New Whisky From Chicken Cock, Frey Ranch, Crown Royal, Hatozaki, and More

It’s another plentiful week in new whisky, especially for American craft distillers. Frey Ranch is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an American whiskey made from five different grains, while Chicken Cock has upped the age on its Double Oak whiskey by two years. Filmland Spirits has similarly released an older iteration of its flagship Moonlight Mayhem! bourbon, and North Carolina’s Oaklore Distilling has made its four-grain bourbon available nationwide. In Washington, Heritage Distilling Co. has debuted another bourbon commemorating the stories and veterans of the U.S. Special Operations Forces. Outside the U.S., Crown Royal has introduced a Canadian blend finished in Caribbean rum casks, Hatozaki has a new blend of malt whiskies finished in umeshu plum liqueur casks, and Japanese whisky bar Club Qing is making its U.S. debut with two single casks from Speyside.

Chicken Cock 10 year old Double Oak Kentucky Whiskey

ABV: 46%
SRP: $80
Availability: Nationwide

Bardstown’s Chicken Cock Whiskey is taking its Double Oak expression to new levels by bumping up its age statement. The new version—which keeps the same 80.5% corn, 11% rye, and 8.5% malted barley mashbill—is 10 years old, two years older than the original version. Classified as an American whiskey, it was first aged in used bourbon barrels before being finished in virgin charred American white oak. Fans of the brand will be happy to hear that this batch is also a bit more affordable than the original, which went for $100.

Frey Ranch Harvester Series: 10th Anniversary Edition

ABV: 60.57%
SRP: $250
Availability: 500 bottles; Frey Ranch tasting room in Fallon, Nevada, and Nevada retailers

Frey Ranch is commemorating 10 years in the whiskey business with a new series, made in collaboration with master blender Nancy Fraley.

The first release in the Harvester Series, First Harvest, is an American whiskey made from all five of the grains grown at Frey Ranch, including dent corn, winter wheat, winter rye, barley, and oat. In making the whiskey, Colby and Ashley Fray, Fraley, and Frey Ranch master distiller Russell Wedlake blended their favorite single barrels together; after tasting more than 100 barrels and 14 different mashbills, the group landed on a final mashbill that consists of 71.2% winter rye and 9.3% soft white winter wheat; a 10.5% blend of 66.6% corn, 10% wheat, 12% malted barley, and 11.4% oat; and a 9% blend representing 66.6% corn, 11.4% rye, 12% malted barley, and 10% oat. While the whiskey carries no age statement, some of the components of the blend are up to 7 years old.

Frey Ranch is one of the country’s foremost farm distillers, operating on a 1,500-acre property that the Frey family has worked since 1854. Today, the Freys cultivate many crops, among them various types of wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, and alfalfa, and experiment with many of those in their whiskeys.

Oaklore Distilling Co. Four Grain Bourbon

ABV: 46%
SRP: $70
Availability: Online, with shipping to 46 states

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Oaklore Distilling Co. has widened the availability of its flagship four-grain bourbon, which is now available nationwide. It’s a blend of 5–6 year old wheated and ryed bourbons that were produced at undisclosed distilleries in North Carolina and Kentucky. The blend has a mashbill of 72% corn, 11% wheat, 10% rye, and 7% malted barley. After aging, the components were married for an additional 8–12 months in a mix of barrels with char levels ranging from No.-2 to 4.

Filmland Moonlight Mayhem! 2: The White Port Wolf Bourbon

ABV: 47%
SRP: $65
Availability: Retailers in 15 states, and online with shipping to 46 states

Filmland Spirits, the Los Angeles-based whiskey company that takes inspiration from B-movies, is releasing a sequel to its flagship Moonlight Mayhem! bourbon. The new one is notably older than the 4 year old original, sporting a 7 year old age statement. It also features a fairly interesting finish, having spent an undisclosed period in white port casks. Just like the original, it has a mashbill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley.

Heritage Distilling Co. Salute Series Special Operations Salute Green Beret Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 61%
Price: $145
Availability: Online shipping nationwide, excluding AK, HI, MI, SD, UT

Washington-based Heritage Distilling Co. has been busy lately, from expanding locations in tandem with local Native American tribes, to bolstering its in-house brand Salute Series. This expression marks the second release this year for the label, and at $145, the most expensive yet. It features a 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% barley mashbill sourced from and aged in Kentucky for over 5 years in new medium-charred American oak.

The military-focused Salute Series houses whiskeys under one of two umbrellas, the first being Service to America, highlighting American army figures and victories. This expression is the third release under the other theme, Special Operations Salute. Launched in 2023, it honors the stories and veterans of the U.S. Special Operations Forces. This release honors Green Berets, soldiers in the U.S. Special Forces whose motto, “De Opresso Liber,” meaning to free the oppressed, is front and center on the whiskey label. The high ABV of 61% is a nod to the year 1961 when President John F. Kennedy approved the green beret as official attire for this singular Special Forces group. This moment in history is depicted in an accompanying a framable lithograph print by Michael Polovey. Every purchase of a Salute Series bottle gives back to the military, this release being no exception: $20 of each bottle sold benefits the Green Beret Foundation, which aims to supply resources for the U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers, veterans, and their families, further contributing to the label’s impressive $200,000 donated thus far to military non-profits.

Crown Royal Marquis Rum Cask Finished Canadian

ABV: 40%
SRP: $40
Availability: Georgia, Maryland, Washington D.C., and select military bases

Canadian heavyweight Crown Royal has announced a new expression called Marquis, which is rolling out this month with a focus on bars and nightclubs. Marquis is a Canadian blend that’s finished for an undisclosed time in Caribbean rum casks. It’s said to have notes of honey, vanilla, dates, and figs. To celebrate the launch, Crown Royal will be hosting pop-up events in D.C. and Atlanta throughout the month.

Club Qing Artistry 2007 Glen Moray Single Cask Single Malt Scotch (No. 6277)

ABV: 57.6%
SRP: $240
Availability: 177 bottles; imported by Concurrent Wine & Spirits

Club Qing Artistry 2011 Glenrothes Single Cask Single Malt Scotch (No. 4973)

ABV: 70.1%
SRP: $200
Availability: 570 bottles; imported by Concurrent Wine & Spirits

Whisky enthusiasts might be familiar with Club Qing for its reputation as an exclusive Japanese whisky bar. But since 2016, the Hong Kong-based operation has also maintained an independent bottling label, which is making its U.S. debut this month with two new single casks from Speyside. The first one is a single malt from Glen Moray, which was distilled in 2007 and aged for 17 years in a first-fill bourbon barrel. The other expression is a 2011 vintage-dated Glenrothes single malt, which was aged for 12 years in a refill sherry butt and bottled at the notably high 70.1% ABV.

Hatozaki Triple Cask Reserve Blended Malt World Whisky

ABV: 46%
SRP: $75
Availability: Permanent core release available in most U.S. markets, imported by Marussia Beverages USA

The new Hatozaki release is a blend of malt whiskies initially matured in bourbon and sherry casks and finished in umeshu plum liqueur casks. Blended and finished at Kaikyō Distillery within the Akashi Sake Brewery in Japan, master distiller and blender Kimio Yonezawa has used casks seasoned with the popular Japanese liqueur for previous Hatozaki releases. The countries of origin of the malt whiskies used in this world whisky expression are not disclosed. Despite the expression coming from a distillery in Japan, this is not a Japanese whisky and doesn’t carry the new “JW” logo announced in March 2025 for products that meet the Japanese whisky labelling standards. This was introduced to help consumers distinguish Japanese whisky from other types of whisky, though Japanese producers have a long tradition of blending Japanese whiskies with other whiskies.