Compass Box, Garrison Brothers, 15 Stars, Natterjack & More [New Releases]

Among this week’s items, Compass Box, always of interest, has a Travel Retail exclusive that blends peated single malt and grain whiskies. Garrison Brothers has unveiled this year’s Laguna Madre release, while rising player 15 Stars keeps them coming with two new aged bourbons. Considering the high scores achieved by 15 Stars since we started reviewing their whiskeys last year, we very much look forward to tasting these latest ones. Elsewhere, World Whiskey Society, fresh off its Japanese collaboration with whisky maker Chip Tate, continues its globe-trotting with two American single malts named for Wild West folk hero Wyatt Earp, while Buzzard’s Roost, ensconced in its new home on Louisville’s Whiskey Row since last year, is out it with its first Bottled in Bond (BIB) expression. And then we have the curious case of Natterjack whiskey, the Irish American collaboration, and its latest effort, Natterjack The Mistake. This one is the result of a maturation error with a happy ending—all to be explained below.

Compass Box The Travelling Circus Blended Scotch

ABV: 49%
SRP: $188
Availability: Limited; exclusive to JFK and LAX airports

In a first for Compass Box, the blender has released an American Travel Retail exclusive, with availability for this new bottling limited to just John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California. The Travelling Circus takes inspiration from The Circus, a limited-edition blend that debuted in 2016 and consisted of older barrels of blended scotch and blended grain whisky, married together in sherry butts.

For the new blend, whisky-making director James Saxon took peated malt whiskies from Talisker and Caol Ila and combined them with grain whisky from Port Dundas, a now-shuttered distillery that closed its doors in 2011. The majority of components in the blend were aged in sherry casks, adding a layer of deep fruitiness to the smoky, peaty flavors, per Compass Box.

Garrison Brothers 8 year old Laguna Madre Bourbon (2024)

ABV: 50.5%
SRP: $350
Availability: Limited retail launch in early August

Garrison Brothers Distillery, the first legal distillery in Texas, has unveiled the newest edition of its Laguna Madre bourbon. It was aged in Texas for 8 years, spending half that time in new charred American white oak barrels before undergoing a secondary maturation in limousin oak casks from France. 2024’s batch yielded 3,000 bottles total; one-third of the bottles were released at a distillery event last Saturday, and the rest are slated to arrive at select retailers and restaurants in early August.

Due to its 50% ABV proof point, Laguna Madre occupies a fairly curious spot in Garrison Brothers’s lineup. While it’s certainly higher in proof than the distillery’s flagship bourbon and rye, it comes in lower than other special releases like Ladybird (57%) , Balmorhea (57.5%), and the cask strength Cowboy. (Last year’s Cowboy batch was bottled at the nigh apocalyptic 70.45% ABV.) The high strength is due in large part to Texas’s unforgiving climate, which can send proofs soaring at the cost of high angels’ share wreaking havoc on yield numbers.

Buzzard’s Roost Bottled in Bond Bourbon

ABV: 50%
SRP: $72
Availability: Limited; available at Buzzard’s Roost’s location in Louisville, at select retailers in 22 states, and online

Buzzard’s Roost has added a new bottled in bond wheated bourbon to its ranks. The whiskey was distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana during the Fall 2018 distillation season. It was aged for 5 years before undergoing a finish in char No.-1 barrels with a proprietary toast profile. Its mashbill is 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% malted barley.

Barrel char plays an integral role in determining the flavors found in whiskey. Many whiskey makers tend to stick with a No.-2 or No.-3 char, but Buzzard’s Roost takes a different approach. The blending house instead spotlights toasted barrels with a lower No.-1 char, which it widely uses as a finishing cask. Examples include Toasted American Oak and Toasted French Oak bourbons, alongside a toasted barrel finished rye which scored 89 points with our tasting panel.

15 Stars Three Kings Blended Whiskey

ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $179
Availability: Nationwide and online

15 Stars 13 year old Timeless Reserve Bourbon

ABV: 52.5%
SRP: $279
Availability: Nationwide and online

15 Stars is a blending house based out of Bardstown, Kentucky. The father-and-son operation, founded in 2019, has recently etched some impressive scores through a blending methodology that taps cask finishing and advanced-aged stocks. Its two newest bottlings aren’t cask finished, but they both include some very old liquid.

The first whiskey is a completely new expression called Three Kings. It’s a blend of three different whiskey styles sourced from distilleries in Indiana and Kentucky—wheat, rye, and bourbon—which are between 11 and 15 years old. The bourbon and wheat components are meant to add notes of fruit and baking spice, while the rye was picked to add a peppery element.

The second whiskey is a reimagination of its 14 year old Timeless Reserve, the first bourbon 15 Stars released back in 2022. The new incarnation is just slightly younger—the youngest component is 13 years old—which is blended with 15 year old liquid. Both of the components come from Kentucky.

World Whiskey Society Wyatt Earp Small Batch American Single Malt

ABV: 48%
SRP: $60
Availability: Limited; online and select retailers nationwide

World Whiskey Society Wyatt Earp Barrel Proof American Single Malt

ABV: 60%-67.5%
SRP: $95.50
Availability: Limited; online and select retailers nationwide

The World Whiskey Society has released two new American single malts that pay homage to Wyatt Earp, one of the Wild West’s most famed figures. Small Batch is made from 100% malted barley and distilled in Oklahoma and Barrel Proof is a single barrel iteration that’s likewise made from 100% malted barley and distilled in Oklahoma, with its chief difference being a markedly higher proof. Both bottles feature silver toppers that are shaped like gun barrels and contain six golden bullets. The Small Batch single malt has a silver U.S. Marshal Badge on its label, while ]Barrel Proof features silver crossing pistols.

The World Whiskey Society launched in 2020 as an independent bottler on the hunt for limited edition runs, orphan casks, and unique partner distilleries. The bottler has a range of tiers, including the Classic Collection, Reserve Collection, Couture Collection, Diamond Collection, tributes to Doc Holliday, and a recent release in collaboration with Balcones founder Chip Tate, all of which include limited-release bottles.

Natterjack The Mistake Blended Irish Whiskey

ABV: 46%
SRP: $59
Availability: Limited edition release in CA, FL, IL, LA, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OK, OH, PA, TX, and WA, shop.natterjack.com, and reservebar.com

When its (undisclosed) suppliers left 46 barrels for double their agreed finishing period, Natterjack Irish whiskey decided to release it as a limited edition whiskey. Natterjack The Mistake is a 5 year old triple-distilled blend comprising 80% grain and 20% malt whiskeys that initially aged in bourbon barrels for 3 1/2 years before being finished for 2 years in No.-4 char virgin American oak casks. Natterjack was launched in 2019 by Irishman Aidan Mehigan with master distiller Jordan Via, formerly a co-founder of Breckenridge Distillery in Colorado and now at Savage & Cooke Distillery in California. The sourced Irish blend is normally finished for a year in these casks after initial maturation in bourbon barrels. This longer finishing period will increase the influence of powerful oak extracts on the balance and flavor of the blend.

Bourbon, of course, must be matured in new charred American oak casks for at least two years, but distillers in Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere use new charred American oak finishing to influence the character of their spirit in an attempt to woo bourbon drinkers with a familiar taste profile. Virgin oak finishing has become popular in Ireland, but the art of cask finishing requires careful monitoring, so how unusual is a 2 year virgin oak finish? The master blender of Midleton Dair Ghaelach, the virgin Irish oak finished series of single pot still whiskeys, reportedly samples the finishing casks monthly to ensure balance, though the finishing period has elongated from 10 months on Grinsell’s Wood, the first release in 2015, to 2 years for Kilranelagh Wood, the latest release. Redbreast Missouri Oak, the latest single pot still whiskey in the American Oak Series, was finished for 12 months in virgin American oak casks. Midleton Very Rare Forêt de Tronçais is a triple-distilled Irish blend finished for 3 years in a French Oak T5 cask. Virgin oak has also been used to fully mature Irish whiskey, such as the Wonders of Wood series from Teeling, who have filled single pot still spirit into Chinkapin oak, Portuguese oak, and Swedish oak cask for the entire duration of its maturation into whiskey.

Mistakes happen, but sometimes this creates a good story, and whiskey lovers are able to taste the results. Ardbeg Serendipity was a 12 year old blended malt released in 2005, the result of an accidental mixing of aged Ardbeg stock with some younger Glen Moray, while Wild Turkey Forgiven, released in 2013, reportedly arose when the distillery crew mingled a batch of 6 year old bourbon and 4 year old rye. On balance, the extra finishing year on Natterjack The Mistake hardly seems the worst misdemeanor in the history of whiskey and should prove to be an interesting pour.