New Imports: Bushmill's Private Reserve Series, a new Irish single grain whiskey, and a 1991 Macallan

The stream of new imported whisky arrivals has slowed to a trickle as we move to the end of the year, but we have a few items of note. Bushmills, which has been channeling its creative side over the past several years, offers its new Private Reserve Series, a group of four different whiskeys, each finished with different casks—tequila, plum, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. Despite its somewhat daunting name, the Private Reserve Series is meant as a more affordable option than the ultra-aged Bushmills cask-finished releases, with prices for these whiskeys ranging between $60 and $75. Elsewhere, High N’ Wicked, the importer and independent bottler led by former Brown-Forman International executive and Brown family scion W.L. Lyons Brown III and Kevin Sachs, has a new single grain whiskey from Ireland. Read on.

Bushmills Private Reserve Series

Bushmills 10 year old Plum Cask Finish
Style: Single malt
Origin: Ireland
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $60
Release: December
Availability: Limited

Bushmills 10 year old Bordeaux Cask Finish
Style: Single malt
Origin: Ireland
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 46.5%
Price: $60
Release: December
Availability: Limited

Bushmills 10 year old Burgundy Cask Finish
Style: Single malt
Origin: Ireland
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 47%
Price: $60
Release: December
Availability: Limited

Bushmills 12 year old Tequila Cask Finish
Style: Single malt
Origin: Ireland
Age: 12 year old
ABV: 47.5%
Price: $75
Release: December
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
Bushmills Private Reserve series comprises four limited edition single malts. All four whiskeys were initially aged for 6 years in oloroso and bourbon casks, before being re-casked into one of four barrel types where it spent the remainder of its maturation. There are roughly 60,000 bottles across all four expressions.

Whisky Advocate says:
Though Bushmills released a number of other single malts this year, these are markedly different from the whiskeys they follow. Back in March we saw the release of Bushmills 25 year old and Bushmills 30 year old, two ultra-aged single malts with price tags to match. More recently, September saw the release of two cask-finished single malts, but those were set aside for Travel Retail in Dublin and overseas markets. The Private Reserve series aims to provide drinkers with age-stated and cask-finished single malts, with wider availability and for a fraction of the price as its older counterparts.

High N’ Wicked No. 7 Foursquare
Style: Single grain
Origin: Ireland
Age: Not stated
ABV: 50%
Price: $80
Release: December 2023
Availability: 18,000 bottles

Need to know:
The first new release from High N’ Wicked is a single grain Irish whiskey, made in Co. Cork using a Coffey column still and following a 95% French maize and 5% malted barley mashbill. It was finished in Foursquare Barbados rum casks for 6 months.

Whisky Advocate says:

High N' Wicked was founded in 2019 by Brown-Forman family member W.L. Lyons Brown and partner Kevin Sachs, and is part of his Altamar Brands importing and independent bottling company. High N' WIcked also offers permanent expressions in bourbon and rye, while the broader Altamar porfolio includes rums, a liqueur, and a gin.

Caskshare Collective Series 54321 Macallan 1991
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 32 year old
ABV: 49%
Price: Starting bid of $4,250
Release: Auction starts December 7, 2023; bottles to be released in March 2024
Availability: 190 bottles

Need to know:
Caskshare, an independent bottler based out of Scotland, purchased a cask of Macallan single malt that was distilled in 1991. The whisky was matured in first-fill bourbon barrels, and was finished in PX sherry casks. Caskshare is auctioning off 190 bottles of this whisky starting on December 7th through December 14th, with a starting bid of $4,250.

Whisky Advocate says:
It should be noted that the whisky hasn’t been bottled yet. The casks are set to be dumped and bottled in January (when the whisky turns 32 years old) and will be distributed to buyers sometime in March.