Teeling Wonders of Wood Single Pot Still Chinkapin Oak

Style: Single pot still
Origin: Ireland
Age: Not stated
ABV: 50%
Price: $99
Release: June/July 2022
Availability: 6,660 bottles in the U.S.

Need to know:

This whiskey, part of Teeling’s Wonders of Wood series, is distilled from 50% malted and 50% unmalted barley, and matured entirely in new chinkapin American white oak barrels. The Wonders of Wood releases see Teeling experiment with more unique varieties of wood, pushing Irish whiskey into new frontiers. Whiskeys from this collection also give the distillery a chance to give back through a partnership with the Tree Council of Ireland; this spring Teeling will plant an acre of indigenous Irish trees in the Glencree, located in Co. Wicklow, just south of Dublin.

Whisky Advocate says:

Teeling’s newest whiskey is the distillery’s latest foray into single pot still whiskey, Ireland’s most unique style. It follows Teeling’s 2020 single pot still whiskey, which ranked No. 15 on Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 for that year. Teeling’s new single pot still shares the same mashbill as the 2020 release but, unlike the earlier whiskey, which matured in virgin oak, bourbon, and sherry casks, the Wonders of Wood release is aged exclusively in virgin American oak. Teeling’s unique take on single pot still whiskey comes amid a wider rebirth of the style, with large and small distilleries across Ireland eager to show off their own versions of this singularly Irish style of whiskey. Look for a review in our Spring issue due on newsstands March 22nd.

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby Bourbon (2022 Release)

Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
ABV: 45.2%
Price: $50/1 Liter
Release: March 2022
Availability: Nationwide, but limited

Need to know:

The artwork on this year’s Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby bottle comes from Kentucky native and equine artist Jaime Corum. The painting, titled “Dreams in Bloom,” depicts three thoroughbred horses racing neck-and-neck, surrounded by red roses and other spring flowers. The whiskey inside is the same as Woodford Reserve’s standard Distiller’s Select bourbon.

Whisky Advocate says:

Woodford Reserve releases a specialty bottle each year for the Kentucky Derby, commissioning a different artist to provide the label artwork. Last year, Woodford tapped Richard Sullivan, who also designed the 2020 label. If you are a fan of the artistry both inside and on a whiskey bottle, these annual releases make for great pick-ups and they are usually priced in line with regular bottlings of Woodford. A few years back, we spoke to Keith Anderson, the artist behind the 2018 and 2019 labels for our piece on the most artistic looking bottles.

Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 17 year old (2022)

Style: Bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: 17 year old
ABV: 59.1%
Price: $275
Release: March 2022
Availability: Nationwide, but highly limited

Need to know:

This 17 year old barrel proof bourbon is the inaugural release in the Heaven Hill Heritage Collection. The mashbill consists of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley. It is a blend of 44% 19 year old, 28% 20 year old, and 28% 17 year old bourbons aged at Heaven Hill’s Deatsville, Glencoe, Schenley, and main campus rickhouses. 

Whisky Advocate says:

The Heritage Collection will showcase Heaven Hill’s oldest stocks from among its nearly two-million barrels aging at its six warehouse sites throughout Nelson and Jefferson Counties. The Heritage Collection’s packaging will include details including mashbill, rickhouse locations, and production dates. To be released each spring, this limited bottling joins the annual Parker’s Heritage Collection which appears in the fall. While the Heritage Collection highlights age, Parker’s Heritage releases—some of which are among our highest-rated American whiskeys—are experimental in nature, with previous bottlings including cognac, orange curaçao, and heavy char finishes, among others. 

Slane Special Edition Extra Virgin Oak

Style: Blended whiskey
Origin: Ireland
Age: Not stated
ABV: 45%
Price: $37
Release: March 2022
Availability: Nationwide, but limited

Need to know:

This one-time offering commemorates a legendary 40 years of concerts held at Ireland’s Slane Castle. Only the second release from Slane, this bottling uses the same cask combination as the core expression (virgin oak, Tennessee whiskey, and oloroso sherry barrels), but with a higher percentage of new American oak. It is also proofed at a slightly higher 45% instead of 40%, a nod to the 45 vinyl record. Each bottle of this Special Edition has a QR code that directs purchasers to a rock playlist curated by Slane.

Whisky Advocate says:

Slane released its inaugural triple cask blend in 2017, and it scored 90 points in our Buying Guide. The distillery, located in County Meath about an hour’s drive north of Dublin, has taken its time releasing a follow-up as its whisky ages. With this Special Edition, Slane channels its rock roots, with label artwork inspired by Slane Castle’s first concert in 1981 as well as images by Irish photographers Andy Spearman and Fran Caffrey. We spoke with co-founder Alex Conyngham in 2020 about mixing music and whiskey, and what life was like growing up hosting bands like U2 and Thin Lizzy.

Sagamore Spirit Reserve Series Rum Cask Finish

Style: Finished rye
Origin: Indiana
Age: Not stated
ABV: 49%
Price: $80
Release: March 2022
Availability: Nationwide

Need to know:

The latest release in Sagamore’s cask finishing series, the distillery blended 5 and 6 year old straight rye whiskeys, then finished them in a combination of South American and Jamaican rum barrels for an additional 10 months. The whiskeys were then blended together. Sagamore previously offered a rum-finished rye in 2019 as a distillery exclusive but is rolling this whiskey out nationwide.

Whisky Advocate says:

Sagamore has experimented with a number of finishing casks in recent years, perhaps most notably, a tequila finish in 2021 (87 points). In terms of rum-finished ryes, there are only a few examples that we’ve tasted including Angel’s Envy Caribbean Rum Finish (89 points) and Redemption Rum Cask-Finished (88 points). We examined rum finishing back in 2019, with the trend, and cask finishing in general, only growing since then. Look for a review of this whiskey in an upcoming Buying Guide.

Filey Bay Flagship

Style: Single malt
Origin: England
Age: Not stated
ABV: 46%
Price: $70
Release: March 2022
Availability: Limited; 768 bottles for the U.S.

Filey Bay STR Finish

Style: Single malt
Origin: England
Age: Not stated
ABV: 48% in the U.S., 46% in other markets
Price: $80
Release: March 2022
Availability: Limited; 468 bottles for the U.S.

Filey Bay Fino Single Cask

Style: Single malt
Origin: England
Age: Not stated
ABV: 61%
Price: $110
Release: March 2022
Availability: Limited; 300 bottles for the U.S.

Need to know:

Filey Bay Flagship is matured in 200-liter bourbon barrels, while the STR Finish is aged in 200-liter bourbon barrels that have been shaved, toasted, and re-charred (STR) and finished in STR wine barriques. The Fino Single Cask is matured in a single fino sherry hogshead from Jerez, Spain.

Whisky Advocate says:

Located near Filey Bay in the village of Hunmanby, Yorkshire, on northern England’s east coast, Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery began making whisky in 2016. All Spirit of Yorkshire’s whiskeys fly under the brand name of Filey Bay. The entire operation is farm to glass, with all of its barley grown on the family farm.

The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. The Taoscán

Style: Single malt
Origin: Ireland
Age: Not stated
ABV: 48.53%
Price: $1,600
Release: March 2022
Availability: 4,000 bottles worldwide

Need to know:

This Irish single malt was triple distilled and then triple casked, aging first in bourbon casks, then oloroso sherry casks and finally being split into virgin French chestnut and tawny port casks for its final maturation.

Whisky Advocate says:

The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. has a reputation for making luxury Irish whiskeys; its first release, The Devil’s Keep, holds the record as the most expensive inaugural whiskey sold at auction, after commanding $60,000 at a charity sale in Texas. The company’s second release, The Emerald Isle (which featured packaging made in collaboration with Fabergé), similarly broke a world record by selling for $2 million at a charity auction. Even at $1,600, The Taoscán, which means “the dram” in Irish, is The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.’s least expensive whiskey to date, and, according to the company,  the first whiskey in the world finished in both tawny port and French chestnut casks.

Proof & Wood Seasons 2021

Style: Blended whiskey
Origin: Multiple (TN, IN, and KY)
Age: Not stated
ABV: 52.5%
Price: $200
Release: March 2022
Availability: 1,000 bottles

Need to know:

This is a blend of aged sourced whiskeys, including 18 year old Tennessee bourbon, Indiana-distilled 14 year old light whiskey and 6 year old bourbon (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley), and 8 year old Kentucky corn whiskey.

Whisky Advocate says:

Seasons 2021 is a look at how changes in temperature affect spirits’ maturation as they rest within barrels. The focus of this whiskey is the 18 year old Tennessee bourbon, which experienced 72 seasons before reaching the bottle. While Proof & Wood founder Dave Schmier was tempted to bottle the bourbon as its own single barrel, he used younger, sweeter whiskeys to balance out the flavor.