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Top 10 spirits launches in August 2017

Smoky flavours reigned supreme in last month’s top spirits releases, which include a four-strong Mezcal series, a mesquite wood-smoked Tequila, and what is thought to be the world’s most heavily peated single malt whisky.

Smoky flavours reigned supreme in last month’s spirits releases

Those with sweeter, lighter flavour preferences are not left in the dark –  Jim Beam expanded its range with the launch of a vanilla-flavoured Bourbon, and Marcin Miller’s Norwegian distillery introduced an unaged aquavit made with the likes of meadowsweet, sorrel, heather flower, and calamus root.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society took a walk on the wild side with the launch of Exotic Cargo, intended to “break the mould of what can be done with a blended malt”, Johnnie Walker expanded its experimental Blenders’ Batch series with “with bartenders in mind”.

Click through the following pages to explore our full round-up of top spirits launches in August.

Which new spirits products caught your eye last month? If we’ve missed your favourite, let us know in the comments below.

Monkey Shoulder Smokey Monkey

Blended malt Scotch Monkey Shoulder intends to shake-up the peated whisky category with its new variant: Smokey Monkey.

Bottled at 40% abv, Monkey Shoulder Smokey Monkey is made using Highland peat, and is designed for mixing like the brand’s original variant.

Smokey Monkey is said to combine dry peaty notes with creamy sweetness and spice, and is recommended in signature Monkey Shoulder serves including the Smokey Monkey Old Fashioned, the Smokey Ginger Monkey and the Smokey Monkey Splash.

For more information, click here

Akevitt Blank

Marcin Miller’s Norwegian distillery Oslo Håndverksdestilleri introduced Akevitt Blank, an unaged aquavit made from locally foraged ingredients including meadowsweet, sorrel, heather flower, and calamus root.

Blank, which also contains botanicals of caraway, angelica root, juniper, chamomile flower and St. John’s wort, has been designed to mix well in cocktails.

The distillery sources its ingredients from the land surrounding Oslo, with the help of a local forager who collects and dries the botanicals growing wild in the nearby Marka forest.

For more information, click here

SMWS Exotic Cargo

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) released its first blended malt whisky, a 10-year-old bottling called Exotic Cargo.

The Society, which is known for its single cask, single malt bottlings, said the “experimental” release is intended to “break the mould of what can be done with a blended malt”.

To create Exotic Cargo, spirits manager Euan Campbell sourced a number of pre-blended malt whiskies that were all distilled on the same day on 2006 and matured in first-fill ex-sherry casks.

For more information, click here

Sierra Milenario Fumado Tequila

German spirits producer Borco has expanded its Sierra Milenario Tequila range with a new smoky expression, made using a “unique” ahumado process with mesquite wood.

After slowly cooking the agave in stainless steel ovens for 24 hours, the cooked agave is placed in a lidded stainless steel container with a double base containing perforations.

A fire of mesquite logs and Mexican oak is lit under the container and the perforations allow the interaction and infusion of the smoke onto the agaves for eight hours.

For more information, click here

Octomore 08.3

Islay distillery Bruichladdich launched what is thought to be the world’s most heavily peated single malt whisky, called Octomore 08.3, within its new Octomore 8s Masterclass range.

The four-strong range is created from Scottish barley with the “absolute maximum count” of phenol parts per million (ppm), and has been matured entirely in warehouses located on the western shores of Loch Indaal.

Octomore 08.3 is described as “the most heavily peated Octomore to date”, containing barley peated to 309ppm. Limited to 18,000 bottles, the whisky has been matured for five years in 56% first-fill Bourbon casks, with the remaining in ex-Pauliac, Ventoux, Rhone and Burgundy casks.

The range also includes three eight-year-old expressions: Octomore 08.1, Octomore 08.2 and Octomore 08.4.

For more information, click here

Jim Beam Vanilla

Beam Suntory expanded its Jim Beam Bourbon range with the launch of a vanilla-flavoured expression in the US.

Jim Beam Vanilla blends Madagascar vanilla bean liqueur with Kentucky straight Bourbon whiskey. Bottled at 35% abv, the expression has hints of “oak and caramel” Bourbon notes, and a “sweet vanilla” aroma.

Jim Beam’s global brand partner actress Mila Kunis will be featured in social and digital content around the official campaign launch this autumn.

Jim Beam Vanilla joins the brand’s flavoured portfolio including Apple, Kentucky Fire, Honey and Red Stag by Jim Beam Black Cherry.

For more information, click here

Ardbeg An Oa

Islay-based single malt Scotch Ardbeg is expanded its core portfolio with a whisky aged in a ‘gathering vat’ within the distillery’s former grain store, called Ardbeg An Oa.

Pronounced ‘an oh’, the bottling contains whiskies of different cask types – including Pedro Ximénes, virgin oak and ex-Bourbon – that have been married in a French oak vat in Ardbeg’s new ‘Gathering Room’.

Ardbeg An Oa is the first permanent expression from the distillery for almost ten years, and pays homage to the Mull of Oa. Situated at the end of the Oa peninsula, it forms the most southerly point of Islay.

For more information, click here

Mezcales de Leyenda charity bottlings

Mezcal producer Mezcales de Leyenda unveiled four limited edition high-end expressions that each benefit a specific social or environmental cause – from the cultivation and conservation of the agave species to ‘tourism equipment’.

The range spans Grandes Leyendas, made from wild agave cupreata from northern Guerrero; Grandes Unicos, distilled from agave montana, which grows wild in a hidden valley in the Sierra Madre Oriental in Tamaulipas; Reservas De La Biosfera, which is produced with a base of regional magueyes, agave marmorata and agave macrocantha; and Cementerio Mezcalero, distilled from agave americana sahuayensis.

The four offerings will be available across 15 markets in the US through distributor M.S. Walker.

For more information, click here

Littlemill 2017 Private Cellar Edition

A 27-year-old single malt from silent Scotch whisky distillery Littlemill was released globally last month, with a price tag of £2,250 (US$2,970) per bottle.

To create the expression, Loch Lomond master blender Michael Henry picked eight refill ex-Bourbon barrels that had been distilled between 11 and 19 May 1990, each filled at 68.8% abv. The casks were then married in fresh Bourbon barrels for 12 months before bottling at 51.3% abv.

Each decanter is individually numbered and presented in a case, which includes a piece of Littlemill cask used to mature the whisky, plus a miniature of the whisky itself.

For more information, click here

Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch line extensions

Diageo expanded Johnnie Walker’s experimental Blenders’ Batch series with three limited edition whiskies, “designed with bartenders in mind”.

Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Rum Cask Finish is a blend of whiskies from Speyside and the Lowlands that have been finished in casks that previously held Caribbean pot still rum.

Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Wine Cask Blend combines whisky filled into wine casks by Johnnie Walker’s master blender Jim Beveridge more than 10 years ago, and contains liquid sourced from distilleries such as Cameronbridge and Clynelish.

Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Espresso Roast (43.2% abv), meanwhile, is the result of experiments using an inventory of whiskies distilled using barley roasted “more heavily than ever before”. The whiskies have been matured in a combination of rejuvenated casks and first-fill Bourbon casks.

For more information, click here

 

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