at $60. At Gray’s, the rum is made from local molasses and barreled for a minimum of 10 years in a combination of French Limousin oak and ex-Cognac casks; the finished product is then sent to Barbados to be married and barreled with rum from Foursquare. Equiano is named after Nigerian-born writer, entrepreneur, and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, and will be giving 5% of profits to freedom and equality projects.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: March 10th 2020 Edition

Louisville, Kentucky’s Barrell Craft Spirits has launched two new whiskies, the latest in its numbered series of luxury-priced cask-strength blends. First up is Barrell Bourbon Batch 023, a 53.89% abv blend of 10-, 12-, and 15-year old straight Bourbon sourced from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Barrell has also announced Rye Batch 003, a 58.35% abv blend of ryes from Indiana, Poland, Tennessee, and Canada. Both whiskies will be available in limited quantities across the company’s 43-state distribution footprint for around $90 a 750-ml.

El Mayor Tequila, part of the Luxco portfolio, is launching a new look including an updated logo and packaging. The new bottle features an embossed agave leaf design around the neck as well as written embossing at the base and is stopped with real cork. The new logo features the brand’s name in readable cursive script. The revamped look will apply to all El Mayor expressions, including Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, and Extra Añejo, and will be available nationally this summer.

Woodford Reserve has released a commemorative 2020 Kentucky Derby bottle as part of its role as presenting sponsor of the event. The special packaging features art by Richard Sullivan, a local artist and former player for the Atlanta Braves. The watercolor label illustration depicts horses racing toward the finish line of Churchill Downs. At 45.2% abv, 1-liter bottles of the Derby edition are now retailing for $50 across the U.S. and on e-commerce site Reserve Bar.

Looking to capitalize on the lower-alcohol spirits trend, Constellation Brands is extending Svedka with a new line called Pure Infusions. Bottled at 30% abv and retailing at $15 a 750-ml. and $16 a 1-liter, Svedka Pure Infusions are launching in three flavors: Strawberry Guava, Ginger Lime, and Dragonfruit Melon.

Bacardi has launched Dewar’s Ilegal Smooth, a new blended Scotch whisky finished in mezcal barrels. The 8-year-old whisky is blended from up to 40 malt and grain whiskies before finishing for an undisclosed amount of time in ex-Ilegal mezcal barrels before bottling at 40% abv. This new whisky follows last year’s Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth, a rum barrel finished expression.

Palm Bay International has added mezcal label Gracias a Dios to its import portfolio. Made by 4th-generation mezcalero Oscar Hernandez and his nephew, Milo Jimenez, Gracias a Dios includes six different mezcal expressions—Espadín Blanco ($40 a 750-ml.), Espadín Reposado ($50), Tobalá ($86), Tepextate ($86), Cuishe ($86), and Pechuga ($106)—as well as an agave gin ($53) that’s infused with 32 botanicals, representing the 32 states of the Mexican Republic.

Bacardi-owned Cazadores has added an Añejo Cristalino to its lineup. The new entry ages for over two years in small oak barrels and is then filtered through activated charcoal and stripped of its coloring while maintaining its oak-aged profile. Retailing at $40 a 750-ml., Cazadores Añejo Cristalino is rolling out to select retailers nationally.

Johnnie Walker has launched Master’s Ruby Reserve, a new limited edition offering dedicated to master blender Jim Beveridge’s 40-year career. The ultra-luxury bottling includes whiskies from the “ghost” distilleries of Cambus, Carsebridge, Pittyvaich, and Port Ellen, which are balanced with aged expressions from Talisker, Royal Lochnagar, Glendullan, and Cragganmore. All of the whiskies included are at least 40 years old. Packaged in a golden-red Baccarat crystal decanter, Johnnie Walker Master’s Ruby Reserve is bottled at 43% abv, retails at £15,000 ($19,700), and is limited to 398 bottles globally.

Beam Suntory has announced a revamp for Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey. The new Old Overholt ($18 a 750-ml.) will come in at 43% abv, an increase from the previous from 40% abv, and the new label will feature a “grumpier” rendering of brand founder Abe Overholt. In addition, Old Overholt will now be bottled with non-chill filtering, a move that brings the brand more in line with its pre-Prohibition history. Later this year, the company plans to launch a high proof (57% abv) 4-year-old bottling and a 46.3% abv 11-year-old bottling. Old Overholt Bottled-in-Bond will remain on the market unchanged.

Redbreast Irish whiskey, part of the Pernod Ricard portfolio, is adding a 27-year-old expression to its permanent range. Redbreast 27-year-old joins 12-, 15-, 21-year-old, and Lustau offerings in the existing lineup. It’s a cask-strength whiskey bottled at 54.6% abv after aging in Bourbon, Sherry, and Port casks. Retailing at $500 a 750-ml., Redbreast 27-year-old is launching in 23 U.S. markets.

Disaronno is introducing a new Velvet offshoot in the U.S. market. Billed as a gluten-free cream liqueur having notes of apricot with touches of almond and vanilla, Disaronno Velvet is at 17% abv and is rolling out nationally at $30 a 750-ml.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Brews News: February 25th 2020 Edition

Constellation Brands has partnered with country music star Luke Bryan to launch Two Lane American Golden Lager. Two Lane is at 4.2% abv and touts its use of only U.S.-sourced ingredients. The Two Lane brand also includes a line of 4.5% abv hard seltzers in Cherry Limeade, Blueberry Lemonade, Watermelon Punch, and Peach Tea flavors. The lager will first be available throughout the South on March 2 in 6- and 12-packs, as well as single pounders, with a 12-pack carrying a suggested price of $16. Two Lane will tour with Bryan during his upcoming summer tour, which begins May 28.

California-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has introduced Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha, the inaugural release from the company’s Chico Fermentation Project. Strainge Beast will launch in select markets in March—initially on draft, with one flavor called “Ginger, Lemon, and Hibiscus,” a 7% abv pink kombucha that’s certified organic. The rollout will cover select cities in California, the West, and the Southeast. Sierra Nevada will add two additional flavors—“Blueberry, Acai, and Sweet Basil” and “Passion Fruit, Hops, and Blood Orange”—shortly after the initial launch. All three flavors in the line will be rolled out in cans nationwide starting in August.

Kentucky’s Lexington Brewing & Distilling has launched a new barrel-aged hard iced tea. The 5.2% abv malt beverages come in three flavors—Lemon, Half & Half (lemonade/tea), and Peach—and were matured for an undisclosed time period in the company’s spent Bourbon barrels. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Hard Tea will be available in 6-packs of 12-ounce cans beginning in March throughout the company’s distribution footprint, including in chains like Kroger, Total Wine & More, and Liquor Barn, among others.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily