A “once in a lifetime” bottling of Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon, a Tequila-mezcal hybrid called ‘Mezquila’, and a four-strong range of “experimental” super-premium Irish whiskeys are recognised in our pick of the top spirits launched last month.

We present the top 10 spirits launches in February 2017

Aside from this eclectic mix, last month’s newness included a cask-aged akevitt from Norway, some age statement releases from Bowmore, and the launch of the “world’s first” independent gin bottler.

Rum connoisseurs were enamoured by Rémy Cointreau’s latest addition to its high-end Mount Gay 1703 rum range, while whisky lovers welcomed The Macallan’s new 1991 vintage.

Another Scotch stalwart introduced a high-end offering – Diageo released the 2017 edition of its high-end John Walker & Sons Private Collection, which focuses on the influence of oak casks.

Campari America, meanwhile, launched Old Ripy and Bond & Lillard – the first two expressions in its new Whiskey Barons Collection, which aims to “recreate historically significant Bourbons that were lost after Prohibition”.

Click though the following pages to see SB’s top launches for February in full. 

John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2017 Edition Mastery of Oak

Diageo released the 2017 edition of its high-end John Walker & Sons Private Collection, which showcases the influence of oak casks on Scotch whisky.

The fourth edition in the range – called Mastery of Oak – is a combination of three unique blends, each selected for their ability to display different oak characteristics.

The first vatting is a mix of malt and grain whiskies that have been aged in active American oak, together with a “handful” of whiskies aged in rejuvenated casks, while the second consists of Highland and Speyside refill casks – mostly American and some European – that have been aged for longer than the first vatting.

The third and final vatting consists of “experimental” malt and grain whiskies aged in American oak casks (mostly new oak) that had been toasted to varying degrees; casks filled with spirit of different alcoholic strengths; and ‘salt cured’ casks.

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Mount Gay 1703 Master Select

French drinks group Rémy Cointreau added a new variant to its high-end Mount Gay 1703 rum range – which pays homage to the year the Barbados distillery started production, using the brand’s oldest reserves.

Mount Gay 1703 Master Select is a blend of copper column and copper pot rums, aged between 10 and 30 years. Stocks to create the blend were individually selected by Mount Gay’s master blender Allen Smith.

The rum, which has an abv of 43%, features a new bottle design for the annual 1703 range, which first launched in 2009.

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That Boutique-y Gin Company

Last month, the team behind That Boutique-y Whisky Company formed what is thought to be the world’s first independent gin bottler – That Boutique-y Gin Company.

TBGC has released 11 batches of “new and experimental” expressions from a variety of producers including Hernö, Ableforth’s, FEW Spirits and East London Liquor Company.

As with TBWC, the gin bottler plans to release its own creations, beginning with Cherry Gin – the “first” commercially available gin of its kind.

For more information, click here

The Macallan’s 1991 Fine & Rare Vintage

Single malt Scotch whisky The Macallan expanded its Fine & Rare Collection with the launch of a 1991 vintage.

The Macallan’s master whisky maker Bob Dalgarno used liquid from cask No.7021 – an oak Vasyma puncheon Sherry seasoned in Jerez, Spain – for the bottling, which was distilled on 28 March 1991.

The 25-year-old expression is bottled at natural cask strength of 49.4% abv and carries an RRP of US$10,000.

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Irish Distillers’ Method and Madness range

Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers unit launched a four-strong range of experimental super-premium Irish whiskeys designed to “push the boundaries” of the category, called Method and Madness.

Single Grain Irish Whiskey Finished in Virgin Spanish Oak has been matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and finished for 12 months in toasted virgin Spanish oak from Galicia, while Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Finished in French Chestnut has been matured in a combination of ex-oloroso Sherry and ex-Bourbon barrels, before being transferred to chestnut casks sourced from the Isére region in France.

The third offering, Single Malt Irish Whiskey Enhanced With French Limousin Oak, has been initially matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and part-finished in French Limousin oak for one year. Meanwhile the final expression, Single Grain Irish Whiskey 31 Year Old, has been matured in an ex-Bourbon cask for 31 years.

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OHD Akevitt

Marcin Miller’s Norwegian distillery Oslo Håndverksdestilleri released its first batch of cask-aged akevitt, completing its core range.

For its recipe, OHD has sourced locally foraged ingredients including meadowsweet, heather flower, St John’s Wort, dandelion root, angelica root, yarrow, chamomile flower, sorrel, hyssop and horehound.

The spirit is then aged for 12 months in American oak casks to give the resulting OHD Akevitt a “light golden hue” and “full bodied character”
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Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old

Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery is to launch a “once in a lifetime” bottling of 25-year-old Van Winkle Bourbon, priced at US$1,800.

Made up of just 11 barrels yielding 710 bottles, Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old, the “especially rare” wheated Bourbon is slated to be even harder to find than the core Van Winkle offering.

The liquid was distilled in 1989 at the Van Winkle family distillery in Kentucky, and the barrels were purposefully aged on the lower levels of a warehouse until 2002, when they were relocated the Buffalo Trace Distillery. They remained in a similar location within the warehouse to preserve the Boubon’s “sweet, mellow” notes.

The barrels continued to age for a further 12 years before the Buffalo Trace team transferred them into stainless steel tanks to halt the ageing process.

For more information, click here

Beam Suntory’s Bowmore travel retail range

Beam Suntory GTR announced the launch of a new Bowmore travel retail range; the brand’s first age statement releases in the channel for five years.

Inspired by the Islay distillery’s No.1 Vaults maturation warehouse, said to be the oldest of its kind in Scotland, the new range incudes 10-, 15- and 18-year-old variants.

Bowmore 10 Year Old: Dark and Intense is the result of marrying liquid from Spanish oak ex-Sherry casks with hogsheads. The whisky is dark amber in colour with given aroma and tasting notes of sun-dried fruit, toasted maple, sultanas, sea salt, dark fruit oils and a peat-smoked walnut finish.

Bowmore 15 Year Old: Golden and Elegant was matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks for an “inspired and uplifting” character. According to the brand, the golden barley-coloured expression offers a silken peat-smoked character with notes of citrus.

The final malt in the range, Bowmore 18 Year Old: Deep and Complex has been matured in both oloroso and pedro ximénez Sherry casks. The release is said to offer a rich chocolate flavour with aroma and tasting notes of treacle, coffee, dates, orange peel and macadamia nuts.

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Santo Puro Mezquila

Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine partnered to launch Tequila-mezcal hybrid Santo Puro Mezquila.

It is described as an agave blend, combining 100% Blue Variety Tequilana Weber agave and 100% Espadin agave, of the Angustifolia variety.

The resulting liquid is said to have an “intense agave aroma” that reveals an “earthy, light smokiness with a hint of herbs”. On the palate, Santo is “mellow”; the “intricate agave flavor and herbal complexity layered with gentle smoke, slight floral fruitiness and low saltiness”.

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Campari America’s new Whiskey Barons Collection

Campari America announced the launch of the first two expressions in its new Whiskey Barons Collection, which aims to “recreate historically significant Bourbons that were lost after Prohibition”.

To create the bottlings – called Old Ripy and Bond & Lillard – ­­the group collaborated with T.B. Ripy IV and Tom Ripy, great-grandson and great-great-grandson of T.B. Ripy, who operated a distillery on the site of Campari’s Wild Turkey Distillery in the late 19th century.

Together with Norm Matella, Campari America’s North American Technical Center manager, and Robin Coupar, Campari America’s global whiskies brand ambassador, the team analysed historical documents, family archives and experimented with different blends to “achieve a final product as close to the original whiskeys as possible”.

The whiskeys were distilled at Campari’s Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

For more information, click here