Top 10 spirit launches in March 2014
From Irish to American, Japanese to Scottish, whisky dominated the spirits scene last month with a host of pioneering new releases.
This is our pick of the top 10 spirit launches in March 2014While a Diageo Scotch brand stepped into controversial flavoured territory, Ardbeg announced a new limited edition release to celebrate the World Cup and Jack Daniel’s road tested a new flavour.
March also saw Campari move forward with its brown spirit ambitions by unveiling its oldest and most expensive whisky ever. Retailer and bottler Master of Malt also demonstrated some serious age credentials by releasing a particularly old Scotch with a jaw-droppingly reasonable price.
Highland Scotch brand anCnoc moved into peat for the first time with the launch of a new collection and Nikka Japanese whisky steamed into the no-age-statement trend.
There was also a peppering of creative white spirit releases last month, most notably by Smirnoff and craft brand Dodd’s Gin.
Click through the following pages to see our list of the top 10 spirit launches in March 2014.
J&B Urban Honey
Last month, Diageo took the pioneering, if controversial, step of announcing the launch J&B Urban Honey – a combination Scotch whisky and honey flavours.
Labelled clearly as a “spirit drink”, the new release follows in the footsteps of Bacardi’s Dewar’s Highlander Honey, and a small number of other flavoured “Scotch” products.
Such releases have been met with a contentious reception since according to guidelines by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and EU law state no other ingredients except caramel colouring and water can be added to Scotch whisky.
Diageo has therefore claimed to ensure that the new release is differentiated from its parent J&B brand “with the use of a honeycomb pattern, a city skyline illustration and a prominent ‘bee’ illustration”.
For more information, click here.
Glen Grant 50 Year Old
First launched in Hong Kong duty free at the end of the month, Glen Grant 50 Year Old is the oldest and most expensive whisky to ever be released by Italian drinks group Gruppo Campari.
Only 150 bottles of the expression, which carries and RRP of €10,000, will be have been planned for global release.
Bottled at 54% abv, the expression is described as possessing notes of “caramel sultana and apricot” on the nose, and flavours of “sweet sherry, oranges and apples”.
Following on from its Hong Kong launch, the expression will later roll out across Asia duty free and then internationally across other travel retail and domestic markets.
For more information, click here.
Ardbeg Auriverdes
In March, LVMH-owned Ardbeg revealed its highly anticipated latest limited edition – called Ardbeg Auriverdes – which pays homage to the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
Auriverdes adopts the nickname of the Brazil’s national football team and also celebrates Ardbeg’s Peat Football tournament, inspired by the World Cup.
The title of the whisky is also said to derive from the colour of the golden whisky (auri) in Ardbeg’s iconic green bottle (verde).
Matured in American oak casks with differently toasted lids – said to produce both “coffee mocha” and “creamy vanilla” flavours – the new release is bottled at 49.9% abv and will carry an RRP of £79.99 when it rolls out on “Ardbeg Day”, 31 May.
For more information, click here.
Master of Malt 60 Year Old Speyside
Master of Malt caused a stir among Scotch aficionados last month when it unveiled a 60-year-old Scotch whisky, costing just £1,000.
The Speyside single malt, from an unnamed distillery, is part of the retailer’s Secret Bottlings series, which already includes 30-, 40- and 50-year-old bottlings.
Whisky fans were left open-mouthed at the announcement that the expression is priced at £999.95 for a 700ml bottle – markedly less expensive than others available of the same age.
Master of Malt has also bottled a series of 30ml samples for £52.93 each.
For more information, click here.
Smirnoff White
Diageo unveiled Smirnoff White last month, the group’s biggest ever travel retail launch which has been described as a “pioneering new vodka variant”.
The new expression has been freeze filtered at -6°C and passed through modern charcoal filters – a process described as a “true revolution in Smirnoff’s distillation process”.
Part of the group’s wider strategy of premiumisation, Smirnoff White is a “major investment by Diageo in the white spirits category”.
Smirnoff White (41.3% abv) will be available in travel retail outlets worldwide from July 2014 at an RRP of £21 per litre.
For more information, click here.
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire
Last month, Brown-Forman revealed that it was planning to road test a new cinnamon whiskey liqueur, part of the Jack Daniel’s trademark, across three US states in April.
The new expression, called Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire, is being launched off the back of widespread success of Jack Daniel’s Honey, as well as the popularity of the flavoured whiskey category in the US.
It follows the success of flavoured variants Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and Winter Jack – honey and apple-flavoured whiskeys.
The abv blend will be trialled in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
For more information, click here.
Teeling 26 and 30 Year Olds
Irish whiskey bottlers The Teeling Whiskey Company released two super-premium expressions in March, a 26-year-old and 30-year-old expression.
The Teeling 26 Year Old has been aged for 25 years in ex-Bourbon casks, and given a further 11-month maturation in white Burgundy barrels before being bottled at 46% abv. Just 1,000 bottles of the expression will be released with an RRP of £385.
The Teeling 30 Year Old has been aged solely in ex-Bourbon casks and bottled at the same strength. Only 220 bottles will be available, with an RRP of £1,500, making the expression the rarest and most valuable in the Teeling Irish Whiskey range to date.
Both editions are non-chill filtered and were launched in the UK, Germany, France, Ireland and international travel retail.
For more information, click here.
Suntory’s new Yamazaki and Hakushu whiskies
Suntory claimed to be “challenging the status quo” of Japanese whisky by releasing two new no-age-statement whiskies from its Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries.
Yamakazi Distiller’s Reserve is comprised of liquid aged in sherry casks, mizunara casks, French oak Bordeaux wine casks and American oak casks. Blended by Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo, the 43% abv whisky is described as having notes of strawberry, cherry and mizunara on the nose, and flavours of raspberry, peach and coconut.
Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve uses a young lightly peated malt along with a heavily peated and 18-year-old American oak whisky in its blend. Also blended by Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo and bottled at 43% abv, the whisky is described as having notes of peppermint, melon and cucumber on the nose, and flavours of yuzu, grapefruit and lemon thyme.
Both expressions will launch in the UK in April at an RRP of £42.
For more information, click here.
Dodd’s Gin Fortnum’s Edition
To mark the first anniversary of Dodd’s Gin, The London Distillery Company revealed a limited edition bottling for exclusive sale in luxury London retailer Fortnum & Mason.
Dodd’s Gin Fortnum’s Edition is a new recipe created through the experimentation with teas, spices and other botanicals available at Fortnum & Mason.
The limited edition also features a unique bottle design created in collaboration with the retailer. Each bottle, of which there are only 300 available, has been hand labelled and numbered and features an exclusive design by agency United Creatives.
Available from 2 April, Dodd’s Gin Fortnum’s Edition will carry an RRP of £39.50 as Spirit of the Month, after which it will retail for £42.50.
For more information, click here.
anCnoc peated whisky series
anCnoc announced that it had made its first foray in peated whisky last month with the unveiling of a collection of three limited edition peated single malts.
The bottles, called Rutter, Flaughter and Tushkar, are named after the traditional tools used to cut peat, which also feature on the collection’s packaging.
anCnoc project manager Stephanie Bridge said the collection represented the distillery’s “mission to bring our very modern take on the world of peated whisky to our drinkers”.
Bottled at 46% abv, the whiskies will be available through independent and specialist retailers from April and will sit alongside anCnoc’s core range.
For more information, click here.
