Top 10 new American whiskey brands

As some American whiskey distillers are launching brand extensions at a rate of knots, others are furthering their presence in the fast-growing sector with entirely new labels.

Which do you think are the most exciting new American whiskey brands to hit the market?

Both large and small distillers are venturing further into the fast-growing American whiskey category, currently one of the most coveted sectors in the entire spirits industry.

According to a recent report by Technomic, the American whiskey category has the “most momentum” in the global spirits scene and is forecast to grow by 1.1m cases in 2015.

It is into this promising yet highly competitive arena that distillers of all sizes have made tracks with a range of exciting new brands.

We may have already brought you the top 10 new British gin brands, but click through the following pages to discover 10 of the most talked about new American whiskey labels launched in the past year.

Blade and Bow

As Diageo continues to increase its footprint in the American whiskey category, the group added Blade and Bow Kentucky Whiskey to its portfolio in May this year. The brand, said to “pay homage” to the historic Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, is currently comprised of two variants: Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Blade and Bow 22-Year-Old Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The whiskeys have been made by ageing the last remaining Bourbon distilled at Stitzel-Weller with other whiskies using a solera-ageing method.

Metze’s Select

Amid much debate around sourced whiskey, one of the most prominent third party suppliers of American whiskey and Bourbon in the US, MGP, launched its own limited edition Bourbon brand, called Metze’s Select, earlier this month. Created at MGP’s Lawrenceburg distillery, the new brand is a combination of the group’s “favourite” straight Bourbon whiskeys. The new expression offers a “Lawrenceburg-style high rye characteristic” that merges “spicy notes” with “creamy vanilla and caramel”.

Blood Oath

Unveiled by US spirits company Luxco earlier this year, Blood Oath is described as a new “ultra-premium” Bourbon. The brand will feature a new blend each year, the first of which was its inaugural Pact No.1, a blend of Kentucky straight Bourbon whiskeys aged six to 12-years-old sourced from different distilleries. Described as an “exquisite union of three well-bred Bourbons with various age statements and mash bills”, the Bourbon is available in “very limited quantities” across the US.

Raven’s Lace Peachberry Whiskey

Heaven Hill caused quite the stir in April this year when it launched Raven’s Lace Peachberry Whiskey – said to be a female-focussed alternative to “macho” variants in the category. PeachBerry is packaged with an “intricate feminine lace” label design, which is intended to appeal to a female demographic, and is an infusion of “juicy peach and sweet strawberry flavours” with the Bourbon whiskey. “Raven’s Lace features a trend-setting flavour profile targeting females looking for a sweet flavoured whiskey with a bold colour and package that is made for them,” said Hannah Venhoff, brand manager for Raven’s Lace PeachBerry Whiskey.

Barrel Hitch American Whiskey

Just this week Eastside Distilling launched the new Barrel Hitch American Whiskey brand, currently consisting of the core Barrel Hitch American Whiskey expression and Barrel Hitch Oregon Oak American Whiskey, which is aged for an additional four months. Created to “appeal to both new and experienced whiskey drinkers”, the Bourbon is described as having a flavour of “toasted oak and hints of green apple and vanilla”. It is the brainchild of master distiller Melissa Heim and chief branding officer Carrie Earles.

Lehman Brothers

London group Tiger Lily Ventures ruffled a few feathers at banking group Barclays towards the end of last year when it launched a new brand of New York whiskey called Lehman Brothers. In a snub to the investment group that has been widely credited for causing the economic crash of 2008, the whiskey brand features three initial expressions, named Ashes of Disaster, Evergreen and Snapfire. The range is distilled and matured in New York using New York grain from a selection of existing New York distilleries.

Bonnie Rose

Another new brand of flavoured American whiskey to hit the market earlier this year is Bacardi’s Bonnie Rose – a Tennessee white whiskey which comes in Orange Peel and Spiced Apple flavours. The range has been inspired by the legend of Bonnie Rose, a distiller’s daughter who grew up around the barrel room, but others claim she was a bartender known for mixing top notch Whiskey Sours. Distilled in copper pot stills from an 80% white corn mash, Bonnie Rose is designed to be sipped neat or mixed in cocktails.

Lost Prophet

The most recent addition to Diageo’s “craft” Orphan Barrel whiskey project, Lost Prophet is a 22-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon created from stocks distilled in 1991 at what was the George T. Stagg Distillery, now Buffalo Trace. Hand-bottled in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the whiskey is described as having a flavour of honey, dried fruit and clove on the nose, with spiced cake, vanilla, leather and smoke. The release follows on from Orphan Barrel’s Barterhouse, Old Blowhard, and Rhetoric.

Nevada 150

In June last year, The Last Vegas Distillery launched what it claimed was the first straight Bourbon created in Nevada. Nevada 150 is distilled using 60% Nevada yellow corn, 20% Nevada wheat, 16% malted barley and 4% rye and has been aged in American white oak barrels. The distillery has created just 2,014 individually number bottles of Nevada 150 as part of Nevada’s Sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the state’s admission to the union.

Future: Buffalo Trace single estate Bourbon brand

One to watch for the future is Buffalo Trace’s currently unnamed “stand alone” single estate Bourbon brand. After acquiring an additional 274 acres of land adjacent to its Kentucky distillery, the firm said to use the new acreage, purchased for an undisclosed sum, to create “farm to bottle” single estate Bourbon. Set to be launched as a “separate, stand-alone” Bourbon with its own brand identity, the name, age and price of the spirit have yet to be determined.