Coppersea Distilling

Heaven Hill Distilleries will release a third bottling of Elijah Craig 12-Year-Old Barrel Proof Bourbon this year and three more bottlings next year. Debuting last year as a limited release version of Elijah Craig Small Batch 12-Year-Old, the series is drawn from the company’s inventory of aging barrels and each release reflects the proof of the batch, made of 100 or fewer barrels. A batch of 134.2 proof was released in March 2014 and a 137-proof was released in May, with the third 133.2-proof batch expected in September. In January next year, Heaven Hill will debut the first edition of the 2015 installment of the series. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is available nationwide in 750-ml. bottles retailing at $44.99.

Anchor Distilling Company has been named the importer for Tempus Fugit Spirits’ portfolio of small-batch absinthes, vintage-style liqueurs and bitters. Tempus Fugit was founded in 2006 and specializes in historic spirits and liqueurs popular in pre-Prohibition cocktails. The range includes a 28%-abv Gran Classico Bitter (retailing at $32.99), 44%-abv Fernet del Frate Angelico ($59.99), 24%-abv Crème de Cacao ($32.99), 18%-abv Kina L’Aéro d’Or ($27.99), 22%-abv Liqueur de Violettes ($29.99) and 65%-abv Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe Français Supérieure ($64.99), among others.

West Park, New York-based Coppersea Distilling has partnered with New York State’s U.S. Barrel Company to create what the company calls the first 100% New York-made Bourbon and rye whiskey made since Prohibition. Both whiskies, which are produced with Hudson Valley-sourced grains and traditional distilling methods, will be aged in New York State-grown white oak from U.S. Barrel Co. The two inaugural barrels of Coppersea’s New York Bourbon and rye have been filled, with the pair expected to hit the market by late 2015.

Diageo is extending Smirnoff Sorbet Light with two new offerings, Summer Strawberry and White Peach. Both have 78 calories per 1.5-ounce serving, which Diageo asserts is 25% less than leading dessert-flavored vodkas. Other flavors in the Smirnoff Sorbet Light line, which retails at $16 a 750-ml., include Pineapple Coconut, Raspberry Pomegranate, Lemon and Mango Passion Fruit.

All information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

Idaho’s Grand Teton Vodka distillery is adding a line of moonshines and a cherry-infused vodka amidst an expansion project that will see its facility double to 5,000 square feet. According to the Idaho State Journal, Grand Teton Moonshine will include unflavored, Huckleberry and Apple Pie Spice variants and sell for $19.95 a 750-ml. jug. The distiller’s new Cherry vodka will be priced at $14.95 a 375-ml. Other projects on the horizon include a Teton Highland Single Malt Whiskey, which Grand Teton expects to begin laying down for aging by next spring.

William Grant & Sons’ Hendrick’s gin brand has released Quinetum, a new limited edition quinine cordial created exclusively for the on-premise. Created by Hendrick’s master distiller Lesley Gracie, Quinetum features extracts of orange blossom, wormwood and holy thistle, as well as the key ingredient of cinchona succiruba bark, which is best known for containing the medicinal alkaloid quinine. The 4%-abv offering is characterized by a bitter flavor profile, and is intended to complement Hendrick’s gin in cocktails. Just over 4,000 bottles of Quinetum will be available worldwide, with roughly 200 cases of 200-ml. bottles allocated for the U.S. market. Initially launching in New York City, Chicago, Austin and San Francisco over the next few weeks, the cordial will be gifted to select on-premise accounts and will not be offered at retail.

San Francisco’s Anchor Distilling has added Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Penny Blue XO Single Estate Mauritian rum to its U.S. import stable. A new limited edition offering, Penny Blue is matured in both American oak whiskey and French oak Cognac casks and priced at $79.99 a bottle. An initial batch of nearly 6,000 bottles will be available in the U.S. and Europe, with 2,500 currently allocated for the U.S. Penny Blue is made by the Mauritius-based Indian Ocean Rum Company distillery, which also produces Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Pink Pigeon rum brand.

New York-based Coppersea Distilling will launch Coppersea New York Raw Rye, an unaged whisky, in select markets early next year. The Hudson Valley distillery uses locally sourced ingredients and Heritage Methods distillation techniques, including on-site well water, floor malting, mashing in open wood fermentation tanks and distilling in direct-fired alembic copper pot stills. Wilson Daniels just entered into the spirits segment last month, with the addition of Sipsmith London Dry Gin.

Jimmy Goldstein is launching a new flavored whiskey, William Wolf Pecan Bourbon. Retailing at $25-$30 a 750-ml., William Wolf is made with American whiskey which is then infused with pecan distillate in Holland. Goldstein is focusing first on the New York market with the 60-proof brand, which is targeted at the 21-35-year-old demographic and suggested to be consumed neat, on the rocks or mixed in cocktails with ingredients like cola and lime.