GSN Spirited News: March 1st 2022 Edition

Proximo Spirits’ Sexton Single Malt Irish whiskey has unveiled a new bottle to commemorate the final season of AMC series The Walking Dead. The packaging depicts themes of The Walking Dead across The Sexton’s black hexagonal bottle, which features a decaying silver label and a walker’s head in the place of the brand’s trademark skeleton logo. The Sexton’s The Walking Dead-inspired release will be available in limited quantities at wine and spirits retailers across the country starting at the end of February at a suggested retail price of $30.

Pernod Ricard has announced Midleton Very Rare 2022, the latest release in the collection of rare and high-end Irish whiskies from Irish Distillers. This year’s edition is bottled at 40% abv and is made from whiskies aged between 12 and 33 years matured in first-fill and refill Bourbon casks. Midleton Very Rare 2022 is rolling out now to select retailers for a suggested price of €200, or roughly $226.

Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has agreed to distribute Insólito Tequila in multiple states across the U.S. The Tequila is made by brothers Octavio and Alberto Herrera at the Premium de Jalisco distillery for Spirits Innovation Partners and the country band Midland. The brand is signing on with SGWS roughly one year after its launch and will be distributed as part of SGWS’ Craft Collection Luxury Spirits division. Insólito Tequila is now available in Texas, California, Florida, New York, Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona through Southern Glazer’s, retailing in the $40-$50 range.

County Wicklow, Ireland’s Glendalough Distillery has announced a new single malt whiskey finished in Japanese Mizunara oak, set to hit shelves next week. The 7-year-old single malt is bottled at 46% abv. Glendalough 7-Year-Old Single Malt Mizunara Finish will be available in select locations across the U.S. beginning February 28 for a suggested price of $100 a 750-ml.

Brown Water Spirits, the maker of O.H. Ingram River Aged, is expanding the whiskey brand into the Minnesota market. Ingram River Aged is currently available on shelves in Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Tennessee, as well as online. The range includes Ingram River Aged Straight Whiskey, Straight Rye, Flagship Bourbon, and Straight Bourbon Whiskey, all aged on a proprietary floating rickhouse moored in Ballard County, Kentucky.

Upscale Tequila brand Montagave has launched in select U.S. markets. Produced by fourth generation family-run distillery Tequila Cascahuín, Montagave’s inaugural release, Montagave Blanco Héritage, rested for 29 days in red wine barrels from Bordeaux, and was bottled at 41% abv. It retails at $75 a 750-ml. and is debuting in Colorado, New York, and California, with additional markets slated for later this year.

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.

Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: May 25th 2021 Edition

Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has been tapped as the national distributor for Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila. Southern will initially launch 818 in the California market, and continue to roll it out across the country in the months to come. 818 includes Blanco ($45 a 750-ml.), Reposado ($55), and Anejo ($65) expressions and is sustainably produced in Jalisco, Mexico.

Heaven’s Door, Bob Dylan’s American whiskey brand, is introducing a limited-edition 10-year-old Bourbon finished in Redbreast Irish whiskey casks for 15 months. Retailing at $99 a 750-ml., the new entry is at 50% abv. Its bottle features a new gate design created by Bob Dylan in his Black Buffalo Ironworks studio, as well as Redbreast’s iconic Robin. The core Heaven’s Door range includes a Straight Bourbon (46% abv, $50), Double Barrel Whiskey (50% abv, $50), and Straight Rye Whiskey finished in cigar barrels from Vosges, France (46% abv, $80).

Blanco, Texas-based Milam & Greene Whiskey is launching a new Castle Hill Series. Batch 1 comes in at 54.25% abv and is made from a blend of 13-year-old Bourbon whiskies bottled at barrel proof. The final blend was assembled from 20 barrels. The new line of whiskies is named for the Texas Military Institute, aka the Castle, which houses Milam & Greene’s blending facility and will soon be home to a new tasting room. Batch 1 is available in extremely limited quantities in select retailers for a suggested price of $120. 

New York-based importer Olé & Obrigado has introduced Nordés, a Spanish gin, in select markets across the U.S. The Galician gin is made using local botanicals including bay laurel, lemon verbena, eucalyptus, and salicornia, among others, and is bottled at 40% abv. Nordés is available in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, and northern and southern California, ahead of a full national push in 2022. The gin retails at a suggested price of $40 a 750-ml.

Agua Mágica has launched its namesake mezcal to select retailers across the U.S. The ensemble mezcal is made from both Espadín and Tobalá agave in San Juan del Río, Oaxaca, before bottling at 40% abv. The brand’s first release is extremely limited, and it comes in two packages: the bottle on its own, which retails for $65, and a boxed edition featuring illustrations for $95. 

Diageo has announced Copper Tongue, the newest release in the Orphan Barrel line of high-end whiskies. The latest addition to the brand is a 16-year-old Tennessee Bourbon, distilled and matured at Cascade Hollow Distillery (the home of George Dickel). Copper Tongue is bottled at cask strength—in this case 44.9% abv—and will be available in limited quantities in select markets across the U.S. for a suggested price of $100. This release is the first Orphan Barrel whiskey helmed by Nicole Austin, Cascade Hollow’s general manager and distiller.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: April 6th 2021 Edition

Four Roses is expanding distribution of its Small Batch Select Bourbon into 13 new markets, including Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The 52% abv offering, a blend of six Bourbons all aged a minimum of six years, retails at $60 a 750-ml. and debuted in 2019.

Casa Don Ramón Tequila has introduced three new expressions to the U.S. They include a Platinium Plata, as well as Reposado and Añejo Cristalinos. The brand’s Reposado Cristalino matured for four months in a combination of American and French oak before filtering, while Don Ramón Añejo Cristalino was aged in the same combination for one year. All three spirits are bottled at 40% abv and distilled from 100% blue agave. The range retails from $42-$46 and is part of Dialce’s family of Tequilas, which also includes Tequila Don Alvaro, Tequila Buen Amigo, and Tequila Valerosa.

Denver-based Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, part of the Proximo Spirits portfolio, has announced Bushmills Cask, the latest barrel. The 47% abv whiskey is matured first in American oak before finishing in casks that previously held Bushmills Irish whiskey. The whiskey is the first release in the brand’s Distiller’s Exclusive Series and retails for $70 a 750-ml.

Santo Spirits, the agave spirits-focused brand from musician Sammy Hagar and chef Guy Fieri, has released a new Reposado Tequila expression. Santo Reposado is made by distiller Juan Eduardo Nuñez and is matured for five months in charred American oak barrels before bottling at 40% abv. Santo’s Reposado Tequila is now available across the U.S. for a suggested price of $40 a 750-ml. It joins the brand’s Blanco Tequila and Mezquila, an agave spirit distilled from a blend of Blue and Espadín agaves.

Beam Suntory is targeting the low-calorie spirits market with Pinnacle Light & Ripe, a new collection of flavored vodkas with 75 calories per 1.5-ounce serving. The brand extension has debuted with two flavors—Apricot Honeysuckle and Guava Lime—each at 30% abv. Both flavors of Pinnacle Light & Ripe are now available across the U.S. for around $11 a 750-ml.

Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has added Horse Soldier Bourbon to its portfolio across the distributor’s national footprint. The veteran founded brand will be part of SGWS’ new Fine Wine and Artisanal Spirits program. This will expand the whiskey brand’s existing partnership with Foley Family Wines, which recently aligned with SGWS nationally. The Horse Soldier portfolio consists of the brand’s flagship Bourbon (43.5% abv), a small batch release (47.5% abv), and a barrel strength variant.

Beam Suntory-owned Laphroaig has announced a new limited edition 10-year-old single malt Scotch whisky finished in Oloroso Sherry casks. The whisky is bottled at cask strength—48% abv—after spending 12-18 months finishing in Sherry casks. Laphroaig 10-Year-Old Sherry Oak Finish is rolling out now across the U.S. where it will retail for a suggested price of $90 a 750-ml. For this release, only 4,450 cases will be available globally.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily