Close Menu
Top 10

Top 50 innovative spirits launches of 2017: 50-41

Terroir-boasting vodka, barrel-aged absinthe, and the world’s most heavily peated whisky all feature in the first instalment of our top 50 most innovative spirits launches of last year.

2017 saw a number of innovative releases in the spirits industry

A swathe of pioneering new products broke onto the spirits scene in 2017. From barrel experimentation and unique flavour infusions to fresh marketing approaches, distillers showed no fear with their levels of boundary-breaking creativity.

Last year, producers demonstrated their abilities to innovate in different capacities while maintaining the quality, integrity and ingenuity of their products – at the same time tapping into the latest demands from today’s discerning consumers.

Click through the following pages to see the first part of our top 50 innovative spirits launches of 2017, counting down from 50 to 41.

50: Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky

The inaugural whisky from the Cotswold Distillery was released in October last year. The distillery itself was established in 2014 under the guidance of renowned industry expert, the late Dr Jim Swan.

The expression is made exclusively using Cotswolds-grown barley and 100% floor maltings, while each bottle lists the individual farm from which the whisky’s barley was sourced.

For more information, click here.

49. Octomore 08.3

In August last year, Islay distillery Bruichladdich launched the Octomore 08.3 edition, which is described as “the most heavily peated Octomore to date” containing barley peated to 309ppm.

The expression, bottled at 61.2% abv, was launched as part of the new Octomore 8s Masterclass range.

The limited release has been matured for five years in 56% first-fill Bourbon casks, with the remaining in ex-Pauliac, Ventoux, Rhone and Burgundy casks.

For more information, click here.

48: Springbank 24 Year Old

Back in November last year, Whisky Foundation Reserve launched a stock market for whisky with its first release – a rare Springbank 24-year-old single malt whisky.

Limited to 255 bottles worldwide, Springbank 24 Year Old has been matured in a Sherry cask and was bottled by The Maltman in 2017 at 47.1% abv.

The initial public offering was US$1, with each purchase then increasing the price automatically.

For more information, click here.

47: Woolf Sung The Hunter

Woolf Sung launched the first expression in its inaugural range of independently bottled Scotch whiskies, called The Hunter, a 40-year-old whisky from Glenglassaugh.

It was distilled at the Highland Glenglassaugh distillery in 1972 and bottled in 2013. Only 160 bottles of the whisky have been released.

Whisky stands out with its modern and cutting-edge design – a clear breakaway from traditional Scotch whisky bottles.

For more information, click here.

46: Aluna Coconut

Aluna Coconut is a blend of rums from Guatemala and the Caribbean with “all-natural” toasted coconut flavours.

Launched by Cloudbreak Spirits, the expression is said have lower sugar content than competitor products, and represents a step up market for the rum-based liqueurs category.

It is made with virgin sugar cane honey (miel de caña) in order to produce a “lighter and smoother rum” and “remove the need for the large quantities of sugar found in other coconut rums”.

For more information, click here.

45: Arbikie Haar

Scottish ‘farm-to-bottle’ distiller Arbikie Estate launched Haar Vodka, an expression distilled from zulu wheat grown on the Black Laws field. It is described as an “incredibly smooth vodka with hints of caramel”.

The vodka is named after the ‘Haar’ – a “soft, rolling and freezing” North Sea fog that frequently blankets the Arbikie farm and distillery.

The new expression joins ‘Tattie Bogle’, Arbikie’s potato vodka, with a third vodka planned for spring 2018 to complete the terroir vodka range.

For more information, click here.

44: W Signature 12

Bottled at 35% abv, Diageo Korea’s W Signature 12 is a whisky-based spirit drink blended by three master blenders. It uses whiskies matured for at least for 12 years in Scotland.

The firm is targeting the low-abv trend with the new expression and also intends to “enhance” consumer communication around the trend.

For more information, click here.

43: Zmaj

In January last year, Copper & Kings American Brandy launched Zmaj, a limited-edition aged absinthe matured in Serbian juniper wood barrels for 18 months.

Produced from a double-distilled Muscat brandy base, the absinthe is non-chill-filtered and free from any post-distillation flavour or essence additives. Botanicals include artemisia, absinthium, anis, fennel and hyssop.

The absinthe is inspired by the legend of Zmaj, a dragon renowned in Balkan folklore.

For more information, click here.

42: Dangerous Don

Launched in the UK in February last year, Dangerous Don is thought to be the world’s first coffee-infused mezcal. It is twice-distilled before being steeped in Mexican Noam Quiem Organic Coffee beans.

The mastermind behind this expression is London-based Thea Cumming, former manager for Pitt Cue’s Southbank pop-up, and part of the launch team for Coombeshead Farm.

For more information, click here.

41: SMWS Exotic Cargo

 

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society released its first blended malt whisky, a 10-year-old bottling called Exotic Cargo, in September last year.

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.

It looks like you're in Asia, would you like to be redirected to the Drinks Business Asia edition?

Yes, take me to the Asia edition No