Bourbon made from six different grains, Israel’s first single malt whisky, and a gin that tastes like “Hendrick’s in a parallel universe” are recognised in our pick of the top spirits launched last month.

We present our pick of the top 10 spirits launches in May 2017

In Scotch whisky Bruichladdich “highlighted the issue” of transparency in Scotch whisky age components with a special edition bottling, while Douglas Laing & Co launched the first globally available age-statement expression under its Scallywag brand.

The first new commercial distillery on Scotland’s Orkney islands rolled out its inaugural spirits offering, and in Japan The Kyoto Distillery announced its latest gin innovations – one of which was developed in partnership with a tea blender.

A wine-soaked Irish whiskey series has also made the cut… read on to find out more.

Click through the following pages to discover our pick of the top 10 spirits launches in May 2017.

Teeling Whiskey Brabazon Series No. 1

Teeling Whiskey released the first expression in its new “full-flavoured” Brabazon Bottling series, which celebrates the influence of fortified wines on Irish whiskey making.

Brabazon Series No. 1 draws focus to the use of ex-Sherry casks in maturation. The release is made from a series of vintages, sizes and styles of Sherry cask-matured expressions and is said to “capture all the layers and aspects of flavour” imparted by the wine.

The Brabazon name comes from a family synonymous with Newmarket in the Liberties area of Dublin, which attracted generations of tradesmen, including Walter Teeling who set up the original Teeling distillery nearby in 1782.

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Arkh-Angell

Orkney Distilling Limited unveiled a navy-strength edition of its Kirkjuvagr Gin, which pays homage to the heritage of Scottish archipelago Orkney.

Bottled at 57% abv, Arkh-Angell is distilled with a range of locally grown botanicals, and is described as retaining Kirkjuvagr’s “smoothness”, while the increased strength brings “new depths” to its flavour profile.

It is named after the fishing boat belonging to the late father of co-founder Aly Kemp, and also reflects its use of a locally grown variety of Norwegian angelica called Archangelica.

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Buffalo Trace Organic Six Grain Whiskey

Sazerac-owned Buffalo Trace Distillery expanded its Experimental Collection with the release of a new Bourbon made with a mash bill comprising six different grains: corn, buckwheat, brown rice, sorghum, wheat, and rice.

In 2010, the grains were milled, cooked and made into a sour mash before being distilled in Buffalo Trace’s experimental micro-still to 65% abv.

The spirit was then filled into eight new charred white oak barrels, where they rested in the distillery’s Warehouse H for seven years and one month, before being chill-filtered and bottled at45% abv.

Buffalo Trace said that while it is unusual for a Bourbon to contain more than three different types of grain, Organic Six Whiskey “meets all of the requirements to be called Bourbon” since it is made with at least 51% corn.

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Orbium

William Grant & Sons launched a “quininated gin” designed to encapsulate “what Hendrick’s might taste like in a parallel universe” – called Orbium.

Created by Hendrick’s master distiller Lesley Gracie, the liquid features the same distillates as Hendrick’s with additional extracts of quinine, wormwood and blue lotus blossom.

Orbium derives from the word ‘orb’ – the plural of Orbis and Latin for circle – and is said to represent the “spherical round taste” that Gracie refers to when describing Hendrick’s house style.

The gin is presented in a blue apothecary-style bottle and features an ‘all-seeing eye’ on the label.

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Bruichladdich Transparency

Bruichladdich aimed to “highlight the issue” of transparency in Scotch whisky age components with its Fèis Ìle 2017 special edition bottling – a no-age-statement heavily-peated Port Charlotte whisky called Transparency.

Each individually numbered bottle carries a numerical batch code that buyers can enter into an online system to view the specific cask recipe of Transparency, including the single malt’s different age components.

The distillery said it believes current EU regulations “explicitly support” consumers’ rights to access cask recipes in multi-vintage single malts.

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Israel’s First Single Malt Whisky

Israel’s Milk & Honey Distillery, which previously employed the late Dr Jim Swan as master distiller, has created what is thought to be the country’s first single malt whisky.

Based in Tel Aviv, The Milk and Honey Distillery was founded in 2012, and has announced the release of the expression – called Israel’s First Single Malt Whisky – for late June.

The whisky was created by Tomer Goren, Milk & Honey’s head distiller, at his workshop workshop in a kibbutz in the Sharon region of Israel, before the distillery had been built.

The expression is bottled at 46% and is said to be “mature and complex” thanks to the country’s hot climate.

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Scallywag 13 Years Old

Douglas Laing & Co launched the first globally available age-statement expression under its Scallywag brand of Speyside blended Scotch whisky – Scallywag 13 Years Old.

Described as “an explosive Sherry bomb with a rich complexity at its heart”, the liquid has been exclusively matured in Sherry butts and bottled at 46% abv.

The independent Scotch whisky blender and bottler launched the Scallywag brand in 2013, inspired by the Laing family’s long line of Wire Fox Terriers.

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Ki No Tea and Ki No Bi Navy Strength

The Kyoto Distillery is to launch two new gin expressions: Ki No Tea, developed in partnership with tea blender Horii Shichimeien, and Ki No Bi Navy Strength.

Ki No Tea is made with teas including Tencha and Gyokuro, and was developed with tea grower and blender Horii Shichimeien – a company which dates back to the Meiji era in 1879.

Ki No Bi Navy Strength, meanwhile, is made in the same way as the flagship expression where six different groups of botanicals are distilled separately and then blended, but with a “recalibrated” recipe.

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Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottlings

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society released three single cask Islay expressions that fall within the independent bottler’s ‘Peated’ and ‘Heavily Peated’ flavour categories.

The Crowd Pleaser (10.113) is a 10-year-old whisky from a second-fill ex-Bourbon barrel. The heavily peated dram is said to be reminiscent of “old first aid kits and sweet hot smoked salmon”, and there will be 186 bottles available.

Sweet Smoke on the Water (3.299) is 20 years old and from a second-fill French hogshead. The peated expression is said to offer notes of smoked duck and ribs with a sticky glaze, and 252 bottles are available for purchase.

Completing the line-up is Jazzy Jousting Hastlitude (29.211), a 21-year-old first-fill American oak-matured whisky. The peated dram is reminiscent of “tarte tatin, treacle toffee, and herbal smoke”, with 228 bottles available.

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Glen Scotia 25 Years Old

Loch Lomond Group-owned Glen Scotia launched a 25-year-old expression to mark the 2017 Campbeltown Whisky Festival.

The “maritime influenced” single malt was created to reflect the history of the distilling region, with the bottle carrying Campbeltown co-ordinates. There were once over 30 distilleries on the Kintyre peninsular, but today only three remain operational.

Bottled at 48.8% abv and non-chill-filtered, the liquid was matured in American oak barrels before being married in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks for 12 months.

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