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Top 10 spirits launches in March 2019

A 47-year-old Mortlach single malt whisky, a countryside-inspired Bombay Sapphire gin and a higher-abv shochu for cocktails are among our pick of the most exciting new products to launch last month.

SB presents the top spirits to launch last month

In March, a number of line extensions were revealed, including a new Bombay Sapphire gin, a Martini vermouth targeted at millennials and a third ‘category-defying’ spirit from Rebel Rabbat.

Meanwhile, Diageo’s Mortlach distillery released its first Scotch whisky from the new Singing Stills series, and Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe unveiled Legent Bourbon.,

English wine maker Chapel Down released the “world’s first” gin made with Pinot Noir grapes and shochu brand Iichiko targeted bartenders with a higher-abv expression.

Click through the following pages to explore our full round-up of exciting spirits launched in March.

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

Martini Fiero

Bacardi-owned Italian vermouth brand Martini launched Martini Fiero in the UK last month, which is said to “modernise vermouth for a new generation”.

Fiero, which means ‘proud’, ‘intense’ and ‘bold’ in Italian, is a blend of white wines and botanicals including Murcia orange peel, artemisia absinthium and artemisia pontica.

For more information, click here. 

Highland Park Twisted Tattoo

Highland Park Twisted Tattoo is the result of a collaboration with Danish tattoo artist Colin Dale.

The new expression is the brand’s first single malt Scotch whisky aged in ex-Rioja wine casks.

The 16-year-old Scotch whisky is inspired by the Viking legend of the Modgard Serpent, which grew so large it twisted around the earth to bite its own tail.

For more information, click here.

Legent Bourbon

Legent has been created by Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe and Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo.

Distilled by Noe, Legent began as a Kentucky straight Bourbon aged in wine and Sherry casks. Fukuyo then blended the whiskey with more Kentucky straight Bourbon.

Bottled at 47% abv, Legent has “spice and fruity undertones” developed through its period of maturation in hand-selected wine and Sherry casks.

For more information, click here. 

Chapel Down Pinot Noir Gin

Chapel Down Pinot Noir Gin is believed to be the world’s first gin made with Pinot Noir grapes.

Produced by English wine producer Chapel Down, the “highly aromatic” gin is produced with distilled Pinot Noir grape skins from the Chapel Down harvest, which is then blended with English wheat spirit.

The expression is infused with juniper, coriander, dried red berries, rose buds, citrus fruits, rosehip, angelica and grains of paradise.

For more information, click here.

Relicario Peated Finish

Produced by Spanish drinks group Beveland, Relicario Peated Finish rum has been aged for between five and 10 years in the Dominican Republic.

It was finished for an additional six months in American oak barrels that previously contained peated malt whisky from Speyside.

For more information, click here. 

Bombay Sapphire English Estate

Bombay Sapphire English Estate is the first release in a new limited edition line from Bombay Sapphire.

Inspired by summertime in the English countryside, the expression is available in the UK for a limited time only.

Master distiller Anne Brock and master of botanicals Ivano Tonutti teamed up to create the gin, which adds three new botanicals to Bombay Sapphire’s core recipe: pennyroyal mint, rosehip and toasted hazelnut.

For more information, click here.

RES:3 End of Austerity

RES:3 End of Austerity is the third ‘category-defying’ spirit to join Rebel Rabbat’s Rebel Exile Spirits range and is said to be “the world’s most affordable spirit with the world’s most expensive ingredients”.

Bottled at 44% abv, End of Austerity is made with made with white truffle, Beluga Caviar and orris root.

For more information, click here.

Mortlach 47 Year Old

Limited to just 94 bottles, Mortlach 47 Year Old is the first Scotch whisky from the Diageo-owned brand’s new Singing Stills Series.

Priced at £10,000 (US$13,295), the expression was distilled and filled into three refill American oak hogsheads in April 1971.

Future releases as part of The Singing Stills Series will be revealed at a later date.

For more information, click here. 

Local Heroes No 3

Last month, London-based Portobello Road Gin and Dire Straits singer and guitarist Mark Knopfler collaborated on a new limited edition expression.

To create Local Heroes No 3, Burger and Knopfler added lime zest, cucumber peel and olive oil to Portobello Road Gin’s nine signature botanicals, which includes juniper, coriander seed, orris root, angelica root, lemon peel and nutmeg.

For more information, click here.

Iichiko Saiten

Produced by Japan’s Sanwa Shurui Company, Iichiko Saiten shochu has been created with insights from leading US bartenders.

It was bottled at a higher abv of 43% compared to traditional shochus which are usually 25% abv to enhance its use in cocktails.

For more information, click here.

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