A few weeks ago, we shared news of a collaboration between Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen and California’s Savage & Cooke on a new bourbon called Digits. Since then, Whisky Advocate had the chance to speak to Pippen about developing his palate, working with wine and whiskey maker Dave Phinney, and what it’s been like sharing a dram with fans.
There are a few new bourbons this week as well, in addition to other releases. Basil Hayden pairs a new brown rice mashbill with a special cask finish for Toast, Heaven Hill announces the Fall 2021 release of its Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, and Kansas City’s J. Rieger Co. enters the bottled in bond space with a rye whiskey. Read on for full details.
Basil Hayden Toast
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
ABV: 40%
Price: $50
Release: August 2021
Availability: Nationwide
Need to know:
Unlike other Basil Hayden bourbons, Toast is made with U.S.-grown brown rice, and undergoes secondary finishing in a toasted barrel. After aging, the toasted brown rice is blended back with more brown rice bourbon which has been rested in level four char barrels.
Whisky Advocate says:
This whiskey features not just a new mashbill, but a new look for Basil Hayden as well. Toast marks the debut of a design-forward packaging update that elevates Basil Hayden’s signature look—the monogrammed belt, which is a nod to the metal hoops that encircle bourbon barrels. Gone is the paper sleeve that previously covered the bottle.
Toast also joins a growing contingent of whiskies aged in toasted barrels from the likes of Elijah Craig and others. For more insight on the difference between charring, toasting, seasoning, and other barrel treatments, we’ve got you covered.
Old Fitzgerald 11 year old Bottled in Bond (Fall 2021)
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: 11 years
ABV: 50%
Price: $110
Release: August 2021
Availability: Limited
Need to know:
The Fall 2021 release of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond is comprised of barrels produced in spring 2010 and bottled in spring 2021. Barrels were pulled from rickhouse EE for what is the second 11 year old release from Old Fitz, the first one having debuted in spring 2018.
Whisky Advocate says:
Few bourbon releases are as consistently great or collectible as Old Fitzgerald. The Spring 2021 release, announced back in April, was bottled at 8 years, the youngest ever for this line, with a suggested price of $85.
J. Rieger Bottled in Bond
Style: Straight rye
Origin: Missouri
Age: Not stated
ABV: 50%
Price: $50
Release: August 2021
Availability: 6,000 bottles
Need to know:
This is a pot distilled rye with a 96% rye and 4% malted barley mashbill. Barreled in fall of 2015, it’s nearly 6 years old, two years older than the 4 year old minimum required of bottled in bond whiskeys.
Whisky Advocate says:
This marks the first whiskey legally distilled in Kansas City, Missouri since Prohibition, as well as the first whiskey distilled by J. Rieger & Co. in almost a century. Distillery co-founder Ryan Maybee says the new whiskey is a tribute to late master distiller Dave Pickerell, who mentored the J. Rieger & Co. team prior to his passing.
GlenAllachie 11 year old Grattamacco Wine Finish
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age 11 year old
ABV: 48%
Price: $110
Release: Late July
Availablity: 900 bottles for the U.S.
Need to know:
This whisky was matured in Speyside in bourbon barrels, and then finished for nearly two years in Grattamacco wine barrels. Grattamacco is a winery located in the Bolgheri region of Tuscany, and works with grape varieties including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, sangiovese, petit verdot, and vermentino.
GlenAllachie 13 year old Rioja Wine Finish
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 13 year old
ABV: 48%
Price: $120
Release: Late July
Availability: 900 bottles for the U.S.
Need to know:
This second U.S. release in GlenAllachie’s wine cask-finished series was also matured in Speyside in bourbon barrels, and then finished in Spanish oak barriques from an undisclosed winery in Spain’s Rioja wine region. The finishing for this expression also lasted almost two years.
Whisky Advocate says:
The cask selections for both these whiskies were made by GlenAllachie master distiller and lead investor Billy Walker, who acquired GlenAllachie in 2017 from Chivas Bros. which is owned by France’s Pernod Ricard. (Walker previously was the lead investor in Speyside distilleries GlenDronach, BenRiach, and Glenglassaugh distilleries, before selling them to Brown-Forman in 2016.) In addition to these two expressions, GlenAllachie’s Wine Cask Finishes series includes a 12 year old Sauternes cask-finished expression that has yet to be released stateside.
Kinsey Pot Distilled Straight Wheat
Style: Straight wheat
Origin: Pennsylvania
Age: 2 years
ABV: 47.5%
Price: $40
Release: July 2021
Availability: New Liberty Distillery or online for shipping within Pennsylvania
Need to know:
This whiskey was made from a mash bill of 73% wheat and 27% malted barley, pot distilled, and aged for two years in highly seasoned new char American oak barrels. Seasoning is the act of drying the wood after it has been harvested, typically outside, where they are exposed to the elements, for six to 24 months or longer.
Kinsey Chardonnay Cask Finished
Style: American Whiskey
Origin: Pennsylvania
Age: Not stated
ABV: 40%
Price: $40
Release: July 2021
Availability: New Liberty Distillery or online for shipping within Pennsylvania
Need to know:
Made from a mashbill of 99% corn and 1% malted barley, this whiskey was aged for four years before being finished in California chardonnay barrels for approximately one year.
Whisky Advocate says:
Pennsylvania was once an epicenter for rye whiskey, with brands like Old Overholt and the style of Monongahela rye defining the region. Times have changed, but Philadelphia’s New Liberty Distillery is helping to put the state back on the whiskey map, expanding its portfolio with these two releases which offer mashbills and cask treatments you may not find elsewhere.
