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April 2024 was a busy month for new whisky releases, including bourbon, Scottish single malts and blends, and travel-exclusive Japanese whiskies from Suntory. In this article, we have selected 13 limited releases and new core range expressions either introduced or announced that caught our attention in early April 2024 for various reasons.
Happy digging.
Fortitude Templeton Straight Bourbon
The Templeton distillery, located in Iowa and established in 2018, launched its inaugural Fortitude straight bourbon in early April 2024. Although the distillery has released whiskies before this, Fortitude marks the first time it has released a whiskey distilled entirely on its premises.
The expression is made with 55% locally sourced corn, 40% imported rye and 5% malted barley mashbill, aged in virgin American oak casks for a minimum of four years and bottled at 46% ABV.
Image by Templeton Whiskey
Wildmoor Blended Scotch Whisky
In April 2024, William Grant & Sons unveiled their latest blend, the Wildmoor whisky range. This high-end collection includes seven expressions ranging from 21 to 40 years old, making it the first luxury blended whisky collection to be released by William Grant. It accompanies the company's blended malt, Monkey Shoulder, and blended Scotch, Grant's.
All expressions are created by master blender Brian Kinsman and are made using a blend of Speyside and Highland malts and Lowland grain whisky from the company's old stock. For variations between expressions, please see below.
Wildmoor 21-year-old Heather Valley / 42%
A Taiwan-exclusive blend finished in Oloroso sherry casks
Wildmoor 23-year-old Dark Moorland / 42%
Finished in Oloroso sherry casks
Wildmoor 23-year-old Ancient Moorland / 42%
China and Taiwan exclusive release, aged in Oloroso sherry
Wildmoor 23-year-old Waking Forest / 42%
Global travel retail exclusive, aged initially in virgin oak and finished in sherry casks
Wildmoor 30-year-old Rugged Coast / 42%
Peat-forward blend, finished in Oloroso sherry
Wildmoor 30-yea-old Tropical Coast / 43 %
Exclusive to global travel retail, finished in Caribbean rum casks
Wildmoor 40-year-old Black Mountain / 46%
A blend of old grain and Highland malt, as well as whisky from an undisclosed lost distillery, finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks
Original Image by Wildmoor Whisky
Glenmorangie Triple Cask Reserve
Glenmorangie Triple Cask Reserve was released in early April 2024 and is the only non-age statement expression included in the distillery's permanent collection. This new addition to the distillery's core range is matured in bourbon, new charred oak, and ex-rye whisky casks. The latest edition was created by master blender Gillian MacDonald, and it is offered at 40% ABV.
The Triple Cask Reserve follows the release of a 1,000-bottle limited edition Glenmorangie 25-year-old, finished in Pommard casks, announced in March 2024, exclusively available at the London Heathrow airport.
Image by Glenmorangie / The Whisky Ardvark
Bushmills 14-year-old
Since April 2024, the 14-year-old Bushmills whiskey has been added to the Irish distillery's core range of single malts. Initially aged in first and second-fill bourbon barrels and finished for up to 12 months in Malaga wine casks from Spain, the new expression is offered at 40% ABV.
Original Image by Bushmills
Midleton 49-year-old Silent Distillery
In early April 2024, Midleton Very Rare announced the release of Chapter Five of their Silent Distillery Collection. The new release is a 49-year-old single pot still whiskey distilled by the master distiller Max Crockett at the old Midleton distillery in 1973. It is the oldest whiskey released by the Irish distillery so far and was drawn from a single cask.
The rare expression is bottled at 52.4% and released with a suggested retail price of around £47,000. The number of bottles for this limited release has not been made public.
Chapter Five follows the release of the Midleton Very Rare 2024 edition in March 2024.
Image by Midleton Very Rare
Bimber Shoulders of Giants Series
The Shoulders of Giants collection is the first release from London-based Bimber distillery since the founder of the distillery, Dariusz Plazewski (real name Lucasz Ratajewski), was arrested in February 2024 in connection with a conspiracy to murder in Poland during the 1990s.
The series comprises six single-cask single malt releases, each dedicated to the memory of a great mind from the past.
Dickens - The Novelist / 58.3%
Matured in a single first-fill bourbon cask - 259 bottles
Newton - The Mathematician / 58.3%
Aged in a single lightly peated American ex-bourbon cask - 257 bottles
Shakespeare - The Playwright / 57.7%
Initially aged in barley wine cask and finished in a single ex-beer cask - 271 bottles
Curie - The Scientist / 57%
Matured in a single Oloroso sherry cask - 300 bottles
Copernicus - The Polymath / 56.8%
Aged in a single Pedro Ximenez sherry cask - 300 Bottles
Chopin - The Composer / 52%
Finished in a single Fino sherry cask - 328 bottles
The first three releases, which feature English visionaries Dickens, Newton and Shakespeare, will be exclusively available in the UK market from late April 2024. On the other hand, the last three, which depict Polish innovators Curie, Copernicus and Chopin, will only be released for the Polish market. Matt MacKay, the director of whisky creation at Bimber, has stated that this collection will be an ongoing series, with more single-cask expressions dedicated to great minds yet to be explored.
Image by Bimber
Bulleit 12-year-old Rye
In April 2024, Bulleit reintroduced its second limited release of 12-year-old rye whiskey, launched for the first time in 2019. The whiskey is bottled at 46% and made with a mashbill of 95% rye grain and 5% malted barley. Although boasting a 12-year age statement, the whiskey was aged in virgin American oak barrels for up to 17 years. This limited expression was released exclusively for the US market.
Original Image by Bulleit
Suntory 2024 Kogei Collection
The House of Suntory Kogei ('traditional Japanese craftsmanship') Collection was released at Singapore's Changi Airport on April 1, 2024. The inaugural set of bottlings comes from Suntory's two single malt distilleries, Yamazaki and Hakushu. Both expressions are made with peated malt sourced from Islay and aged in Spanish oak. The collection is bottled at 43% ABV and will be exclusively available worldwide for global travel retail.
The two release labels, known as 'The 2024 Japanese Kimono Collection,' were made in collaboration with Kyoto-based kimono house Chiso. Both single malts were aged in Spanish oak, but no information is available about the age of the whiskies or whether the Spanish oak was sherry-seasoned. However, based on the flavour profiles, the Yamazaki has been aged in sherry-seasoned casks.
The Kogei is a permanent travel retail collection featuring a new packaging design every two years.
Image by House of Suntory
Royal Salute 21-year-old 'Pink' Miami Polo Edition
After years of joking about when Johnnie Walker would add a Pink Label to its range, the Pernod Ricard-owned Royal Salute blend announced the release of a limited edition pink ceramic Miami Polo bottling. This eye-catching 21-year-old expression will be launched in Palm Beach with a two-day celebration in April 2024 before being made exclusively available for global travel retail.
The whisky was finished in a combination of first-fill bourbon and first-fill rye casks, a first in Royal Salute's blending history. The expression was inspired by the lively, sun-kissed energy of Miami.
Image by Royal Salute
Cu Bocan Creation No.6
Since 2013, Tomatin distillery in the Scottish Highlands has produced lightly peated Cu Bocan whisky. In 2019, the distillery introduced a limited small batch Creation series to expand its range.
The Cu Bocan Creation No.6, simply referred to as 'Rum & Raisins,' was released in mid-April 2024 in selected retail outlets. This sixth edition of the series was aged in a combination of Pedro Ximenez sherry and Jamaican rum barrels and offered at 46% ABV.
Original Image by The Whisky Exchange
Strathearn Single Malt
The small Highland distillery Strathearn, established in 2013, released its inaugural single malt expression on April 15, 2024. This limited edition whisky was aged for roughly five to eight years in 32 bourbon, virgin, and ex-sherry casks. One-third of the whisky was distilled after 2019 under new management by Douglas Laing.
The Strathearn 2024 small batch single malt is bottled at 50% ABV in 70cl bottles.
Original Image by Strathearn / Douglas Laing
Kavalan Master's Select Series
The newest Taiwanese Kavalan single malt whisky range addition was announced on April 15, 2024. The series, Master's Select, was released exclusively for travel retail with two expressions: No.1, aged in ex-Bourbon barrels and lightly peated STR casks and No.2, matured in a combination of Port barriques and lightly peated STR casks. Both whiskies are offered in 1-litre bottles with 40% ABV.
Image by Kavalan
Ardbeg Spectacular
In mid-April 2024, Ardbeg announced the release of their 2024 Ardbeg Day bottling, Spectacular. This year, the release will be untraditionally available before the Feis Isle festival on June 1. The official release date of the Spectacular is April 23, when it can be purchased in the UK and on the distillery's official website.
The Spectacular is the first Ardbeg single malt to be aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and Port wine casks. It has a bottling strength of 46% ABV. The deep flavours of this release inspired the distillery to invite Ardbeg enthusiasts, or 'Ardbeggians', to attend the official Ardbeg Day celebrations at the distillery in their best dark circus attire.
The age of the bottling or number of bottles has not been disclosed.
Original Image by Ardbeg
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