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Top 10 spirits launches in August 2019

The tail end of summer saw a host of new products enter the market, including a 40-year-old single malt from a silent distillery, a new Tequila brand from one of the Jonas Brothers and a Downton Abbey-inspired spirits range.

SB presents the top spirits to launch last month

Scotch dominated our pick of new products with expressions from Brora, Whisky Illuminati and Glasgow Distillery Company.

Meanwhile, hit television shows also inspired producers to create new bottlings such as Johnnie Walker’s latest Game of Thrones-themed whiskies and a spirits range named after period drama Downton Abbey.

Tequila also witnessed a boom in celebrity-backed brands with musician Nick Jonas moving into the category with his Villa One brand.

Click through the following pages to explore our full round-up of eye-catching spirits launched in August.

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

Jameson’s Caskmates Hyperlocal Editions

Two US-exclusive Irish whiskeys joined Jameson’s Caskmates beer barrel-finished range last month, as part of a collaboration between two American craft breweries.

The limited edition expressions were created after Washington’s Bale Breaker Brewing and Chicago’s Revolution Brewing travelled to Ireland to finish Jameson Irish whiskey in beer-seasoned barrels.

The original Jameson Caskmates launched in 2013 as the result of a collaboration between Irish Distillers’ Midleton Distillery and Cork-based microbrewery Franciscan Wells.

For more information, click here.

Atomik

One of the more unusual launches of last month was a “radioactive-free” spirit produced from grains grown near the Chernobyl disaster.

Social enterprise The Chernobyl Spirit Company has been set up to produce and sell the new ‘vodka’, called Atomik.

The launch is part of a three-year project led by professor Jim Smith of the UK’s University of Portsmouth. The research project looked into the transfer of radioactivity to crops grown in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The research shows that many areas affected by the incident could now be used to produce crops which are safe to eat.

For more information, click here.

Brora 40 Year Old 200th Anniversary

A commemorative bottle of Brora 40 Year Old has been created to mark the 200th anniversary of the silent distillery’s original opening.

Drawn from one dozen vintage American oak hogshead casks from 1978, the whisky is said to be one of the oldest releases from Brora, which is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment.

The distillery was founded in 1891 and mothballed in 1983. In 2017, brand owner Diageo announced plans to revive the site with a £35 million investment, which is also being used to bring Islay’s Port Ellen back into production.

For more information, click here.

Villa One Tequila

The Tequila industry has attracted a number of high-profile celebrities in the past year. The latest stars to jump on the bandwagon are singer-songwriter Nick Jonas and US designer John Varvatos with their Villa One Tequila brand.

The pair were inspired to launch their Tequila brand after taking a trip to Mexico with friends and family in 2018.

Produced using 100% blue weber agave, Villa One is available in three variants: an un-aged silver, aged reposado and añejo. The range is available to buy in the US.

For more information, click here.

A Song of Ice and A Song of Fire

While the popular HBO show concluded earlier this year, it hasn’t stopped Diageo from launched additional Game of Thrones-inspired whiskies under its Johnnie Walker blended Scotch brand.

The aptly named A Song of Ice and A Song of Fire convey the “dynamic relationship” between House Stark and House Targaryen.

Inspired by House Stark, A Song of Ice features single malts from Clynelish Distillery in the Highlands, while A Song of Fire is described as “rich and spicy” with “subtle smoke” from the peated malts of the Caol Ila Distillery in Islay.

For more information, click here.

That Boutique-y Rum Signature Blends

The latest range from independent bottler That Boutique-y Rum Company were developed “with cocktails in mind”.

The first expressions in the new Signature Blends series are Signature Blend #1 – Bright-Grass and Signature Blend #2 – Elegant-Dried Fruits.

Bright Grass is made with predominantly un-aged Jamaican rums, while Elegant-Dried Fruits combines Guyana rum with “heavier, funkier rum” from Jamaica.

For more information, click here.

1770 Peated Release No. 1

The new 1770 Peated Release No. 1 is described as a “rich and smoky” addition to Glasgow Distillery Company’s whisky range. The expression claims to be the Scottish city’s first peated whisky.

The 1770 Peated whisky was matured in first-fill ex-Sherry casks and finished in virgin oak.

The series began with the launch of the firm’s inaugural Scotch whisky, 1770 Glasgow Single Malt, in June 2018.

It will soon be joined by a Triple Distilled whisky, which will launch in early 2020. Together, these three expressions will form the 1770 Signature range.

For more information, click here.

Downton Abbey-inspired gin and whisky

As the trend for TV-inspired spirits continues, English distillery Harrogate Tipple has created a new gin and blended whisky inspired by the popular historical period drama Downton Abbey.

Available in limited batches in the UK and US, the officially licensed Downton Abbey-inspired spirits was launched ahead of the premier of the new film, which hits screens this month.

Craft distillery Harrogate Tipple is co-owned by Tom Nichol, the former master distiller of Diageo-owned Tanqueray gin. The Downton Abbey Gin is made with ingredients that “evoke the era of Downton” including ginger, lime and rose water.

For more information, click here.

The Solaria Series

 

Independent bottler Whisky Illuminati released The Solaria Series last month, a “first of its kind” three-part release of five Speyside single malts.

The first edition of all five expressions launched in August, followed by a second release in 2021 and a third in 2023. As such, drinkers will be able to witness how the liquid evolves in oak over the course of four years.

For more information, click here.

WhistlePig Double Malt Rye Aged 18 Years

This 18-year-old whiskey is the oldest whiskey to date from Vermont-based WhistlePig.

It was created after a “experiment in how grain affects flavour early in the whiskey-making process, in particular the bygone practice of malting rye”.

The method of a ‘double malt’ mash bill “innovates on a traditional practice of malting a small portion of the rye harvest”.

For more information, click here.

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