As sure as crocuses and daffodils bloom in early spring, new whiskies are sprouting up left and right.
First up, Compass Box is releasing its latest limited-edition blended malt, Menagerie. There are 7,741 bottles available, priced at $120 in the U.S.
The 2021 bottling of Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Batch Proof is hitting shelves with a suggested price of $130. It is, as always, available in limited amounts.
Barrell’s newest blend of ryes is called Seagrass. It’s available in limited amounts, priced at $90.
Blood Oath bourbon is rolling out Pact No. 7. Priced at $100, there are 51,000 bottles available.
Lowlands scotch distillery Bladnoch has debuted its 29 year old Bicentennial single malt in the U.S. There are just 200 bottles available, priced at $7,500.
Virginia Distillery Co. is launching three new versions of its Courage & Conviction single malt, each focused on one of the cask types that’s used in the flagship whiskey: bourbon, sherry, and cuvée. The whiskeys are priced at $85, with 2,760 bottles of each available in the first batch.
GlenAllachie Distillery has bottled a single cask, filled in 2006 and transferred to a port pipe after 12 years, exclusively for the U.S. market. The 14 year old single malt is priced at $175, with 335 bottles available.
Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co. is offering a bottled in bond single-barrel bourbon. Priced at $50, it’s available in Texas only.
Finally, Bend, Oregon’s Crater Lake Spirits is releasing a straight rye made from estate-grown grain. The whiskey is priced at $55, with just under 1,000 bottles for sale in Oregon.
Read on for full details.
Compass Box Menagerie
Style: Blended malt
Origin: Scotland
Age: Not stated
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $120
Release: April 2021
Availability: 7,741 bottles worldwide
Need to know:
This blend features malts from four distilleries—Mortlach, Deanston, Laphroaig, and Glen Elgin—along with Compass Box’s house Highland blended malt. As with all the company’s whiskies, full details (minus age) are available on its website.
Whisky Advocate says:
Compass Box founder John Glaser joined Whisky Advocate‘s Instagram Live series, #TasteWithSpace, a couple of months ago to talk about blending and the philosophy that drives Compass Box: “To make your drinking life more interesting.” Check out the full interview on IGTV.
Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Batch Proof (2021 Release)
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
Proof: 64.15% ABV
Price: $130
Release: March 2021
Availability: Limited edition
Need to know:
Released annually in the spring, this limited-edition Woodford Reserve is bottled at barrel strength—this year, 128.3 proof.
Whisky Advocate says:
The first release of Batch Proof was outstanding, scoring 94 points and winning the No.-6 spot in the 2019 Top 20, and the 2020 followup proved itself an equal. If you haven’t yet tasted barrel-proof Woodford Reserve, you may be surprised!
Barrell Seagrass
Style: Finished rye
Origin: Multiple
Age: Not stated
Proof: 59.2% ABV
Price: $90
Release: March 2021
Availability: Limited edition
Need to know:
This whiskey features a blend of ryes from the U.S. and Canada, each finished in a different cask: the Canadian rye goes into apricot brandy, the Indiana rye into malmsey madeira, and a blend of ryes from multiple states and Canada into Martinique rhum agricole casks. Each finished component was blended again after the finishing period, then those blends were used to make the final recipe for Seagrass, along with a small amount of unfinished rye to adjust for balance and mouthfeel.
Whisky Advocate says:
If that blending process seems complicated to you, that’s because it is: Barrell does nothing simply. Blending is the heart of its mission, as founder Joe Beatrice explained recently on #TasteWithSpace, and unique whiskeys like Seagrass are composed as an homage to specific sensory experiences. In this case, Beatrice and his team wanted to highlight grassy oceanside notes.
Blood Oath Pact No. 7
Style: Finished bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
Proof: 49.3% ABV
Price: $100
Release: April 2021
Availability: 51,000 bottles
Need to know:
The 2021 release of Blood Oath includes three bourbons:
- 14 year old bourbon made with rye as the flavoring grain
- 8 year old bourbon made with rye
- 8 year old bourbon, made with rye, finished in sauternes casks
Whisky Advocate says:
Blood Oath is produced by Lux Row Distillers and blended by John Rempe, who joined Whisky Advocate last spring for an interview on Instagram Live. Lux Row and its parent company, Luxco, were recently acquired by MGP but don’t expect any big changes for Rempe or the whiskeys he works with—the deal is more meaningful for MGP’s own brands.
Bladnoch Bicentennial 29 year old
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Lowlands)
Age: 29 years old
Proof: 41.2% ABV
Price: $7,500 (700 ml)
Release: Spring 2021
Availability: 200 bottles for the U.S.
Need to know:
This limited edition from Bladnoch Distillery includes whiskies distilled in 1988 and matured in oloroso sherry and moscatel casks.
Whisky Advocate says:
Initially released in 2018 for the distillery’s bicentennial, this whisky is finally making its way stateside thanks to the recent change allowing 700 ml bottles for spirits sales in the U.S. This is the first confirmed case of an imported whisky taking advantage of the new size rules, but definitely won’t be the last.
Virginia Distillery Co. Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask
Style: Single malt
Origin: Virginia
Age: 3 years old
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $85
Release: April 2021
Availability: 2,760 bottles
Need to know:
This American single malt is aged in ex-bourbon barrels sourced from Kentucky.
Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask
Style: Single malt
Origin: Virginia
Age: 3 years old
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $85
Release: April 2021
Availability: 2,760 bottles
Need to know:
Aged for at least 3 years, this whiskey sees three different sherry casks: fino, oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez.
Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask
Style: Single malt
Origin: Virginia
Age: 3 years old
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $85
Release: April 2021
Availability: 2,760 bottles
Need to know:
This whiskey was matured in what Virginia Distillery Co. calls a “cuvée” cask; you might know it as an STR cask—a barrel that originally held European red wine and was shaved, re-toasted, and re-charred before being used for whiskey.
Whisky Advocate says:
Together, these three whiskeys form the backbone of Virginia Distillery Co.’s flagship Courage & Conviction single malt, which debuted last April. As with the previous releases of Courage & Conviction, this new batch is dedicated to an important person within the distillery’s sphere; in this case, Nancy Fraley, a master blender and longtime distillery mentor. Virginia Distillery Co. provides full transparency about their production on its website, noting everything from the dates the barrels were filled and dumped to the temperature swings the whiskeys experienced while maturing.
GlenAllachie 2006 14 year old Port Pipe (Cask No. 7862)
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 14 years old
Proof: 55.4% ABV
Price: $175
Release: March 2021
Availability: 335 bottles; U.S. exclusive
Need to know:
Originally filled into bourbon casks in 2006, where it spent over 12 years, this single malt was transferred to a single port pipe for an 18-month finish.
Whisky Advocate says:
GlenAllachie offers a cask-strength 10 year old (Batch 2, 89 points) as part of its core range, but this single cask tacks on a few more years and a finish that’s likely to have had a delicious impact on the flavor. Look for a review in an upcoming issue of Whisky Advocate!
TX Bottled in Bond Single Barrel Bourbon
Style: Straight Bourbon
Origin: Texas
Age: 4 years
Proof: 50%
Price: $50
Release: March 2021
Availability: Limited; for sale in TX only
Need to know:
Made at Firestone & Robertson Distillery in Fort Worth, Texas, this bottled in bond bourbon is being offered as a single barrel, currently available at the distillery and Texas retailers. It joins Firestone & Robertson’s TX range, which includes a blended whiskey, straight bourbon, barrel-proof bourbon, and various barrel-finished bourbons.
Whisky Advocate says:
The bottled in bond designation, long embraced by big producers like Heaven Hill, is increasingly popular among craft distillers. Pernod Ricard purchased Firestone & Robertson’s Whiskey Ranch back in August 2019, and while this release is a Texas exclusive, that partnership could lead to potential expansion in the future.
Crater Lake Estate Rye
Style: Straight rye
Origin: Oregon
Age: 5 years old
Proof: 46.5% ABV
Price: $55
Release: March 2021
Availability: 996 bottles; available in OR
Need to know:
Made from a 100% rye mashbill, the newest addition to Crater Lake’s range of ryes is aged at least five years in Oregon’s High Desert region. Only a handful of barrels are produced each year, making it extremely limited in quantity.
Whisky Advocate says:
Unlike Crater Lake’s other rye whiskeys, Estate Rye is grown, distilled, and aged entirely at the Bend, Oregon distillery. The whiskey is distilled in single batches, highlighting the character of a specific year’s rye crop.
