GSN Brews News: November 2nd 2021 Edition

Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Tattersall Distilling has added a Corpse Reviver #2 to its line of RTD cocktails. The new RTD, the sixth release in Tattersall’s cocktail portfolio, comes in at 30% abv and is made with the distillery’s own gin and absinthe. The new cocktail joins Cosmo Bianco, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Salty Dog and Bootlegger in the brand’s RTD range and is now available throughout Tattersall’s distribution footprint in 100-ml. bottles.

Southern Comfort, part of the Sazerac portfolio, has released a new Holiday Cocktail pack and an eggnog mixer ahead of the 2021 holiday season. The Holiday Cocktail pack ($25) features 24 50-ml. bottles split between the brand’s original release, its Black offshoot, and its 50% abv variant. The brand has also released two non-alcoholic eggnogs, meant to serve as a cocktail base or as a non-alcoholic drink. The eggnogs retail for $3 and come in Traditional and Vanilla Spice flavors. 

Beam Suntory’s Hornitos Tequila has expanded its line of spirits-based RTDs with a new pineapple-flavored canned cocktail. The 5% abv release has 112 calories per 12-ounce serving and comes in 4-packs of a 12-ounce cans retailing for around $12. The new pineapple flavor follows the RTDs’ launch in March with Lime and Mango seltzers.

Dogfish Head has augmented its lineup of ready-to-drink offerings with two new canned cocktails: Blood Orange & Mango Vodka Crush and Lemon & Lime Gin Crush (both 7% abv). Both are available nationally now in 4-packs of 355-ml. slim cans. The new entries join the existing Strawberry & Honeyberry Vodka Lemonade, Blueberry Shrub Vodka Soda, and Cherry Bergamot Whiskey Sour in Dogfish Head’s canned cocktail range.

Ballast Point is releasing fall seasonal Pumpkin Down in 6-packs of 16-ounce cans. The seasonal brew begins with a base of Ballast Point’s Piper Down Scottish Ale, augmented with roasted pumpkin and spice. The 5.8% beer is debuting both in cans and on draft, and will be available at the company’s taprooms as well as Home Brew Mart and online for delivery throughout California.

Guinness has launched Gingerbread Stout, a new limited-release beer, from the Diageo brand’s Maryland-based Open Gate Brewery. The 6% abv stout is made with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger. Guinness Gingerbread Stout is available for a limited time in 6-packs of 11.2-ounce bottles throughout the mid-Atlantic region and at Open Gate.

Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: January 12th 2021 Edition

St. Louis, Missouri-based Luxco is introducing Ezra Brooks 99, the newest addition to the line of whiskies. Bottled at 99 proof, it’s a Kentucky Straight Bourbon aged in oak barrels and charcoal-filtered. Ezra Brooks 99 will join the brand’s Straight Bourbon, Straight Rye, Old Ezra, Blended Whiskey, and Bourbon Cream when it launches nationwide this month, priced competitively within the premium tier. The Ezra Brooks lineup is a product of Luxco’s Lux Row Distillers, located in Bardstown, Kentucky, which opened in 2018 and produces other Luxco Bourbon brands including Rebel, Blood Oath, and David Nicholson.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Tattersall Distilling has debuted single-serve versions of its bottled Manhattan and Old Fashioned cocktails. The new cocktail shorties are packaged in 100-ml. glass bottles, and both feature Tattersall Straight rye whiskey, which is made from 100% Minnesota-grown rye and aged in charred American white oak barrels. The cocktails are bottled at 35% abv and retail priced at $6. Additional Tattersall single-serve cocktails are set to debut in the coming months.

Country music star Thomas Rhett is launching a new ultra-premium Tequila brand, Dos Primos. Translating to “Two Cousins,” the brand is a partnership with Rhett’s cousin, pecan magnate Jeff Worn. An ultra-premium blanco Tequila, Dos Primos is distilled at Destiladora González Lux, located just outside the city of Arandas, Mexico, in the highlands of Jalisco. Sales and marketing are being handled by Luxco, which is rolling the brand out in select markets this month.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: November 24th 2020 Edition

Stoli Group USA has introduced the latest releases for Kentucky Owl: Rye Batch No. 4 and Bourbon Batch No. 10. The brand’s latest rye release, called “The Last Rye” is a blend of 10- to 13-year-old whiskey bottled at 56.4% abv. Kentucky Owl Bourbon Batch No. 10 is a 60.1% abv non-age-stated blend of whiskies that, according to the company, marries some of its oldest and oakiest whiskies with younger, fruitier spirits. Both are now available across the U.S. at a suggested price of $300 a 750-ml.

Louisville, Kentucky’s Barrell Craft Spirits has announced the Private Release Bourbon Series, a new line of limited editions. The releases are blended from four Bourbons—sourced from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana—of varying ages combined to make 49 different recipes. Each offering is bottled at cask strength and will retail for around $110 a 750-ml. Only 150-180 bottles will be available for each batch and a list of retailers is available on Barrell’s website.

Newport, Oregon’s Rogue Ales & Spirits has launched the Single Barrel Project, a new collection of one-off whiskey releases. The series will consist of four releases per year and will be exclusive to retailers in Oregon. The first release is a 6-year-old single malt finished in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels from North by Northwest Wines in Washington State and bottled at 48% abv. The second release, coming in January 2021, is an 8-year-old Oregon rye whiskey finished in a second-use Zinfandel barrel. The third release is an Oregon single malt finished in cherry wood and will be released in March 2021.

Appleton Estate, part of the Campari America portfolio, has announced a new collection of rare pot still rums, set to launch in early 2021. The Hearts Collection consists of three vintage-dated rums, aged between 21 and 26 years. This collection marks the first time that Appleton will release a series of rums entirely composed of pot still spirits. The three vintage releases—1994, 1995, and 1999—will be available in extremely limited quantities; only 3,000 bottles of each will be distributed worldwide.

Diageo has released the 2020 Distillers Edition Collection of Scotch whiskies to retailers across the U.S. The six releases cover a wide range of Scotch styles and vintages, bringing new whiskies from Oban (2006, 43% abv, $95), Talisker (2010, 45.8%, $85), Lagavulin (2005, 43% abv, $110), Cragganmore (2008, 40%, $85), Dalwhinnie (2005, 43%, $90), and Glenkinchie (2008, 43% abv, $85) to market. The Cragganmore bottling underwent a second maturation in Port casks, while the other five entries saw a second maturation in Sherry casks.

Oregon-based Westward Whiskey is launching a new permanent line extension, Westward Oregon Pinot Noir Cask ($90), into national distribution, after a limited rollout in its home state. Pinot Noir Cask joins the original Westward American Single Malt ($70) and Stout Cask Finish ($90) offerings in the core range. Along with the new whiskey, Westward has unveiled a new bottle design and logo that pays homage to its Northwest provenance. Diageo’s Distill Ventures took a minority stake in Westward in 2018.

Tennessee whiskey brand George Dickel, part of the Diageo portfolio, has introduced a new single barrel expression. The new whiskey is aged at least 15 years in new American oak casks, ranges in abv from 40%-52.3%, and will be available to purchase via the barrel or the bottle ($60 a 750-ml.). George Dickel Single Barrel is currently available in California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, with more markets to come in January.

San Diego, California-based Cutwater Spirits, owned by Anheuser-Busch, has added a new Añejo Tequila to its spirits lineup. The Tequila is distilled at Tequila Orendain (NOM 1110) and, following distillation, matured for over a year in Cutwater’s whiskey barrels. Cutwater Añejo Tequila is bottled at 40% abv and packaged in a bottle made entirely from recycled glass. The spirit is now available at select retailers for around $50 a 750-ml.

Wilderton, a new non-alcoholic botanical spirit alternative, has launched in the U.S. with two zero calorie, gluten free offerings. Wilderton Earthen is made with peppercorns, pine-smoked tea, and patchouli, among other botanicals; and the brand’s Lustre is made with lavender, bergamot, rose, and lemongrass, among others. Wilderton retails for $33 a 750-ml. and is currently available on the brand’s website, with product available on Amazon and in other retail locations soon.

Minnesota-based Tattersall Distilling has introduced two bottled-in-bond Bourbons: High-Rye Bourbon and Wheated Bourbon. According to the company, these are the first bottled-in-bond spirits made in Minnesota since before Prohibition. Both Bourbons are made from local grains and have been aged in Minnesota white oak barrels between four and five years, with suggested retail pricing at $50 a 750-ml. Tattersall’s new entries will be distributed to select Minnesota retailers.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: October 6th 2020 Edition

Biddeford, Maine’s Round Turn Distilling has launched Bimini Coconut, a new flavored gin. The 47% abv gin is made with juniper, grapefruit, and hops, before fat washing with coconut to naturally infuse the gin. Bimini Coconut is available in California, Maine, New York, and Massachusetts for around $35 a 750-ml. The new spirit sits alongside Bimini gin, Bimini Barrel Reserve No.-1, and Bimini Overproof in the distillery’s lineup.

Minnesota-based Phillips Distilling Co. announced the release of Douglas and Todd Small Batch Bourbon Cream Liqueur. As the name implies, the new product is made from the company’s Douglas and Todd Bourbon, aged a minimum of four years in new charred oak barrels, then blended with cream and vanilla bean flavors. It’s available now as a limited release retailing for $35 a 750-ml. at select retailers and coming soon to online sales. The Phillips Distilling portfolio also includes UV Vodka, Prairie Organic Spirits, and Revel Stoke Whiskies, among others.

Proximo Spirits has launched Bushmills 28-Year-Old Single Malt Cognac Cask, the first in the brand’s new Rare Casks series. The 46.7% abv whisky first aged in Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry casks for 11 years before spending an additional 17 years in Cognac casks. Fewer than 500 bottles of the whiskey will be available, exclusively in the U.S., for a suggested retail price of $500 a 750-ml.

Mystic, Connecticut’s Prima Barista has launched a new ready-to-drink hard coffee, made with vodka. The 12.5% abv drinks come in two flavors—Mocha Hard Iced Frappé and Vanilla Hard Iced Latte—and contain roughly the same amount of caffeine as a 1-ounce shot of espresso per 200-ml. bottle. Prima Barista’s coffee cocktails are now available in Florida and Indiana at retail for around $19-$20, and for direct shipping to over 30 states across the U.S.

Edrington-owned Highland Park single malt Scotch whisky has launched Cask Strength No.-1, the first release in its new cask-strength collection. This edition comes in at 63.3% abv and matured in Sherry-seasoned American oak casks for a range of years before blending and bottling. The non-chill-filtered whisky will be released yearly. Highland Park Cask Strength No.-1 retails for around $90 a 750-ml. and will be available online and in specialty retailers across the U.S.

Kahlúa is extending with a new Blonde Roast Style liqueur. Made with medium roast coffee and hints of caramel, toffee and citrus flavors, Kahlúa Blonde Roast Style is at 20% abv and suggested to be served with tonic or coconut water. Pernod Ricard-owned Kahlúa posted 6% growth in NABCA channels in the 12 months through June. 

Dan Aykroyd and John Alexander’s Crystal Head vodka has launched Onyx, a new vodka distilled from Blue Agave. The new brand extension is bottled at 40% abv in an opaque black bottle. The agave for the spirit is sourced from a single farm in Mexico and the final product is bottled without additives or sweeteners. Crystal Head Onyx will retail for around $55 a 750-ml. and joins the brand’s original release, made from Canadian corn, and Aurora, made from English wheat, in the full-time lineup.

High West, part of the Constellation portfolio, has introduced two bottled whiskey cocktails, Barrel-Finished Manhattan and Barrel-Finished Old Fashioned. Both are made using a blend of Bourbon and rye, then finished in rye barrels. The Old Fashioned is at 43% abv, while the Manhattan is at 37% abv. Rolling out nationwide, High West’s new bottled cocktails retail at $50 a 750-ml. (containing 12 cocktails) and $30 a 375-ml.

Mount Gay Rum, part of the Rémy Cointreau portfolio, is launching a new limited edition, Master Blender Collection: The Port Cask Expression. Created by master blender Trudiann Branker, the new bottling is a blend of rums distilled in a traditional column still and aged for five years in Tawny Port casks, together with rums double distilled in a copper pot still and aged for 14 years in American whiskey casks and finished in Tawny Port casks for one year. Retailing at $175 a 750-ml., Mount Gay’s new luxury Port Cask expression is a cask-strength at 55% abv and is limited to 2,100 bottles in the U.S.

Código 1530 Tequila is releasing a new limited-edition extra añejo expression, the George Strait Origen. The new expression aged over six years in French white oak barrels that previously held Napa Valley Cabernet. The 40% abv spirit will retail for $350, with only 1,200 bottles available nationwide. The six barrels used to create the Tequila were hand-selected by Código co-founder and country music legend George Strait. Código 1530 reports that it’s seen rapid gains in the year-to-date, registering growth of 40%.

Diageo is bringing back Cîroc vodka’s White Grape expression for the holiday season. Five times distilled from French grapes, Cîroc White Grape is rolling out now. Cîroc slipped 9% to 1.4 million cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank, amid intense competition in the U.S. vodka category. In Diageo’s full fiscal year through June, the brand’s net sales fell by double-digits, with the decline partially offset by good results for limited-time offers like White Grape.

Minnesota’s Tattersall Distilling has launched a bottled Manhattan, made from 100% Minnesota grown rye, aged in charred American white oak barrels, and blended with Tattersall Italian-style liqueur, Sherry, and bitters. This is the distillery’s fourth ready-to-drink cocktail, joining Old Fashioned, Bootlegger, and Salty Dog. It retails at $35 a 750-ml. and carries an abv of 35%. The new entry will roll out first in Minnesota, with Wisconsin to follow shortly after. Tattersall’s portfolio is distributed to 30 states.

Whiskeysmith Co., a new line of flavored whiskies from Colorado-based Old Elk, has launched nationally via Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits. The line is launching with three flavors—Chocolate, Banana, and Pineapple—and all come in at 30% abv. Beverage director Melinda Maddox said the brand is aimed at home and on-premise mixology, and as a one-step home cocktail alternative. Whiskeysmith is now available across the U.S. and retails for between $25 and $30, depending on the market.

Brown-Forman has launched Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition, a new ultra-limited luxury release from the American whiskey brand. The newcomer is bottled at 45.2% abv and, after its initial maturation in American oak, aged for an extra three years in ex-Cognac casks. The whiskey is bottled in a handmade crystal decanter from Baccarat that’s reminiscent of the standard Woodford bottle but engraved in gold with both Woodford’s and Baccarat’s logos. It’s now available in limited quantities for $2,000 a 750-ml. 

Teeling Irish whiskey has announced a new addition to the distillery’s portfolio, Blackpitts Peated Single Malt whiskey. The 46% abv whiskey is triple distilled and matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sauternes casks. According to managing director Jack Teeling, the smokiness of triple distilled peated whiskey is quite distinct; he described it as more like “barbecue-style smoke,” compared to the briny or medicinal peated whiskies of Islay, Scotland. Blackpitts Peated Single Malt whiskey will launch globally in January 2021, for a suggested price of $75 in the U.S.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Spirited News: February 11th 2020 Edition

Pernod Ricard has unveiled a limited edition label for Jameson Irish whiskey, which is rolling out for St. Patrick’s Day. The new label includes designs by Dublin-based graphic designer Stephen Heffernan, aka Hephee. The bottles feature a QR code that brings up a website where fans can remix the label using Hephee’s designs and enter for a chance to win a Jameson bar sign matching their design (in some markets, consumers can also win bottles of Jameson with their custom labels).

Lucas Bols USA’s Passoã liqueur has announced a bottle and label redesign that highlights the brand’s natural passion fruit flavor. The new logo also features a sunset graphic (replacing a tropically colored Brazilian flag), above a reminder that Passoã is made with natural flavoring. The 20% abv liqueur retails for $18 for a 750-ml. and it’s recommended as an ingredient in sangria or a mimosa.

Austin, Texas-based Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey has released its latest portfolio extension, Chocolate Mocha Whiskey Cream. The 17% abv spirit blends whiskey and chocolate coffee cream liqueur, and is available across the brand’s 25-state distribution footprint. It joins Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate, Bourbon Ball, Chocolate Mint, and Caramel Turtle in Ballotin’s portfolio.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Tattersall Distilling is releasing a limited-edition collaboration with Surly Brewing Co. Tattersall has taken Surly’s Darkness Russian Imperial Stout and distilled it to create Darkness Bierschnapps, a 20% abv spirit. Two bottles of the Stout go into each 750-ml. of Bierschnapps and nearly 600 gallons were used in total to produce 200 cases. After distillation it is aged twice—in new charred white oak barrels and in the original stout barrels. It’s available now at select retailers throughout the Midwest, retailing for $30.

Beam Suntory has launched Courvoisier Avant-Garde Bourbon Cask Edition, the latest limited time offering for the Cognac brand. The spirit is made from Courvoisier’s VSOP blend and finished in Bourbon barrels before bottling at 40% abv. Due to labeling laws, the new Courvoisier is labeled as a spirit drink made of Cognac finished in Bourbon barrels. The brand is the third-largest Cognac brand in the U.S., and last year saw a successful launch for its Master’s Cask Collection Sherry Cask Finish.

Massachusetts-based M.S. Walker is adding Gin Lane 1751 to its import portfolio. The London-based, small-batch gin brand is produced by eighth-generation master distiller Charles Maxwell. Gin Lane 1751 includes four expressions: London Dry ($30 a 750-ml.), Victorian Pink ($35), Old Tom ($40), and London Royal Strength ($40).

Cognac Frapin has introduced three new limited-edition blends in the U.S. They include Cellar Master Edition No. 1 (retailing at $99, 46.7% abv), Collector Edition 1994 ($199, 40.8% abv), and Plume Frapin ($3,500, 40% abv). Cellar Master Edition No. 1 was aged for over 10 years, while Collector Edition 1994 aged for 24 years, and Plume Frapin spent more than 60 years in the distiller’s Paradis cellar, with only 100 carafes (finished with 18-carat rose gold) coming to the U.S.

William Grant & Sons has added two new offerings to its Glenfiddich Rare Collection, both dating from 1975. Glenfiddich Cask 4706 comes in at 48% abv and matured in a European oak Sherry butt. Cask 5114 was matured in a European oak hogshead, a rarity for the company, and is at 54.7% abv. The 44-year-old whiskies are bottled at cask strength and are non-chill-filtered. Only 100 bottles of each will be available at a suggested price of $9,000 a 750-ml.

Beam Suntory-owned Kilbeggan Irish whiskey is releasing a single pot still limited edition. The mashbill is based on a recipe used at the distillery more than a century ago that notably features oats in addition to raw and malted barley. It’s double distilled to 43% abv and is the second limited release to be fully distilled and matured at Kilbeggan following the distillery’s 2010 restoration. Kilbeggan Single Pot Still is rolling out in the U.S. this month, retailing for $45 a 750-ml.

Proximo Spirits and country music stars Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line have teamed up to create Wolf Moon Bourbon. The 40% abv whiskey is distilled from grain sourced from the Midwest and bottled after 4 years of aging in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. This is the second whiskey released by Florida Georgia Line members Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, following 2016’s Old Camp Whiskey, also part of the Proximo portfolio. Wolf Moon is currently available in select markets and is rolling out nationally soon for a suggested price of $24 a 750-ml.

Woodford Reserve is launching a new Batch Proof whiskey as part of its Master’s Collection series. The newcomer is made with the same grain bill and process as Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon and bottled at 123.6 proof. Retailing at $130 a 750-ml., the limited edition whiskey is rolling out in select U.S. and global markets. Woodford is part of the Brown-Forman portfolio.

Winebow has partnered with the U.K.’s Halewood Wines & Spirits to bring two whisk(e)y brands to the United States beginning on March 1. First up is Crabbie’s Yardhead Single Malt Scotch, a 40% abv whisky distilled in the Scottish Highlands and matured in ex-Bourbon barrels. The whisky is positioned as an entry-level malt for drinkers first discovering the category and will retail at around $25 a 750-ml. Winebow will also handle distribution for Peaky Blinder Irish Whiskey, a 40% abv blended whiskey matured in Sherry casks. Peaky Blinder will retail at around $19 a 750-ml. Both whiskies will be available in 750-ml. and 1-liter bottles.

Courtesy of Shanken News Daily