With 2020 almost behind us, let’s look ahead to the new year—and all the new whiskies it will bring, starting with these latest releases.
Jefferson’s is offering a single-barrel bourbon nationwide. Priced at $55, it’s available in limited amounts.
Israel’s M&H Distillery is rolling out three new expressions in the U.S.: Elements Peated and Elements Red Wine Cask (both $65), which are widely available, and a single-cask STR-matured single malt ($90) with just 282 bottles.
Brown Water Spirits has launched O.H. Ingram River-Aged Straight rye. There are 2,400 bottles in the first batch, priced at $80.
Buzzard’s Roost has added a toasted barrel-finished rye to its lineup. The whiskey is priced at $79 and available in limited amounts.
Finally, Buena Vista, Colorado’s Deerhammer Distillery has debuted the second whiskey in its Progeny Series, Cask Savant. Distilled from a Brett beer, the whiskey is limited to 250 bottles, priced at $70.
Read on for full details.
Jefferson's Reserve Single Barrel 100 Proof
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
Proof: 50% ABV
Price: $55
Release: December 2020
Availability: Limited edition
Need to know:
This bourbon is the core of Jefferson’s Reserve, but here is bottled as a single-barrel offering at a higher ABV.
Whisky Advocate says:
Jefferson’s Reserve comprises a few different bourbons, blended for consistency in each batch. Since this is a single-barrel offering, it will feature a somewhat different flavor profile and, at 100 proof instead of 90.2, the palate will be more robust.
M&H Elements Peated
Style: Single malt
Origin: Israel
Age: Not stated
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $65
Release: December 2020
Availability: Widely available
Need to know:
Rather than using peated malted barley, this whisky gets its light smokiness from partial maturation in Islay scotch casks. It’s also partly matured in bourbon casks.
M&H Elements Red Wine Cask
Style: Single malt
Origin: Israel
Age: Not stated
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $65
Release: December 2020
Availability: Widely available
Need to know:
Along with the base M&H whisky matured in bourbon barrels, this whisky includes liquid that’s matured in Israeli red wine casks.
M&H STR ImpEx Single Cask
Style: Single malt
Origin: Israel
Age: 3 years old
Proof: 59% ABV
Price: $90
Release: December 2020
Availability: 282 bottles; U.S. exclusive
Need to know:
This 3 year old single malt spent its entire maturation period in a single STR (shaved, toasted, recharred) cask, charred to the lightest level. It was bottled exclusively for U.S. importer ImpEx.
Whisky Advocate says:
M&H’s Elements series aims to showcase the impact of the cask, especially in relation to the hot climate where the whisky matures. The distillery also currently offers a sherry cask expression, and although wine finishes are often not kosher, all of M&H’s whiskies are. (Dive deeper into kosher whisky in the new Winter issue of Whisky Advocate, on newsstands Jan. 5, 2021.)
Beyond the Elements series, if you want to get a firm grounding in M&H’s unique style, we recommend trying the classic single malt, which rounded out Whisky Advocate‘s 2020 Top 20.
O.H. Ingram River-Aged Straight Rye (Batch 1)
Style: Straight rye
Origin: Indiana
Age: 3 years old
Proof: 49% ABV
Price: $80
Release: December 2020
Availability: 2,400 bottles; for sale in TN
Need to know:
This rye was distilled at MGP and then matured in a “floating rickhouse” on the Mississippi River for 3 years.
Whisky Advocate says:
O.H. Ingram launched earlier this year with a blend of bourbon and rye that was aged in its “floating rickhouse”—a custom barge moored on the Mississippi River in Ballard County, Kentucky. The motion of the vessel, plus the temperature swings it experiences, create fairly unique conditions for the whiskeys’ maturation. Founder Hank Ingram gave us more details on the company and its plans.
Buzzard's Roost Toasted Barrel Rye
Style: Finished rye
Origin: Indiana
Age: 3 years old
Proof: 52.5% ABV
Price: $79
Release: December 2020
Availability: Limited edition; for sale in KY only
Need to know:
Distilled at MGP, this rye initially matured in new charred oak and then was finished in proprietary toasted oak barrels.
Whisky Advocate says:
The Buzzard’s Roost brand was founded by Jason Brauner, co-owner of Louisville, Kentucky’s Bourbons Bistro. The whiskeys are produced by Kentucky Artisan Distillery, the home of Jefferson’s; in addition to this toasted barrel variant, the lineup includes Very Small Batch, Barrel Strength, and Single Barrel ryes, as well as Roosted Chiquen, a beer barrel-finished rye.
Deerhammer Progeny Series No. 2 Cask Savant
Style: Whiskey distilled from beer
Origin: Colorado
Age: 5 years old
Proof: 50% ABV
Price: $70
Release: December 2020
Availability: 250 bottles; for sale in CO only
Need to know:
Made by Buena Vista, Colorado’s Deerhammer Distillery, this whiskey was distilled from Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project’s Hop Savant, an IPA fermented with Brettanomyces. It matured for 5 years in heavily toasted, lightly charred new oak barrels.
Whisky Advocate says:
American distillers have been making whiskey from beer for years, experimenting with all kinds of beer styles, from stouts to IPAs—but this is the first example I’ve seen of a fully Brett-fermented beer being distilled and matured in a barrel. Brettanomyces is a yeast strain often used in the production of sour beers, though it doesn’t make a beer sour by itself. Crooked Stave has a good explainer of Brett’s flavor spectrum on its website. The press release for this whiskey describes it as having “hallmark, rustic, funky-fruit Brett characteristics”—whether that’s desirable or not is up to the drinker.
