Top 50 innovative spirits launches of 2025: 20-11
As we get closer to discovering 2025’s most innovative spirit, the techniques, ingredients and production processes seen in positions 20-11 are tipping the scales of innovation into mind-blowing territory.
In yesterday’s countdown (7 January), we journeyed to the top of the world for the ingredients of one particular spirit, while in today’s list, we’re heading to the depths of one of Scotland’s most famous lochs for some particularly innovative ageing techniques.
Playing catchup with our countdown? You’ll find the products that landed at 50-41 here, and 40-31 here.
20. Archie Rose x Saint Peter Gin
Australian distillery Archie Rose partnered with Sydney-based seafood restaurant Saint Peter to make a gin distilled with the carcasses of John Dory fish. Before the fish is used in the gin, it was dried in-house at the restaurant over woodfire for 24 hours, then dehydrated with salt.
19. Devil’s Botany Wormwood Vodka
London absinthe distillery Devil’s Botany used British-grown grand wormwood (artemisia absinthium) to create a small batch vodka, thought to be a first for the UK. It was an intriguing move by the distillery to explore an ingredient not often explored outside of the realms of absinthe or vermouth.
18. Domhayn DLNABK
The Scottish spirits brand submerged spirit-filled casks approximately 214 metres below the waters of Loch Ness. The hydrostatic pressure triggers an interaction between the wood and spirit, which Domhayn said subtly alters the spirit’s molecular profile.
17. Gabriel Boudier Sweet Woodruff Liqueur
Woodruff is an undergrowth flower that displays notes of freshly cut grass, sweet almond, and biscuits. To make the liqueur, woodruff is macerated for five weeks in a hydroalcoholic solution. The recipe also includes a green tea infusion. The liqueur is offered at 22% ABV.
16. Dewar’s Double Double 21 Years Old Magma Stone Toasted
Have you heard of casks that were toasted with hot Icelandic magma stones? Neither had we until the launch of this Scotch whisky from Dewar’s, which signalled a first for the category. The experimental toasting method used a rotating metal cylinder inside the cask to slowly toast the barrel’s surface and open the oak’s pores. The heat for this process is radiated by Icelandic magma rock inside the vessel. In this instance, the method was used on virgin French oak casks to finish the whisky.
Tasting notes include cinnamon, cloves, creamy caramel, and baked apples, with toasted cereal and refined oak on the finish. Dewar’s Double Double 21 Years Old Magma Stone Toasted clocks in at 46% ABV.
15. 58 and Co Shōchū
Taking inspiration from Japan, London distillery 58 and Co created its own limited edition shōchūs. The spirits were made using repurposed byproducts from sake production, sourced from British sake brand Kanpai. To make the first expression, Shōchū Kasu 2021, 58 and Co took a blend of sake kasu (fermented rice sols that are pressed to leave clear sake), which was repurposed from several productions of Kanpai’s brewing during the 2020/2021 brewing season.
58 and Co received the kasu in 2021, and matured it before distilling at high pressure and high heat to produce a low-yield and highly concentrated shōchū. It was then aged in a neutral vessel for three years before it was diluted to 25% ABV and bottled. Stablemate Shōchū Tori 2023 was made using sake kasu from Kanpai’s ultra-premium Tori ‘Bird’ Junmai Daiginjo Sake.
14. Godawan 173
Diageo launched the first Indian single malt finished in a liqueur cask in September last year. The single malt whisky is made with Indian six-row barley, and is double-distilled in copper pot stills. The whisky was matured for more than nine years in ex-Bourbon, oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks, and Asha liqueur casks.
Asha was originally created by Thakur Karni Singh Ji of Mahanser more than 100 years ago. The Sal wood casks were seasoned with 42 ingredients, including fresh fruit, spices, dry fruits, botanicals, honey, and milk. Godawan 173 is bottled at 46% ABV. The whisky brand also works to support the great Indian bustard bird.
13. Hello Soju
Hailing from California in the US, Hello Soju launched with the goal of creating an approachable expression of Korea’s national drink. Hello Soju is created in small batches from non-GMO sticky rice grown in the Sacramento Valley. It is fermented for five to seven days before being distilled in copper pots using traditional Korean methods.
The flagship soju from the brand is bottled at 33% ABV. It is described as citrus-forward, layered with notes of rice, plus fruit such as honey and melon. “Hello Soju’s premium profile offers a smooth, innovative alternative to neutral spirits, making it easy for spirits enthusiasts and bartenders alike to craft creative riffs on familiar cocktails,” noted Elisabeth Baron, CEO of Hello Soju. “Soju has long been Korea’s most beloved spirit and is poised for a new chapter.”
12. Seven Islands Pure Malt Whisky
Indian company Tilaknagar Industries debuted an Indo-Scottish whisky in November, Seven Islands Pure Malt Whisky. The release is a blend of four single malts that have been sourced from India and Scotland. Two of the Indian single malts came from the foothills of the Himalayas and the Vindhya Range of India. The two Scottish whiskies came from Speyside and the Lowlands.
The whisky is described as having aromas of tropical fruit, dried nuts, and hints of French and American oak, layered with Indian spice, while the palate is said to taste of dried fruit, soft spice, and a touch of smoke. Seven Islands Pure Malts sits at 42.8% ABV.
11. Compass Box Scot-Free
When the English Whisky Guild announced it was nearing the finish line of establishing a geographical indication for the category, there was some pushback from the Scotch Whisky Association specifically relating to the definition of single malts. As the debate waged on, Compass Box created the first English vatted malt whisky, titled Scot-Free, which combined whiskies from six English distilleries: Copper Rivet Distillery, Cotswolds Distillery, East London Liquor Co, Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery, The English Distillery, and White Peak Distillery.
Only 61 bottles of the 48.7% ABV whisky were made available, representing the number of English whisky distilleries in production at the time. James Saxon, Compass Box’s lead whisky maker, said: “Scot-Free is our tribute to the bold, brilliant rise of English whisky.”
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