Father’s Day is this Sunday, and if you’re looking for some last-minute gift ideas, we’ve got you covered. The Dad’s Day classic is a bottle of whisky, and earlier this week, we rounded up the ten highest scoring whiskies in our Summer 2022 Buying Guide. Any of them would make for a worthy splurge. Or perhaps you’d like to give the gift of gear—consider a canteen that will keep batched cocktails chilled all day; a high-end carrying case for hauling bottles, bar equipment, and more; or handy upgrades for any home bar cart.
In new whisky, there’s plenty to enjoy. The Spot range gets a brand new Gold addition, while Brother’s Bond has unveiled a cask strength iteration of its flagship bourbon and O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co. debuts the latest Irish-American style whiskey in its Keeper’s Heart lineup. Read on for full details.
Gold Spot 9 Year Old
Style: Single pot still
Origin: Ireland
Age: 9 year old
ABV: 51.4%
Price: $120
Release: July 2022
Availability: Limited release
Need to know:
Mitchell & Sons Gold Spot contains single pot still Irish whiskey matured in four different cask types, and marks the first use of port pipe maturation in the Spot range. Produced by Irish Distillers at Midleton Distillery, the release celebrates the Mitchell family’s 135th anniversary as whiskey bonders.
Whisky Advocate says:
Unlike previous releases that brought back Red, Blue, and Yellow Spot (Green Spot never went away), this one is completely new to Spot range—which is so named for the different colors of paint daubed on the whiskey casks that once matured in the bonded cellars of Mitchell & Sons in Dublin. Aged for at least 9 years, it has a foundation of bourbon and sherry cask-matured whiskey like the other Spots, but is married with contributions from Bordeaux wine barrels and some older 17 year old whiskey matured in port pipes. While Gold Spot’s name is purely celebratory, this slight departure from the essence of the Spot whiskey story still honors the history of the 19th-century wine merchants and whiskey bonders who filled ex-wine and fortified wine barrels with whiskey from their local distilleries. To single out the port influence on the flavors, we suggest comparing Gold Spot with Green Spot Chateau Léoville Barton, launched in 2015, which is finished in Bordeaux wine barrels from Saint-Julien.
Brother’s Bond Cask Strength
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Indiana
Age: Not stated
ABV: 57.9%
Price: $80
Release: July 2022
Availability: Limited; 12,000 bottles
Need to know:
Made from the same four-grain recipe as Brother’s Bond bourbon— 65% corn, 22% rye, and undisclosed percentages of wheat and malted barley—this whiskey was distilled and aged at MGP and comes from a lot of 70 barrels.
Whisky Advocate says:
From “The Vampire Diaries” co-stars turned best friends Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, Brother’s Bond burst onto the scene in 2021. We spoke to the two actors about their love for whiskey and each other. This cask strength expression aims to create a slightly more complex profile than the inaugural product. A bottled in bond bourbon and rye are among the whiskeys slated for future release.
Keeper’s Heart Irish + Bourbon
Style: Blended whiskey
Origin: Multiple (Ireland and IN)
Age: Not stated
ABV: 46%
Price: $45
Release: June 2022
Availability: Nationwide
Need to know:
A marriage of bourbon and triple-distilled Irish pot still and grain whiskeys. The bourbon is sourced from Indiana-based MGP, while the Irish whiskeys come from Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk, Ireland.
Whisky Advocate says:
This Keeper’s Heart expression is the brainchild of master distiller Brian Nation and liquid collaborator and adviser David Perkins, founder and former owner of High West Distillery. It’s also the sole whiskey brand under the O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co. umbrella, which came out with its first Keeper’s Heart release—a blend of Irish whiskeys and American rye—last year. The brand is a celebration of American and Irish whiskey making traditions, and additional Irish-American style whiskeys on the way. While all liquid is currently sourced, O’Shaughnessy is making its own distillate in a 30,000-square-foot facility that opened its doors in August of 2021.
Compass Box The Circle No.2
Style: Blended
Origin: Scotland
Age: Not stated
ABV: 46%
Price: $150
Release: July 2022
Availability: Global release of 3,113 bottles
Need to know:
A concept whisky based on a phenomenon called “synesthesia,” whereby sensory stimuli provoke atypical crossover experiences—like associating colors with different numbers or flavors. The character of this whisky seeks to evoke the color of coral. It’s built around tropical fruit flavors from two Speyside whiskies, Glen Elgin and Speyburn, with smaller contributions from Teaninich, Linkwood, Glen Elgin, and Ardmore, and a parcel of first-fill sherry butt blended scotch.
Whisky Advocate says:
The Circle, which debuted in 2019, is a Compass Box blending collaboration with the winner of their global bartender program. This second release is the work of Compass Box blender James Saxon, along with synesthete Mannie Monaghan, who’s the owner/creative director of cocktail bar Below Stairs, in Leeds, England. Monaghan posed the question, ‘What does a color taste like?’ The exchange of ideas between the creativity of the whisky blender and the understanding of flavor combinations from a leader of the cocktail scene shows off in this unique blend. You don’t have to be synesthetic to drink it, but if you are, it may help—even if synesthetic reactions can vary between individuals with the gift.
GlenAllachie Chinquapin Virgin Oak
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 48%
Price: $105
Availability: 1,200 bottles (700ml)
GlenAllachie French Virgin Oak
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 48%
Price: $105
Availability: 600 bottles (700ml)
GlenAllachie Scottish Virgin Oak
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 15 year old
ABV: 48%
Price: $330
Availability: 300 bottles (700ml)
Need to know:
The Virgin Oak series from GlenAllachie showcases the effects of unique cask finishings (and time) on a single base malt. This series starts out as a single malt matured in bourbon barrels. After the initial maturation, the malts are finished for 18 months in new Scottish oak before bottling.
Whisky Advocate says:
This new trio of whiskies is the second set of releases in GlenAllachie’s Virgin Oak series and follows the previous trio—12 year old single malts finished in Spanish, French, and chinquapin oak—of new oak finished malts. While virgin oak offers a fairly unique twist, GlenAllachie’s other finished malts have set a high bar. The distillery’s 10 year old rye barrel-finished and 12 year old Port wood finished earned 93 and 91 points, respectively, in our Winter 2021 buying guide.
GlenAllachie 10 year old Cask Strength Batch No. 7
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 56.8%
Price: $105
Availability: 6,000 bottles
Need to know:
Batch 7 of GlenAllachie’s cask strength single malt matured in a combination of oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry puncheons, virgin oak, and rioja barrels before blending, with the majority of the whisky coming from the sherry barrels.
Whisky Advocate says:
The 10 year old bottling of GlenAllachie’s whisky at cask strength dates back to 2017 and was spearheaded by master distiller Billy Walker. While GlenAllachie’s core malts range from 8 to 30 years old, the 10 year old cask strength is just one of three full-proof bottlings, sitting alongside the 21 and 30 year old cask strength releases.
Playboy Spirits Rare Hare 1953 Anniversary Edition
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Undisclosed
Age: 17 year old
ABV: 55.5%
Price: $589
Release: June 2022
Availability: Limited; 1,953 bottles in the U.S.
Need to know:
Playboy Spirits is launching its inaugural bourbon, named after the year the famed magazine was first published. This 17 year old bourbon was finished in XXO cognac casks for about a year. XXO stands for extra extra old, a relatively new classification that requires cognac be aged in barrels for at least 14 years. Purchasers will also receive a near-field communication chip that will grant entry to the Rare Hare Society which offers access to exclusive travel experiences, events, and private barrel releases.
Whisky Advocate says:
Rare Hare 1953 joins an extra añejo tequila released in late 2021 and made in collaboration with Código 1530. These two expressions are thus the first from Playboy Spirits. Bottles are available for preorder via ReserveBar.
