A Hot Summer For New Whiskeys

By Richard Thomas

Although the hot summer weather might not be ideal in terms of sipping on a fine whisk(e)y, that does not translate into it being a slow season for new whiskey releases. This summer is no exception, but is instead exceptional. A clutch of new, noteworthy bourbons are in the pipeline, as well as other American Whiskeys, Scotch Whiskies and a couple of very interesting expressions from France and Japan. What is more, none of the bottles profiled here are from the unobtainable-except-for-multi-millionaires category: all price tags are in the two- and three-figure range.

Bourbon

King of Kentucky: This initial offering in a new annual series, it’s a 14 year old, cask strength whiskey from a production run of less than a thousand bottles. If you are a fan of woody bourbon, you should prioritize picking up a bottle if you can get it for the $200 asking price; bourbon of this type don’t grow on trees anymore.

Jefferson’s Ocean Voyage 15: This latest installment in the Jefferson’s Bourbon series that ages whiskey at sea uses wheated bourbon. Our reviewer gave it very high marks, praising in particular the way the sea maturation-derived saline notes combined with the softer, “wheater” profile. At $80, it’s a real bargain.

Master’s Keep Revival: This third iteration from Wild Turkey Master Distiller Eddie Russell’s personal series, and was inspired by Wild Turkey Sherry Signature, an expression from a decade and a half ago. First, Eddie is said to have personally tracked down Sherry butts that had been aging the fortified wine for 20 years. Into these prime, deeply seasoned vessels, so prized by the Scotch and Irish industries, he put a blend of 12 to 15 year old bourbon. This promises to be the new reigning king of Sherry-finished bourbons, and should that be your thing, paying $150 a bottle is pretty fair.

Old Forester President’s Choice: Launched to coincide with the grand opening of Old Forester’s new home on Louisville’s Whiskey Row. This brand revival is a single barrel, with each barrel is selected by company chief Campbell Brown and Master Taster Jackie Zykan. The age will hover around eight years old and the proof sit in a high octane (but not actually cask strength) range of 110 to 120, this priced at $90 a bottle.

Russell’s Reserve 2002: Part of what makes this summer so special is that Wild Turkey has not one, but two strong limited edition releases out. Following up on the popular Russell’s Reserve 1998, this 2002 vintage release stands as the first non-chill filtered, cask strength whiskey from Wild Turkey. Eddie Russell picked out 25 barrels for use in this expression, aged 15 years and sitting at 114.6 proof after blending. The price tag is pretty steep at $250, but I doubt that will deter collectors and Wild Turkey fans.

Rye

Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Rye: Although 10 years isn’t a particularly high age statement for limited release American Whiskeys, even in an era when said age statements are falling off regular releases, the Michter’s 10 Year Old Rye has a long standing reputation for outstanding quality. Older ryes are harder to get and more expensive than comparable bourbons to begin with, and this one in particular has a well-deserved reputation for delivering on its price tag, year after year. Officially it’s $160 a bottle, while market value is about $290. If you can get it at its recommended retail price, count yourself lucky.

American Malts

Woodford Reserve Malt Whiskey: Woodford Reserves latest regular brand extension takes it into the burgeoning category of American Malts. For Woodford Reserve, this is such a natural move that one wonders what took them so long. I say that because the distillery uses an Irish-style, triple set of copper pot stills, and has used them since the mid-1990s. This release follows a Distiller’s Select limited edition American Malt from two years ago, is bottled at 90.4 proof, and will fetch $35 a bottle.

Internationals

Armorik Triagoz: Warenghem Distillery, arguably the best whisky distillery in whisky-loving France, has released its first peated single malt. Named from a chain of islands off the coast of Brittany, the Celtic region that hosts Warenghem, Armorik Triagoz is priced at $75 a bottle. About an eighth of the 2,000 bottle production run is coming to the U.S.

Nikka From The Barrel: Japanese Whisky is getting rarer and dearer, so a batch of this reasonably priced, much-loved import washing up on store shelves should be met with joy and relief by world whisky fans. A blend of more than 100 different batches of malt whisky and grain whisky produced at Nikka’s Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries, and aged in multiple types of ex-Bourbon barrels and puncheons, ex-sherry butts, refilled, recharred and remade hogsheads. Coming in at 51.4% ABV, this whisky will fetch $65 and go into distribution in the U.S. in August.

Scotch

Balvenie Tun 1509: The latest batch of this much-loved expression is out. This installment draws on 29 different casks selected by David Stewart, the contents of which are blended and married in a tun. It’s priced at $400 a bottle, a very real reflection of just how prized it is.

GlenAllachie Whiskies: Heretofore, this distillery’s production has principally gone to provide blending stock for Chivas Regal, so if any has been available in its own right, it has been from independent bottlers. That has been due to change since last year, when the distillery was bought from Pernod Ricard. Now a new GlenAllachie line is coming out, anchored on a 12 year old and including 10 year old cask strength, 18 year old and 25 year old single malt expressions.

Highland Park The Light: The counterpart to The Dark, which came out several months ago, this is a quirky 17 year old single malt: it’s drawn entirely from refill Sherry casks made from American oak (not European oak). As a very Sherried, middle aged single malt, the $300 price tag follows as a matter of course.