A rare blend made with whisky from closed distilleries, a terroir-inspired vodka range and a liqueur containing 125-year-old Cognac are included in the fourth instalment of our most innovative new spirits list.

We present the fourth instalment of our most innovative spirits launches list

As we draw ever closer to the final 10 in our innovative spirits list, our fourth instalment showcases a number of brands that are intending to shake up their respective categories, including a Bourbon made from six different grains and regional grape-based vermouths.

Scotch also dominated half the list, with peated expressions from Monkey Shoulder and Compass Box taking the spotlight, while a Johnnie Walker bottling containing liquid from three of Diageo’s ‘ghost’ distilleries also featured prominently.

Click through the following pages to see the fourth part of our top 50 innovative spirits launches of 2017, counting down from 20 to 11.

To view 30 to 21, click here.

To view 40 to 31, click here.

To view 50 to 41, click here.

20: Mandarine Napoléon XO Gold

It’s not often you see a spirit made with liquid that’s more than a century old. But that’s how Du Kuyper celebrated the 125th anniversary of Mandarine Napoléon in 2017, launching a limited-­edition expression containing a drop of 125­-year­-old Grande Fine Champagne Cognac.

Mandarine Napoléon XO Gold, which is also made with Sicilian mandarins, is described as having a “fresh and soft” mandarin flavour with a “delicious balanced Cognac finish”.

For more information, click here.

19: Monkey Shoulder Smokey Monkey

Monkey Shoulder’s inaugural peated expression landed in a flume of smoke last year, boldly stating its intentions to give a “needed” shake-up to the category. Made using Highland peat, the new variant is designed for mixing in a similar fashion to its original counterpart.

Smokey Monkey, a blended malt, 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.

18: Belvedere Single Estate Rye Series

Belvedere shifted its focus to terroir with this series, starting with two vodka bottlings: Smogóry Forest and Lake Bartężek. The series explores how differences in climate affect the flavour produced from the Polish dankowskie diamond rye used to make each expression.

Smogóry Forest is made entirely from dankowskie diamond rye grown at a single small estate in western Poland, while Lake Bartężek is crafted from dankowskie diamond rye grown at a single farm in northern Poland’s Mazury lake district.

For more information, click here.

17: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost & Rare

Precious liquid from closed distilleries is often saved for ultra-­rare bottlings. But Johnnie Walker included whiskies from three of Diageo’s ‘ghost’ distilleries – Cambus, Pittyvaich and Brora – in its Blue Label Ghost & Rare blend, the first in a series of special releases.

The new blend also includes whisky from Royal Lochnagar, Clynelish, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie and Cameronbride.

The resulting spirit is a “smooth Scotch, with the fruity sweetness of pineapple, rich notes of hazelnut and dark chocolate, and a subtle smoky finish”.

For more information, click here.

16: Double Single

At a time when blended whiskies often state that having a high number of components offer exalted levels of complexity, Compass Box’s Double Single stands out from the crowd.

Initially created in 2003 as a limited edition for Duncan Elphick and Tatsuya Minagawa of the Highlander Inn, Double Single contains just a single grain and a single malt: 72% of the blend is a single malt whisky aged in re-­charred Bourbon hogsheads from Glen Elgin Distillery, and the rest is a single grain whisky aged in re­-charred Bourbon barrels from the Girvan Distillery.

Compass Box believes the blend provides a depth of flavour not found in single malts, but that its simplicity provides a “purity of flavour” absent from blends with more components.

For more information, click here.

15: Buffalo Trace Organic Six Grain Whiskey

While most types of Bourbon do not contain more than three types of grain, Buffalo Trace Organic Six Grain Whiskey, as its name suggests, is made with significantly more.

The product is certified organic and contains corn, buckwheat, brown rice, sorghum, wheat and rice. It is also able to be legally labelled Bourbon, since its mash-bill is at least 51% corn.

In 2010, the grains were milled, cooked and made into a sour mash before being distilled in Buffalo Trace’s experimental micro-­still. The resulting spirit was then filled into eight new charred white oak barrels that had received the distillery’s standard number-­four level of charring.

For more information, click here.

14: Naked Grouse

Naked Grouse was introduced as a premium offering of The Famous Grouse family of brands in 2010, and last year, the brand relaunched as a blended malt to “challenge traditional stereotypes of whisky” and attract a younger audience.

“The transition from a blended Scotch to a malt is being made in response to increasing popularity of single malts and demand from bartenders for an accessible whisky with distinctive flavour,” Elaine Miller, global marketing manager for Naked Grouse, said at the time.

The new recipe does not include any grain whisky and comprises liquid exclusively from malt distilleries such as The Macallan, Highland Park, Glenturret and The Glenrothes. Said to offer a “more robust” flavour than its predecessor, the new expression is matured in first­-fill oloroso Sherry casks for at least six months after the blending process.

For more information, click here.

13: Martini Riserva Speciale Bitter

Martini expanded its range in July last year with the launch of a product designed to complement its Italian vermouth: Martini Riserva Speciale Bitter. Bacardi-­owned Martini created the product to complement its own Riserva Speciale Rubino and Riserva Speciale Ambrato vermouths and also target Negronis – which are becoming increasingly popular in cocktail bars, both at home and in the on­-trade.

Inspired by the original 1872 Martini Bitter recipe, it is made from three “rare” botanicals – saffron, angostura and columba – to deliver a “unique richness and complexity” to its taste profile through different dimensions of bitterness.

For more information, click here.

12: Bottega vermouths

While most vermouths use neutral grape spirit as their base, Prosecco producer Bottega made sure its inaugural vermouths stood out with their use of regional grape varieties.

Vermouth Bianco Bottega uses Pinot Grigio as its base, and its botanicals include elderflower, Roman absinthe, cinnamon, nutmeg, greater galangal and bitter orange zest.

Vermouth Rosso Bottega is made with Merlot, and includes botanicals such as angelica, bitter and sweet orange zest, absinthe, basil leaves, coriander seeds, marjoram, oregano, clary and radicchio.

“We wanted to use wine with personality,” a Bottega spokesperson said at the time of the launch.

For more information, click here.

11: Phenomenology

Launched alongside No Name – Compass Box’s peatiest whisky to date – Phenomenology was released without recipe information in order to “encourage drinkers to experience the whisky without preconceptions”.

According to trail­blazing Scotch blender and bottler Compass Box, both malts have been designed to challenge a drinker’s “thinking about how a whisky is experienced and understood” through the theory of phenomenology – that is, sensory experiences.

Phenomenology’s recipe and tasting notes were released last month, but drinkers were able to request information over email or via social media at any time as long as they agreed not to divulge it publicly.

For more information, click here.