The biggest spirits launches of 2013
The spirits industry stepped up its game in 2013, with hundreds of innovative and ground-breaking expressions launched throughout the year.
Bailey’s Chocolat Luxe, a blend of Belgian chocolate and Irish whiskey, was one new expression launched in 2013In 2012, the spirits industry was dominated by a plethora of celebrity-endorsed releases and the business began its rapid foray into the flavoured market.
However, last year saw an all-the-more diverse and exciting array of spirits launched, from “the world’s best whisky” and barrel-aged gin, to sipping rums and a liqueur made from real melted chocolate.
Looking at those releases which pioneered a significant trend for the year or which made a notable difference in the field, we round up our pick of the biggest spirits launches of 2013.
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Glenmorangie Ealanta
Named the world’s best whisky by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible 2014, limited edition single malt Ealanta scored 97.5 points out of 100 for giving “an aroma and taste profile completely new to me (Murray) in over 30 years of tasting whisky”.
Aged for 19 years in virgin American white oak casks sourced from trees grown in the Mark Twain National Forest, and bottled at 46% abv, Glenmorangie Ealanta is described by Murray as having “one of the longest finishes of any Scotch this year… and borderline perfection”.
The Scotch is bottled at 46% abv and retails for £74.99.
Read more about the launch of Glenmorangie Ealanta here.
The Facundo Rum Collection
Bacardi made the bold move of targeting Cognac and whisky drinkers in November with the launch of a collection of aged rums designed for sipping, called The Facundo Rum Collection.
The collection consists of Neo, a carbon-filtered blended white rum which is made with spirits aged up to eight years, Eximo, an expression which has been blended before a 10-year ageing process in American oak, Exquisito, made from seven to 23-year-old rums and finished in Sherry casks, and finally sitting at the summit of the range is Paraiso, a rum which is aged for up to 23 years and finished in Cognac casks.
The bottles are priced between US$45 and US$250.
Read more about the launch of The Facundo Rum Collection here
Dodd’s gin
Indicative of the growing craze for craft London gin, Dodd’s Gin is the first product released by The London Distillery Company, based in Battersea.
Distilled using organic botanicals including juniper, angelica, lime peel, bay laurel, cardamom, red raspberry leaf and London honey, the gin is non-chill filtered.
Bottled at 49.9% abv, Dodd’s Gin retails for £36.95.
Read more about the launch of Dodd’s Gin here.
Dewar’s Highlander Honey
Bacardi controversially released the world’s first flavoured Scotch whisky after noticing unparalleled success for the flavoured Bourbon category.
Priced at a slight premium to Dewar’s White Label, the honey whisky marks the first foray into the flavoured whiskey category by a Scotch brand, much to the discontent of the Scotch Whisky Association.
Arvind Krishnan, vice president, brand managing director for Dewar’s said: “Younger consumers are migrating to Bourbon because of all the energy and excitement the flavors have created, and I think Scotch brands can do the same for their category.”
Read more about the launch of Dewar’s Highlander Honey here.
Beefeater Burrough’s Reserve
In a bid to “redefine the gin category” Chivas Brothers created Beefeater Burrough’s Reserve, an ultra-premium sipping gin matured in Jean de Lillet oak barrels.
Based on a recipe developed by Beefeater founder James Burrough in the 1860s, Burrough’s Reserve is hand crafted using the distiller’s original copper ‘Still Number 12’, which has a small capacity of 268 litres.
Current master distiller Desmond Payne has recreated the gin from Burrough’s original recipe to create a gin with a pale gold appearance and slight oaky character.
Bottled at 43% abv, Beefeater Burrough’s Reserve was initially launched in Spain, followed by the UK and US.
Read more about the launch of Beefeater Burrough’s Reserve here.
The Famous Grouse 40 Year Old
Whisky aficionados the world over celebrated the announcement that The Famous Grouse planned to launch its oldest and most exclusive edition to date – a 40-year-old blended Scotch whisky.
Composed by a blend of whiskies from four Sherry casks, the Scotch is described as having an “intensely fruity, fragrant and slightly spicy” flavour with notes of “ripe mango, crushed coriander, cardamom and dill” on the nose with “banana and citrus along with gingerbread and a light peat smoke” on the palate.
Officially released released in July, this limited edition blend was bottled at 47.3% abv and retails for £2.000.
Read more about the launch of The Famous Grouse 40 Year Old here.
Bailey’s Chocolat Luxe
The much-maligned brand announced that it had taken the “ground breaking” step of marrying real chocolate with Irish whiskey for its Chocolat Luxe bottling, exciting chocolate enthusiasts the world-over.
A luxurious blend of Belgian chocolate, cream and Irish whiskey which took three years to develop, the new expression was designed to replicate the experience of drinking melted chocolate.
Bottled at 15.7%, Bailey’s Chocolat Luxe was released across Western Europe in October.
Read more about the launch of Bailey’s Chocolat Luxe here.
Wild Turkey 101 Rye
Following a wide-reaching campaign led by American bartender Erick Castro, Campari brought Wild Turkey 101 Rye to back bar shelves across the country.
Stock shortages coupled with an unexpectedly high demand saw Wild Turkey 101 Rye leave the US market for around a year. However a band of bartenders and consumers took to Facebook, with Castro creating the fan page “Bring Back Wild Turkey 101 Rye”.
The 50.5% abv rye whiskey was made available in limited quantities.
Read more about the launch of Wild Turkey 101 Rye here.
The Macallan M
Labelled the “pinnacle” of The Macallan’s popular no-age-statement 1824 series, The Macallan M launched in Hong Kong in May.
Created through a partnership between The Macallan distillers, Lalique, and creative director Fabien Baron, the bottle’s launch also coincided with the marketing initiative called The Macallan’s Six Pillars.
Bottled at 44.7% abv, The Macallan M retails for £3,000.
Read more about the launch of The Macallan M here.
Bulldog Bold
Following the trend for spirits with strong alcohol content, trendy US gin-brand-of-the-moment Bulldog London Dry Gin unveiled a higher abv expression in November.
Contained in a sleeker bottle topped with an eye-catching spiked dog collar, the stronger Bulldog gin has been created from 12 different botanicals including dragon eye, white poppy, liquorice and juniper.
Described as “bolder and fuller in flavour”, Bulldog Bold is bottled at 47% abv, while the abv of the original gin is 40%.
