News Briefs for June 27, 2024
June 27, 2024•The House of Suntory has unveiled the four Japanese single malt expressions in the 2024 Tsukuriwake Series, which aims to showcase its adventurous sense of creativity. The series lets Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo demonstrate how blending can illustrate the intricacy of Japanese whisky making by spanning a variety of elements in barley strains, peating levels, and different cask types. The four bottlings in this year’s edition of the series are bottled at 48% abv and range in price from $465 to $1,500. Whisky Advocate has the full story.
•Sonoma-Cutrer, part of the Duckhorn portfolio, is launching Les Plus Haut Pinot Noir as part of its annual Winemaker’s Release series. Les Plus Haut translates to “the most elevated,” and is made with fruit from the highest blocks of the estate-owned Owsley Ranch and Vine Hill Vineyard. Retailing at $70 a bottle, it’s currently available on Sonoma-Cutrer’s website, with some on-premise distribution slated to follow. According to Impact Databank, Sonoma-Cutrer grew 7% to 580,000 cases in the U.S. last year. Duckhorn acquired the brand from Brown-Forman for $400 million in a deal that closed this spring.
•Glenmorangie has released Dr Bill Lumsden x Azuma Makoto 23 Years Old, the latest limited collaborative release from the Highland single malt Scotch distiller. The 46% abv bottling is a blend of malts aged in ex-Bourbon casks and white Burgundy wine casks from Meursault. The packaging features art from Azuma Makoto, showing off a floral sculpture he created, taking inspiration from the whisky and the concept of shinra bansho, or the embrace of all aspects of nature from the ground to the sky. The new whisky carries a suggested price of $1,350 and will be available in limited quantities across the U.S. Glenmorangie, part of the Moët Hennessy portfolio, was at roughly 90,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank.
•Indiana’s Rolling Fork has launched “the Wheated Cask Wonder,” a new 10-year-old Barbadian rum finished in wheated Bourbon barrels. The 57.45% abv rum was distilled from molasses by Foursquare Distillery and matured in Barbados for eight years before being shipped to Indiana for its two-year barrel finish in casks that had matured wheated Bourbon. The limited release totals 900 bottles available for a suggested price of $99 in select markets across the U.S.
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