New Whisky Releases

World Whisky Day always brings a host of new whisky releases, including the annual Redbreast Dream cask edition. This year, Master Blender Billy Leighton and blender Dave McCabe picked a 27-year-old Bourbon cask and a 28-year-old Ruby Port cask to blend together, then finished that blend for three months in two tawny port casks.

780 bottles will be available starting Monday through an online ballot for members of The Birdhouse, Redbreast’s online club. The price tag is €580 a bottle.

Irish Distillers has also released the fourth edition in the Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection. It’s a 48-year-old Irish Whiskey distilled at the Old Midleton Distillery before it closed in 1975, and comes from single pot still and grain whiskies laid down in 1973 by the late Max Crockett.

Only 119 bottles will be available worldwide as Irish Distillers prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Old Midleton Distillery, which opened in 1825.

One of America’s largest distillers is entering the American single malt market. Beam Suntory will be releasing Clermont Steep starting next month. 

It’s a 100 percent malted barley whiskey made in the traditional Beam style using the family’s jug yeast and a column still, along with using new oak casks for maturation. Clermont Steep is five years old, and will carry a recommended retail price of $59.99 a bottle when it hits retail shelves in June. 

Also on the American whiskey front, Jack Daniel’s is adding a new Barrel Proof Rye to its Single Barrel Collection. The distillery’s single barrel barrel proof ryes have been available before as special releases, but this will be a permanent addition to the lineup. It’ll sell for $59.99 a bottle, with bottling strength varying between 62-point-5 percent ABV and 72-point-5 percent ABV. 

Turning now to blended Scotch whiskies, Royal Salute is adding to its Polo Collection range with a new 21-year-old Jodhpur Polo Edition. The whisky celebrates Jodhpur, the Indian city known as the birthplace of modern polo, and is available in limited amounts worldwide for $160 a bottle.

It turns out retired Johnnie Waker master blender Jim Beveridge had one last expression in him before he retired. The Master’s Cut version of Johnnie Walker blends just two whiskies — grain from Cameronbridge with single malt whisky from Roseisle in Speyside. It’ll be available later this summer at the Johnnie Walker Princes Street experience in Edinburgh, Scotland and select markets, with just 1-thousand bottles available. 

Tomatin is out with a new 12 year old Cù Bòcan single malt. The lightly peated whisky is matured in Caribbean Rum casks, and is available at whisky shops worldwide with a recommended retail price of £65 a bottle. 

GlenDronach has released Batch 12 of its cask strength edition. It’s matured in a combination of PX and Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 58-point-2 percent ABV, and will be available in the U.S. for around $105 dollars a bottle. 

Finally, Rabbit Hole is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the release of Tenniel. It’s a blend of Cavehill, Rabbit Hole’s four grain triple malt Bourbon with Heigold, a high-rye double malt Bourbon. The whisky gets its name from the artist John Tenniel, who did the original illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 939 numbered decanters are available for a recommended retail price of $650 each.