Rampur's New Cask Finishes, Crown Royal 12 Year Old & More [New Releases]

Over the past decade or so, single malt whisky has expanded beyond Scotland, led by American single malt but also by world whisky producers, most notably India. The top Indian single malts have long proven they can excel on the world stage, the starring roles played by Rampur, Amrut, Paul John, and a more recent arrival, Indri. With few exceptions, their releases have all scored well into the 90-point range with our tasting panel, and Rampur and Indri both have made our Top 20 rankings over the years. Rampur focuses on wine cask-finished single malts, and it has now added two such expressions to its list—one finished in tokaji casks, and the other in madeira casks. Elsewhere in the whisky world, Crown Royal has a 12 year old expression, which falls into line behind the 18 year old as this Canadian whisky maker continues to bolster its aged-stated portfolio, while Seattle's 2Bar Spirits has a new single barrel bourbon. Finally, there is Catador Itinerante, a new U.S.-based independent bottler specializing in world whiskies—think of it as Lost Lantern for overseas releases. It's an original concept that should be worth watching.

Crown Royal 12 year old Reserve Blended Canadian

ABV: 40%
SRP: $50
Availability: Nationwide

Crown Royal has announced a new version of its Reserve blend, part of the brand’s premium Master Series. This one has a 12 year age statement, and is said to have more pronounced fruit notes than the original. The whisky, which is rolling out early this month, is a permanent addition to Crown Royal’s lineup and will replace the non-age stated Reserve blend.

Crown Royal, the top-selling Canadian whisky brand, has steadily been releasing older liquid over the past few years. It all started in 2021, with the release of Crown Royal 18 year old Extra Rare. At the time it was the oldest expression from the brand, but that notion would be shattered the following year when Crown Royal 29 year old hit the scene. Crown Royal would follow that up with a 30 year old blend and a 31 year old blend. There was also a 23 year old flavored whisky, a one-off, apple-flavored expression.

Rampur Jugalbandi No. 5 Tokaji Cask Finish Indian Single Malt

ABV: 55.6%
SRP: $400
Availability: Limited; imported by SG Worldwide

Rampur Jugalbandi No. 6 Madeira Cask Matured Indian Single Malt

ABV: 55.8%
SRP: $400
Availability: Limited; imported by SG Worldwide

This week marks Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and if you’re in Manhattan, look out for Indian single malt whisky brand Rampur lighting up the famous Nasdaq billboard in Times Square. The distillery, which recently announced the release of Rampur Barrel Blush, has unveiled plans to release the latest pair of expressions in its cask strength Jugalbandi series in the U.S. in early 2025.

Jugalbandi is a term from Indian classical music where two different instruments create harmony, and Rampur has extended this notation to whisky, finding harmony of flavors through the use of two different types of casks. Typically, Rampur is initially matured in bourbon barrels, and for the Jugalbandi releases, master distiller Anup Barik either finishes the whisky in a secondary cask or adds select stocks of Rampur fully matured in a different cask type. The Jugalbandi series of eight cask-strength limited editions first launched in international markets excluding the U.S. in 2022, beginning with a pair of moscatel and calvados finishes, followed up in 2023 by a port cask matured and IPA cask matured expressions.

2BAR 6 year old Single Barrel Bourbon (Barrel No. 991)

ABV: 64%
Price: $88
Availability: Online; distillery tasting room

Founded in 2010, 2Bar Spirits has an all-female production team that mills, mashes, ferments, distills, ages, and bottles on-site in Seattle. The team is led by Maddie Kelly, a chemist turned head distiller. 2Bar lays claim to being Seattle’s first distillery to use all local grains. This new barrel-strength malt-forward bourbon is its oldest release to date after spending 6 years in a 30-gallon charred new white oak barrel. As a single barrel whiskey, only 150 bottles were produced. It’s available alongside four other core bourbons: straight bourbon, bottled in bond, and two finished bourbons: one in amaretto barrels and the other in Washington-sourced wine casks. Though proudly grain-to-glass in the Northwest, the label’s name is a reference to founder Nathan Kaiser’s 5th-generation family ranch, 2bar, in South Texas.

The six-grain mashbill for this expression mirrors that of all other 2bar whiskeys, featuring 60% corn, 6% wheat, and 34% four different malted barleys; two varieties of crystal malt, chocolate malt, and Washington Select two row. The corn and wheat are sourced from farmers based in south-central Washington near the Red Mountain region, known for its viticulture, outside the town of Zillah. All the malted barley is sourced from Great Western Malting.

Catador Itinerante Edition 01 Single Cask Austrian Single Malt

ABV: 62.1%
SRP: $70
Availability: Limited; available in Massachusetts and New York retailers, and online with shipping to over 40 states

Catador Itinerante Edition 02 Single Cask Austrian Single Malt

ABV: 71.6%
SRP: $70
Availability: Limited; available in Massachusetts and New York retailers, and online with shipping to over 40 states

Catador Itinerante is a new independent bottler, based in Massachusetts, with a business plan to focus exclusively on world whiskies. Its inaugural releases, both bottled under the Catador Itinerante name, are a pair of single malts sourced from Broger, a family-run distillery set in the small Austrian municipality of Klaus. Catador Itinerante Edition 01 is a 13 year old from Broger that aged 4 years in virgin Limousin French oak, before being transferred to a madeira cask where it spent the remainder of its maturation. Edition 02 was distilled from malted barley smoked with beechwood and was fully matured for 10 years in an oloroso cask.

Catador Itinerante, which is Spanish for “Traveling Taster,” is the brainchild of Pablo Goldbarg, who has written books about whisky and also runs a Spanish whisky-themed podcast. Pablo, who uses “Catador Itinerante” as a pen name, started touring Europe last year in search of casks from distilleries that aren’t yet widely available in the U.S. His next two releases will come from a distillery in Germany.