A 40-year-old Port Ellen single malt, a botanical-infused Canadian whisky and a chilli and lime-flavoured gin were among the best products unveiled last month.

SB presents its pick of top spirits to launch in May

While the coronavirus pandemic took its toll across the world, it didn’t stop producers from unveiling their latest experimental bottlings and line extensions.

Our spirits launches list was dominated by whisk(e)y with new expressions from Balvenie, WhistlePig, Forty Creek, Port Ellen and Port Charlotte.

Campari Group’s Forty Creek upped its innovation game with what it claims is the “world’s first” botanical-infused Canadian whisky, while the producer of Tarquin’s Gin made its first foray into rum.

Click through the following pages to explore our full round-up of eye-catching spirits launched in May 2020.

Balvenie The Edge of Burnhead Wood 19 Years Old

Last month, William Grant & Sons added a 19-year-old whisky to Balvenie’s Stories series.

The new 19-year-old, The Edge of Burnhead Wood, tells the story of how Balvenie craftsmen experimented with the distillery’s natural resources to find the perfect match between fresh heather and barley.

It is made with ingredients found on the distillery’s grounds, including homegrown barley malted at the site’s maltings, water from the Conval Hills, and fresh heather from Burnhead Wood.

For more information, click here.

Sipsmith Chilli & Lime Gin

Sipsmith got experimental last month with the release of a chilli and lime-flavoured gin.

The expression is the first in the Beam Suntory-owned brand’s new Sipping Series and is said to be “ideal for gin lovers on the lookout for the latest flavour to try and perfect for the daring sipper”.

The new gin is recommended served with tonic water, ice and a lime wedge, or as a twist in cocktails including Margaritas and Mojitos.

For more information, click here.

The Forager

Last year, Canadian whisky brand Forty Creek told The Spirits Business that it was set to release a number of innovative expressions.

Described as a “category-defying innovation”, Forty Creek unveiled the “world’s first” botanical-infused Canadian whisky in May 2020.

The Forager is made from a “light, fresh” Canadian whisky that is aged initially for three years. Prior to additional ageing, select botanicals are steeped in the liquid to create a botanical-infused spirit that offers “subtle yet distinct and fresh notes”.

For more information, click here.

Riga Black Balsam XO

Herbal liqueur brand Riga Black Balsam added a super-premium bottling to its line last month – a blend of the brand’s flagship bitter with eight-year-old French brandy.

The new XO expression is made from 24 ingredients, including 17 botanicals such as herbs, roots, berries and buds. The botanicals are infused in a spirit-water mix using single barrel infusion to create the Riga Black Balsam essence, which is then blended with the brandy.

Initially launched in Latvia, the expression will be released in the Baltics and travel retail later in the year.

For more information, click here.

Redbreast Dream Cask Ruby Port Edition

Redbreast Irish whiskey released its third limited edition Dream Cask to mark World Whisky Day on 16 May.

The whiskeys used to create the expression were matured for a minimum of 28 years in a mix of ex-Bourbon barrels, an oloroso Sherry butt and a ruby Port seasoned cask. The liquid was then married in the ruby Port cask.

It was made available to whiskey fans through an online ballot through the brand’s private members’ club, The Birdhouse.

For more information, click here.

Port Ellen 40 Years Old

The second release in the Port Ellen Untold Stories Series was released last month – a 40-year-old whisky created out of nine ‘rogue’ casks.

The casks comprised four American oak hogsheads and five European oak butts.

Only 1,380 bottles of the 40-year-old single malt are available globally from specialist retailers, priced at RRP £6,500 (US$7,942) per 700ml.

For more information, click here. 

Twin Fin Rum

Twin Fin is a new spiced rum created “to celebrate the best of the Caribbean and the wild Cornish coast”.

It is the first rum from Tarquin’s Gin producer Southwestern Distillery, based in Cornwall, England.

The rum is distilled in flame-fired copper pot stills and blended with Jamaican pot still rum and a light, column still rum from the Dominican Republic. It is then finished with a small amount of Pedro Ximénez Sherry.

For more information, click here.

Port Charlotte OLC: 01 2010

Islay distillery Bruichladdich replaced its Port Charlotte MRC:01 2010 with a new Scotch whisky last month.

The new Port Charlotte bottling was distilled in 2010 from a 2009 crop of Scottish barley. The distillate was first filled into ex-Bourbon, ex-Syrah and ex-vin doux naturel casks.

The liquid was then transferred into Fernando de Castilla’s oloroso hogsheads in 2018.

For more information, click here.

Kavalan Distillery Select No. 2

Taiwan’s leading distiller, Kavalan, unveiled the second whisky in its Distillery Select series last month.

The newly formed Distillery Select Series is described as the “first entry-level whisky range that offers a superior art of blending”.

The second whisky in the series is described as “deeply aromatic with an irresistible floral and herbal complexity, blending woody and spicy notes in rich layers”. It will soon be released globally.

For more information, click here.

WhistlePig Home Stock

Home Stock is the first variant from Vermont producer WhistlePig’s portfolio that stretches outside of the rye category with the addition of wheat and barley whiskeys.

The limited edition bottling was created through a virtual crowd-blending experience by delivering hundreds of WhistlePig ‘Blend Your Own’ whiskey kits to members of subscription service Flaviar.

Consumers were asked to experiment at home with the blending kits before submitting their preferred recipe. The winning style, with 44.1% of the votes, was Blend Number 3, which consisted of 45% rye, 30% wheat and 25% barley.

For more information, click here.