News Briefs for November 15, 2018

•Wine Spectator has revealed its No.-6 and No.-5 wines of the year, highlighting offerings from Carneros and Champagne. The unveiling of the Top 10 Wines of the Year continues with wines 4, 3, and 2 today, and the Wine of the Year on Friday. Wine Spectator’s complete Top 100 Wines of 2018 will be published on Monday, November 19.

•Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers unit has reintroduced a once-discontinued single pot still whiskey brand. Starting in January, Red Spot Single Pot Still Irish whiskey—last offered in the 1960s—will be available across the U.S. for a retail price of $120 a 750-ml. The new label is triple-distilled and aged for a minimum of 15 years in a combination of Bourbon, Oloroso Sherry, and Marsala casks, then bottled without chill-filtration at 46% abv. Red Spot joins the Green and Yellow Spot brands in the Spot Irish whiskey family.

•Heaven’s Door Spirits, a collaboration between Bob Dylan and Spirits Investments Partnership, is releasing its new 10-year-old Tennessee Straight Bourbon (50% abv, $130), its fourth overall offering. The new 10-year expression joins Tennessee Bourbon, Double Barrel Whiskey, and Straight Rye Whiskey in the Heaven’s Door lineup. The ornate bottles feature renditions of Dylan’s recent wrought iron work and the case contains lyric sheets to his songs “Maggie’s Farm” and “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” The new release is rolling out across 16 states.

•Proximo Spirits reports a strong early showing for Proper No. Twelve, the Irish whiskey brand recently introduced by MMA fighter Conor McGregor’s Eire Born Spirits. The company declined to reveal specific volume figures but told SND that after launching in September, Proper No. Twelve has now run out of its initial stock of hundreds of thousands of bottles, which had been expected to account for about six months of sales across Ireland and the U.S. Proper No. Twelve, produced at the Old Bushmills distillery owned by Proximo parent Grupo Cuervo, is now ramping up production and expects to be back in stock in the U.S. by early next month.

•Jackson Family Wines has made a number of new executive appointments. Among them, second-generation proprietor Katie Jackson has been named SVP, corporate and social responsibility; 10-year company veteran Gayle Bartscherer has been appointed SVP, international marketing and development; Viviann Stapp, formerly vice president, legal counsel, has been named SVP, general counsel; Kristen Reitzell has been promoted to vice president of public relations; and Jane Catelani Howard, previously CFO of Traditional Medicinals, has joined Jackson Family as SVP, finance.

•Castle Brands-owned Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey has launched the first offering in its Cask Finish Series. The new entry is a variation on the brand’s 12-year-old Single Malt Irish Whiskey, and is finished in French oak casks from Bordeaux winery Château Pichon Baron. Bottled at 46% abv, 1,020 bottles were produced and will retail for $80 apiece in select markets. Two more additions to the Cask Finish Series—Barolo and Marsala cask expressions—are planned for early next year. Castle Brands’ portfolio of premium and super-premium spirits labels also includes Jefferson’s, Goslings, and Clontarf.

Tagged : Heaven's Door Spirits, Irish Distillers, Jackson Family Wines, Knappogue Castle, Proper No. Twelve, Red Spot, Top 100 Wines of 2018, Wine Spectator

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