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Top 10 spirits launches in November 2019

The “world’s first” gin made with artificial intelligence, the final whisky in Diageo’s Game of Thrones-inspired single malts range and the oldest Balvenie to date are among the top products to launch last month.

SB presents the top spirits to launch in November

November saw a number of brands release their oldest expressions to date including a 56-year-old single malt from The Balvenie and Chapel Gate Irish Whiskey Co’s 27-year-old Irish whiskey. Beam Suntory’s Canadian Club brand also released what is thought to be the oldest Canadian whisky on the market.

Hendrick’s gin moved into a new spirits category with the launch of a “modern absinthe” while Diageo released its final whisky in the Game of Thrones-inspired single malts range.

The burgeoning low-alcohol and cannabidiol (CBD) categories also welcomed new products including Top Beverages’ CBD-infused Signature range and a 1.2% ABV expression from Made in Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews.

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

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

The Malt Master’s Indulgence

Price: £62,000 (US$81,000)

The fifth and final chapter in the much-anticipated DCS Compendium range from The Balvenie features the brand’s oldest whisky to date.

The Malt Master’s Indulgence is the concluding chapter in The Balvenie DCS Compendium, which first launched in October 2015 in celebration of the industry’s longest-serving malt master, David Stewart MBE. Each expression in the range was selected by Stewart. There are just 50 sets available worldwide.

The Malt Master’s Indulgence range features five rare whiskies aged between 16 and 56 years, including the brand’s oldest bottling – a “fragrant and sweet” 1962 whisky.

For more information, click here.

Monker’s Garkel

Price: £42 (US$45)

Bristol-based Circumstance Distillery has used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a new gin in partnership with technology scientists Tiny Giant and Rewrite Digital.

The new gin, called Monker’s Garkel, is made with an AI that was trained to analyse thousands of botanicals.

The expression is made with juniper berries, coriander seed, angelica root, raspberry leaf, gooseberry, prune, clementine zest, orange zest, and marigold.

For more information, click here.

Signature Collection

Price: £49.95 (US$64.50)

The latest range from UK-based cannabidiol (CBD) drinks producer Top Beverages comprises a gin, a rum and a vodka.

Super Gin is made with juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, orris root and three superfoods – goji berries, acai berries and blueberries. Citrus Vodka is triple-distilled and contains lemon, lime and Valencian orange.

Meanwhile, Mocha Rum combines organic Colombian cacao and South American cold pressed coffee and is recommended served as an after-dinner drink.

Every expression is bottled at 54.5% ABV and is distilled with 50mg of premium full-spectrum CBD as opposed to hemp seed oil that contains no CBD.

For more information, click here.

Hendrick’s Absinthe

Price: –

In an unusual move for the gin brand, Hendrick’s added a “modern” absinthe to its line, bottled at 48% ABV.

Hendrick’s Absinthe is the result of laboratory experimentations by master distiller Lesley Gracie at the brand’s new Gin Palace in Girvan, Scotland.

It is made with star anise and wormwood – traditional absinthe botanicals – as well as juniper, yarrow, orange, and Hendrick’s signature flavours of rose and cucumber.

For more information, click here.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ Great British Rum

Price: £49 (US$63) 

British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has moved into the world of spirits with the launch of a new rum.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ Great British Rum was made by adding wood varieties hailing from some of the explorer’s adventures – sequoia from Canada, pine from Norway and date palm from Oman – into the still during distillation. The spirit undergoes no further maturation after distillation.

The rum is triple-distilled from 100% pure sugarcane molasses. Tasting notes include aromas of orange, caramel and spiced Christmas cake, leading to flavours of tobacco, vanilla, milk and dark chocolate, and liquorice on the palate.

For more information, click here.

Canadian Club Chronicles 42 Year Old

Price: US$299.95

The 42-year-old expression from Beam Suntory’s Canadian Club brand is thought to be the oldest Canadian whisky on the market.

The bottling, part of the brand’s Chronicles series, celebrates the historic dock worker who delivered whisky to bar owners and consumers during the Prohibition era.

Each release in the Chronicles range “represents an iconic moment in Canadian Club’s rich history”.

For more information, click here.

Six Kingdoms – Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 15 Years

Price: £120 (US$154.50)

Six Kingdoms – Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 15 Years is the ninth and final bottling to join Diageo’s Game of Thrones-inspired single malts range.

The whisky is inspired by the finale of the show and pays tribute to the fate of fictional continent Westeros, when Seven Kingdoms became six after the North became independent.

Six Kingdoms has been matured in first-fill Sherry-seasoned casks and finished in American oak ex-Bourbon casks. It is said to have a fruity character and a “bold, smooth taste with notes of vanilla and spice”.

For more information, click here.

Clean Gin

Price: £24.99 (US$32) 

Clean Gin has been bottled at 1.2% ABV and is described as an “ultra-low” alcohol replacement to gin, with only two calories per 25ml serving.

The expression has been created by Made in Chelsea star and entrepreneur Spencer Matthews under his new low- and no-alcohol brand, The Clean Liquor Company.

Botanicals used to make Clean Gin include juniper, orris root, ground cardamom, coriander seeds, angelica root, lemon zest, peppermint oil, ginger oil and cinnamon.

For more information, click here.

JJ Corry The Chosen

Price: £6,500 (US$8,300)

JJ Corry The Chosen is Chapel Gate Irish Whiskey Co’s oldest Irish whiskey to date at 27-years-old.

Bottled at 52% ABV, the Irish whiskey is described as being “rich and superbly elegant with notes of toffee, rancio, dried mango and chestnut”.

The whisky has been released in collaboration with contemporary Irish design houses J Hill’s Standard and John Galvin Design.

For more information, click here.

The Bootleg Series 2019 Edition

Price: US$499.99

Bob Dylan’s American whiskey brand Heaven’s Door has released the first whiskey in its Bootleg series of limited edition rare bottlings.

The Bootleg Series 2019 Edition is matured in ex-Bourbon barrels for over 26 years before being finished in Japanese mizunara oak barrels for six months.

Each annual release from the Bootleg series is expected to launch in autumn.

For more information, click here.

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