Asahi Group’s first foray into gin and vodka, a liqueur once served on board the ill-fated RMS Titanic, and Knob Creek’s anniversary bottling are name-checked in our round-up of last month’s top spirits launches.

SB presents the top 10 spirits launches in June

In June, one of London’s oldest gin brands was revived by direct descendants of the original founders, adding to the ever-growing category, and Spirit of Tom paid tribute to Finnish artist Tom of Finland with the launch of an organic vodka.

Scotch whisky saw William Grant & Sons’s Speyside distillery The Balvenie expand its small range of peated expressions, while in American whisky Brown-Forman looked back to the 1940s with a limited edition Bottled-in-Bond variant of its Early Times Bourbon.

Meanwhile, a certain artisanal mezcal brand is seeking to challenge the UK perception of agave spirits and position the category as “a genuine sipping alternative to single malt whisky”…

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

Nikka Coffey Gin and Nikka Coffey Vodka

Asahi Group boosted its presence in the growing Japanese white spirits category with the launch of Nikka Coffey Gin and Nikka Coffey Vodka, made using the brand’s signature Coffey still.

Asahi uses Coffey stills to produce its Nikka brand of Japanese whisky. The continuous-style stills were developed by Ireland’s Aeneas Coffey in 1830 and examples were imported to Japan by Nikka Whisky Distilling Company founder Masataka Taketsuru in 1963.

The launches mark Asahi Group’s first foray into gin and vodka, with the company known for producing Japanese whisky, shochu and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Nikka Coffey Gin is produced with 11 botanicals, including yuzu, sansho pepper, kabosu, amanatsu, and shequasar from Japan. Other botanicals include juniper, angelica, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, and apple juice.

For more information, click here

Nicholson Gin

One of London’s oldest gin brands, Nicholson Gin, was revived by direct descendants of the original founders – cousins Nicholas Browne and Tim Walker.

Established in 1736 with distilleries in Clerkenwell and Three Mills, Bow, the brand came to the fore in the 1830s under the guidance of brothers William and John Nicholson, said to be “pioneers” of the London Dry Gin style.

Nicholson Gin featured prominently in the cocktail books of the 1920s and 1930s, including The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails and The Savoy Cocktail Book, by Harry Craddock.

For more information, click here

Knob Creek 25th Anniversary Bourbon

Beam Suntory-owned Bourbon brand Knob Creek is celebrating its 25th year with the release of a cask strength single barrel expression, personally selected by master distiller Fred Noe.

Knob Creek 25th Anniversary Bourbon has been aged in barrels for between 12 and 13 years. Unfiltered, each individual bottle features “slight nuances” in abv – between 60-62.5% abv – and flavour.

The key aroma is a “deep, full vanilla with a surprisingly sweet and nutty flavour”, while on the palate “robust vanilla and caramel, slightly smoky, complemented by rich notes of oak”.

For more information, click here

Corte Vetusto

Hand-crafted by fourth generation master mezcalero, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Diaz, at a Palenque in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Corte Vetusto is seeking to challenge the UK perception of agave spirits and position the category as “a genuine sipping alternative to single malt whisky”.

Introductory mezcal, Espadin, is made from cultivated agave and double-distilled in copper pot stills, while the premium Tobala and Ensamble liquids are made using wild agave and are distilled in both a copper still and a clay pot still – a process that marries “crisp, bright notes” from the former and “more complex, earthy notes” from the latter.

The three single-origin mezcals are “purposefully agave forward” to “showcase the variety of flavour within the plants and the impact of terroir”, and are presented as joven, or un-aged.

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Marie Brizard Danzig

French liqueur brand Marie Brizard unveiled an “exceptionally rare” liqueur once served on board the doomed RMS Titanic at this year’s Vinexpo in Bordeaux.

The rare bottle comes from the cellar of private collector Michel-Jack Chasseuil, who identified the 100 rarest bottlings and grouped them together in a book titled 100 Extraordinary Bottles: From the Most Beautiful Wine Cellar in the World.

The tome features Marie Brizard Danzig, a liqueur dating from 1912, which was linked to the fate of the RMS Titanic.

At one time described as having the reputation of “purifying one’s blood”, the liqueur contains 22-23 carat gold shards and was created by a Dutchman in the 16th century.

For more information, click here

Carbonadi

Californian spirits company House of Carbonadi rolled out a new ultra-premium Italian vodka brand in the US.

Carbonadi originates from a family-owned distillery located in the Piemonte region of Italy. It is made with crystalline water and organic wheat from the nearby Italian Alps.

The initial wash is distilled five times through active charcoal to remove impurities, then re-filtered through uncut carbonados – microporous black diamonds – said to remove others not captured by traditional filtration methods.

A final step of micro-oxygenation “lengthens” the liquid’s molecules to create the “smooth” expression.

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The Balvenie Peated Triple Cask Aged 14 Years

William Grant & Sons’s Speyside distillery The Balvenie has expanded its small range of peated Scotch whiskies with the launch of The Balvenie Peated Triple Cask Aged 14 Years.

Some years ago The Balvenie introduced a peating programme to create a different style of the whisky with “enhanced smoky notes”, and pay homage to a time when peat use was commonplace in Speyside.

One batch of peated malt was distilled each year during ‘peat week’, with the spirit laid down to mature at the Dufftown distillery. The distillery has a traditional malting floor which is still utilised today.

The resulting non-chill-filtered expression has been aged in first-fill Bourbon, refill Bourbon and Sherry casks. The resulting “classic honeyed” whisky is said to offer “unexpected” “delicate, sweet and lingering” peat smoke notes with “cinnamon and ginger spiciness”.

For more information, click here

House of Broughton

British tonic and mixer brand Fentimans moved into the syrup category with the launch of its new House of Broughton range in the on-trade.

The new range, called House of Broughton, compliments Fentimans full portfolio and is made using only natural ingredients.

The syrups have a “unique high strength” flavour, and feature a long bottle neck and built-in pourer for ease of use.

The line-up comprises of six flavours: Cucumber, Ginger, Rose, Elderflower, Raspberry and Simple, which is made using only pure sugar from natural sources.

For more information, click here

Tom of Finland Organic Vodka

Spirit of Tom launched a super-premium vodka in the UK in tribute to Finnish artist Tom of Finland and his influence on late 20th century gay culture.

Tom of Finland Organic Vodka celebrates the life and art of Finnish-born Touko Laaksonen aka Tom of Finland, who was widely regarded for his highly masculinised homoerotic fetish art.

Described as “bold but smooth”, the new expression is crafted from organically grown wheat, rye and pure arctic water.

For more information, click here

Early Times Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon

Brown-Forman is launching a limited edition Bottled-in-Bond variant of its Early Times Bourbon to mark the 75th anniversary of the brand’s original recipe.

The brand, which dates back to 1860, first introduced a bonded Bourbon in the 1940s. The release went on to become America’s “top-selling” Bourbon, and the new variant, Early Times Bottled In Bond Bourbon, is intended to be “a revival” of that era.

Early Times Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon is made from the same original recipe, using pure water, a mash bill composed of 79% corn, 11% rye and 10% malted barley, and a proprietary yeast strain.

For more information, click here