Glen Scotia, Basil Hayden, Pinhook, Widow Jane, Keeper's Heart & more [New Releases]

Glen Scotia is out with the second release in its Icons of Campbeltown series, but the rest of the scotch whisky world is somewhat quiet, although Glenmorangie will soon hit our shores with another installment in its “Tale” series—this one called A Tale of Ice Cream, matured in bourbon barrels as well as “high vanillin” casks that received a special heat treatment to bring our as much vanillin as possible in the wood. We’ll have more next week, but pricing is at around $100 and it’s expected to hit the market on October 1.

On the bourbon front, we have news that Basil Hayden is offering its 10 year old as a permanent member of the lineup—graduating from its previous role as a limited annual release. We’ve been seeing many more aged whiskies lately, a far cry from a decade ago, when the good stuff was in very short supply—indeed, greater age seems to be the message far more than it used to be. Pinhook has a 9 year old bourbon from its Vertical Series— tapped from a stock of barrels that began releasing in 2019 and has then been offered at progressively older ages. Elsewhere, Widow Jane has a new edition in The Vaults, its aged whiskey series, while Keeper’s Heart has a 21 year old Irish whiskey finished in tokaji casks. These are just some of the highlights, so read on.

Glen Scotia Icons of Campbeltown: Release No. 2

ABV: 56.8%
SRP: $130
Availability: Nationally at select U.S. retailers, and glenscotia.com

Single malt scotch maker Glen Scotia has unveiled the second edition in its Icons of Campbeltown series, a collection inspired by the history and heritage of its home, Campbeltown. This new edition is a medium-peated 14 year old whisky, matured in first-fill bourbon barrels and finished in wine casks from Barolo in northwest Italy. The label illustration is a fiery depiction of the legendary dragon slain by St. Michael, done by artist Joel Holtzman, who has worked on characters for Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Disney.

The first Icons of Campbeltown release, which launched the series last year, was Icons of Campbeltown No. 1, Tale of the Mermaid, aged 12 years in bourbon casks and finished in palo cortado sherry casks for 8 months. Its packaging was also the work of Joel Holtzman. While that release added the Mermaid name, Glen Scotia chose not to use another name for Release No. 2 in order to keep the focus on Campbeltown and its history.

The tiny port town of Campbeltown is located on the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland, lying between Arran to the east and Islay to the west. It’s designated as one of Scotland’s six scotch whisky regions, the other five being Highlands, Speyside, Lowlands, Islay, and Islands. It's by far the smallest of the 6 regions, but Campbeltown was once home to more than 30 distilleries in the 19th century and was known as “the whisky capital of the world.” Today only three remain: Springbank, Glengyle, and Glen Scotia. (Last spring, R&B Distillers, which owns Isle of Raasay Distillery, received permission to build a new distillery in Campbeltown, which is slated to be ready next year.) But Campbeltown’s attraction and mystique live on, as its three distilleries make some of Scotland’s most sought-after whiskies.

Basil Hayden 10 year old Bourbon

ABV: 40%
SRP: $85
Availability: Nationwide

This week Beam announced that Basil Hayden 10 year old, which was previously an annual release, would be joining the main lineup on an ongoing basis. The liquid itself is unchanged from previous years, sporting the same high-rye mashbill and 80 proof point.

Basil Hayden 10 is the latest example of Beam including older liquid in its releases. Years ago the whiskey industry was caught off-guard by a rising demand for bourbon and rye, and subsequently faced a shortage of aged juice. Beam completely ran out of liquid for Knob Creek in 2009, subsequently removing the age statement from Knob Creek 9 year old just a few years after.

Beam has introduced a number of aged whiskeys recently. Outside the Basil Hayden label, it revamped its core-range Jim Beam Black as a 7 year old and has introduced several age-stated Knob Creeks. Even its higher-end labels have tapped older liquid too, with the latest Little Book including 20 year old bourbon distilled by Booker Noe and Booker’s The Reserve blending liquid ranging from 8 to 14 years old.

Widow Jane The Vaults 2024 Blend of Straight Bourbons

ABV: 49.5%
SRP: $250
Availability: Limited

Brooklyn-based Widow Jane has released the latest edition of The Vaults, its series of old, rare whiskeys made with unique cask finishes. For the 2024 iteration, head distiller and blender Sienna Jevremov worked with bourbons aged 15 to 20 years; after landing on a final blend, the whiskey was placed into amburana casks from Brazil. Amburana is among the more exotic woods being used for cask finishing these days, and it tends to imbue whisky with warming spices and tropicality.

Once it reaches the market in October, The Vaults 2024 will be distributed on a limited basis, with around 24,000 bottles available. Widow Jane has been busy, coming out with a new core release, Baby Jane, this past summer, and continuing to tap into its stock of aged barrels from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana for limited editions.

Pinhook 9 year old Vertical Series Bourbon

ABV: 57.15%
SRP: $93
Availability: Nationwide

Pinhook has released the sixth member of its Vertical Series bourbon, which arrives at 9 years old. It was drawn from 100 barrels of MGP-distilled bourbon, which were blended and aged at Castle & Key in Frankfort, Kentucky. The mashbill is 75% corn, 20.5% rye, and 4.5% malted barley.

The Vertical Series bourbon is Pinhook’s way of putting the art of maturation under a microscope. It started when Pinhook sourced 1,350 barrels from MGP, all of the same mashbill, with a plan to release them over time at different age statements. The goal is to track the progression of the liquid as it ages from year to year: The first release was a 4 year old that came in 2019, and the final one is slated to be bottled at 12 years old.

Chicken Cock Mizunara Japanese Oak Finished Bourbon

ABV: 52.5%
SRP: $250
Availability: Limited; nationwide

Chicken Cock tapped Japanese mizunara oak to create its newest cask-finished expression. The new release comprises 10 barrels of the label’s flagship bourbon finished in virgin mizunara oak casks. Though it’s available nationwide, this is Chicken Cock’s most limited release so far.

Chicken Cock whiskey came about in 1865, when farmer/distiller James A. Miller founded the brand in Paris, Kentucky. It enjoyed great success over the years—gaining enough steam to survive through Prohibition—only to fall silent in the 1950s. The name was resurrected in 2012 as a stable for 6 month old flavored whiskey that was a far cry from the quality liquid associated with the brand of old. That all changed in 2017 when industry veteran Gregg Snyder was brought in to right the ship; part of the course correction involved enlisting Bardstown Bourbon Co. as a distilling partner, and the brand has since seen a bump in its scores with our tasting panel.

Revered for the intriguing notes it can lend to whisky, mizunara oak casks have long been a favorite of Japanese distillers, though in recent years other distillers have started using them. The American players include Angel’s Envy, Barrell Craft Spirits, and Four Gate among others.

Wolves Flagship American Single Malt

ABV: 48%
SRP: $90
Availability: Nationwide

California-based Wolves Whiskey launched in 2019, and has been relying on sourced whiskey from either MGP or Charbay, the Ukiah, California-based distillery owned by Wolves master distiller Marko Karakasevic and his family. Charbay’s specialty is making “hopped” whiskeys from bottle-ready beer, and most of the Wolves whiskeys have been made that way too. Some of those beer-based expressions were released as is, while others were blended with different whiskey styles such as rye. But now Wolves has embarked on a new direction with the release of this flagship American single malt.

Made by SanTan Spirits in Chandler, Arizona, Wolves American single malt was aged for 5 years in French oak California wine barrels, then finished in first-fill cognac casks. The new whiskey is a permanent release and will be available nationwide, both in traditional retail and online.

Keeper’s Heart 21 year old Irish Single Malt Finished in Tokaji Barrels

ABV: 48.5%
SRP: $999
Availability: Limited

When Minnesota-based O’Shaughnessy Distilling recruited Irish master distiller Brian Nation to make its Keeper’s Heart whiskey in the U.S., there was plenty of discussion about what Nation would bring to the party. His decades at Midleton Distillery, which is responsible for so many great Irish whiskeys including Redbreast, Powers, the Spot labels, and Method & Madness, as well as the leading Irish whiskey brand Jameson, led us to think there would be plenty of Irish influence in the O’Shaughnessy portfolio. We weren’t wrong, as Irish whiskey is very much in the picture, the latest evidence being this release, a 21 year old Irish single malt finished in tokaji casks.

The whiskey, which hits the shelves next month, comes from a single cask sourced from Cooley Distillery in County Louth, Ireland. This is the first in what will be an annual series.

Milam & Greene Unabridged Volume 3: A Cask-Strength Blend of Straight Bourbons

ABV: 59%
SRP: $95
Availability: Limited

For the third chapter of Milam & Greene’s Unabridged series, master blender Heather Greene selected 49 barrels of whiskey, ranging from 3 1/2 year old Kentucky bourbon made with malted rye to 10 year old Kentucky bourbon. Whiskeys from Tennessee and Texas were also included in the blend. The exact cask breakdown is as follows:

- 15 casks of 3.5 year old Kentucky bourbon made with malted rye
- 5 casks of 4 year old Tennessee bourbon
- 5 casks of 4 year old Texas bourbon made with malted rye
- 7 casks of 6 year old Kentucky bourbon
- 13 casks of 9 year old Kentucky bourbon
- 4 casks of 10 year old Kentucky bourbon

According to Greene, the Kentucky bourbons make up the flavor backbone, while the Texas malted-rye bourbon adds sweetness, and the Tennessee bourbon brings both balance and a touch of vanilla. Just 9,324 bottles of the whiskey are available.

Thresh & Winnow Organic 10 year old 100% Rye

ABV: 50%
Price: $98
Availability: Limited; distillery store, Illinois, and other states to follow

Thresh & Winnow Organic American Single Malt

ABV: 50%
Price: $101
Availability: Limited; distillery store, Illinois, and other states to follow

Chicago-based Koval Distillery has launched a new line of organic whiskeys starting with a 100% rye and an American single malt, with the anticipation of future limited releases within the new collection. Though Koval is known for its unusual mashbills, like 100% oat and 100% millet, they’ve stuck to traditional grains for the first two single barrel bottled in bond expressions under its new Thresh & Winnow label. The name is a nod to the process of making a grain edible. The first step “threshing” means to separate the grain from the stalk. “Winnowing” refers to separating the grain from the husk after threshing.

Though Koval has released three 100% rye whiskeys previously, Thresh & Winnow Organic rye is its first 10 year old rye. The single malt, on the other hand, is the first of its kind for Koval. It’s aged in 53-gallon charred oak barrels for just over 8 years, marking a distinction from its core whiskeys which are aged in 30-gallon barrels for 4-5 years.

Tower 11 French Oak Finished Bourbon

ABV: 49.5%
Price: $50
Availability: AZ, CA, NV, WA, and tower11.com

Thunder Mesquite Finished Bourbon

ABV: 45%
Price: $50
Availability: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, MD, MS, NV, NJ, NY, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, and tower11.com

Steel String Finished Bourbon

ABV: 43%
Price: $50
Availability: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, MD, MS, NV, NJ, NY, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI, WA and tower11.com

Gardena, California-based Cali Distillery has unveiled its aptly named Jam Session Whiskeys, a trio of bourbons made in partnership with different country musicians. All three are finished first in French oak, then receive a distinct secondary finish. These expressions were contract distilled at O.Z. Tyler Distillery (now Green River) in Owensboro, Kentucky using a mashbill of 70% corn, 23% rye, and 7% malted barley, aged in Kentucky for 4-5 years, and finished on-site at Cali Distillery.

Tower 11 was made in collaboration with country superstar Brett Young. Its name is a nod to the Laguna Beach lifeguard station where Young hung out as a teen. It’s proofed to 99, which refers to the year he graduated high school. This expression was initially finished in toasted French oak and then underwent a secondary finish in charred French oak. The label depicts Brett’s surfboard, guitar pick, and tattoos.

Thunder Mesquite was created in partnership with rising country rock musician KC Johns. This expression was initially finished in charred French oak, then transferred to an experimental barrel with charred Sonoran mesquite, and later returned to the French oak. The final expression, Steel String, was made in partnership with Nashville-based country singer Mark Taylor. Like Thunder Mesquite, it was first finished in charred French oak, then toasted French oak, and finally infused with California wildflower honey.