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Top 10 spirits launches in October 2020

From rock band Kiss’ move into rum to a Finnish rye whiskey created in commemoration of the first Moomins book, there were a number of new products for spirits fans to get excited about last month.

A rare Irish whiskey bottling and a botanical rum were among our top new spirits in October

Whisky dominated our pick of top new spirits last month with bottlings from Midleton, Teeling and Bowmore.

American band Kiss made its debut in the spirits category with a new rum, while a recently opened microdistillery in London unveiled a botanical rum as its first release.

In Finland, Kyrö Distillery Company teamed up with Moomin Characters to create a special batch of Moomin rye whiskey, with only six bottles available to the public.

Click through the following pages to discover our favourite spirits launches from last month.

Kiss Black Diamond rum

Rock band Kiss became the latest musicians to move into the spirits industry last month.

The American band announced a partnership with Swedish firm Brands for Fans to create a new line of spirits.

Kiss Black Diamond rum is the first of two spirits to be released as part of the collaboration this year. It is made using a blend of Caribbean rums aged for up to 15 years and named after the final track on the band’s debut album, Kiss.

For more information, click here.

Rosebank 30 Year Old

The iconic Rosebank distillery, which has been revived by Ian Macleod Distillers, unveiled a 30-year-old whisky to mark a new chapter in the Lowland site’s legacy.

The new Rosebank 30 Year Old is a hand selected vintage from 1990, three years before the distillery’s closure. It is the first expression in a new series of annual limited edition releases.

Only 4,350 bottles of Rosebank 30 Year Old will be available to buy globally, priced at £1,600 (US$2,100).

For more information, click here.

Fizzy Favourites

Dutch producer De Kuyper expanded its presence in the burgeoning ready-to-drink category with the launch of a new liqueur-based range.

The Fizzy Favourites line consists of three canned products: Fizzy Strawberry, Fizzy Passionfruit and Fizzy Watermelon. The ready-to-drink variants come in 250ml slimline cans with an ABV of 4.5%.

Each expression combines a De Kuyper liqueur with sparkling water and citrus fruit. De Kuyper said the new range taps into the trend for high quality, convenience and low-alcohol.

For more information, click here.

Midleton Very Rare 2020

Every year Irish whiskey enthusiasts await the release of the annual Midleton Very Rare bottling. This year’s edition was the last to be created by Brian Nation, who hand selected the whiskeys during his final days as master distiller.

Midleton Very Rare 2020 showcases single pot still and single grain whiskeys aged from 13 to 35 years in lightly charred ex-Bourbon American oak barrels.

For the 37th Very Rare bottling, Nation selected a higher pot still inclusion when compared to previous vintages, while also increasing the use of refill barrels among his choice of casks.

For more information, click here.

Moominpapa’s Bounty of the Sea whisky

Fans of the Moomins were able to buy a Finnish rye whisky created to honour the 75th anniversary of Tove Jansson’s first book, The Moomins and the Great Flood.

The Kyrö Distillery Company partnered with Moomin Characters to create the special batch of Moomin rye whiskey.

Only two bottles of the whisky went on sale through online auction house Lauritz last month. There are further four bottles up for grabs, but details on when they will be released have not yet been disclosed.

All profits from the six bottles will be donated to the Our Sea campaign, which seeks to protect the Baltic Sea and its heritage.

For more information, click here.

Market Row Botanical Rum

Market Row Botanical Rum is the first release from a new London-based microdistillery, founded by two former Pernod Ricard executives.

The Brixton Distillery Company was the brainchild of Laurent Lacassagne, former chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers, and Patrick Venning, previous Chivas Brothers marketing director.

The site’s inaugural release is a blend of Jamaican, Bajan and Dominican aged pot still rums from five distilleries, which have been infused with Kenyan black tea, Nigerian hibiscus and red rose from Pakistan. The rum was re-distilled in Brixton and aged in ex-Bourbon barrels.

For more information, click here.

Waterford Organic: Gaia 1.1

Last month, Waterford Distillery released what is thought to be Ireland’s first organic-certified whiskey.

Distilled in 2016, the new Organic: Gaia 1.1 whiskey is made with organic Irish barley grown by a group of farmers. The single malt has been certified by Ireland’s Organic Trust.

The new whiskey has been matured in super-premium oak barrels, comprising: 42% first-fill American oak, 17% virgin American oak, 23% premium French oak and 18% vin doux naturel, known as sweet fortified wine casks.

For more information, click here.

Crystal Head Onyx

Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Head brand sought to push boundaries last month with the release of an agave-based vodka.

Crystal Head Onyx is made from Blue Weber agave, sourced from a single farm in Mexico.

Like the rest of the Crystal Head range, Onyx is blended with water from Newfoundland, Canada, and filtered through more than 10,000 herkimer diamonds.

For more information, click here.

Bowmore 30 Year Old

Islay Scotch whisky Bowmore launched a limited edition 30-year-old single malt last month, which will be released annually.

The liquid used to make the single malt will be selected from just two casks each year. The inaugural release comprises whisky distilled in 1989 that has matured for three decades in Sherry hogsheads and Bourbon barrels.

Bottled at a cask strength of 45.3% ABV, the new expression is said to be “defined, shaped and crafted by time”.

For more information, click here.

Teeling Blackpitts

Blackpitts is Dublin-based Teeling distillery’s first peated single malt and is said to be one of very few peated single malt whiskeys currently available in Ireland.

The whiskey was made using barley that had been dried over smoke created by burning peat or turf. The method was extensively used in Ireland before coal became widely available in the whiskey industry.

Teeling said its Blackpitts whiskey is unique due to its triple distillation process, which provides more barbecue smoke characteristics. The whiskey was matured in both ex-Bourbon and ex-Sauternes white wine casks.

For more information, click here.

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