New Releases: Bulleit 12 Year Old Rye, Ardbeg Spectacular, & More

Today's new releases are a limited bunch, kicking off with Bulleit 12 year old rye—a re-release of a 2019 whiskey that sees Bulleit pulling from older MGP barrels. The American contingent is also present with the next installment in Four Gate's Kelvin Collaboration series, a rye mash expression from Old Potrero, as well as a new collaborative whiskey from Quest's End. Over in Scotland, Ardbeg is gearing up for the annual Ardbeg Day with a special finished blend.

Bulleit 12 year old Rye

ABV: 46%
SRP: $55
Availability: Limited

Bulleit 12 year old Rye isn’t brand new—the whiskey was first introduced in 2019, and discontinued shortly thereafter due to supply. This reprise features the same 95% rye, 5% malted barley mashbill (which is also the mashbill of Bulleit’s flagship rye), and like its predecessor, it too was distilled at MGP Distillery in Indiana.

The whiskey is a minimum of 12 years old, but some of the barrels incorporated into the blend were aged up to 17 years old, making it quite a bit older than the original release. While Bulleit’s bourbons are made in Kentucky, there’s no plan to move rye production into the state at this time. Bulleit opened a distillery in Shelbyville in 2017, and then opened a second distillery in Lebanon in 2021 that’s capable of producing up to 10 million proof gallons per year.

Ardbeg Spectacular Scotch Single Malt

ABV: 46%
SRP: $130
Availability: Limited

The latest Ardbeg Day release is here, and with the name of Spectacular, it’s no surprise that the distillery cooked up something extra special. For this release, Dr. Bill Lumsden, longtime head of distilling and whisky creation, and master blender Gillian Macdonald took a vatting of Ardbeg single malts aged for 9 and 13 years; 35% of the blend aged entirely in bourbon barrels, and the remainder matured wholly in port casks—a first for the distillery, which had never before utilized port pipes for maturation. The port casks were previously used to finish Quinta Ruban, a single malt from Ardbeg’s sister distillery Glenmorangie.

The past several Ardbeg Day releases have been experiments in either maturation or primary production. Last year’s Ardbeg Day whisky, for instance, was Heavy Vapours—a single malt distilled without a purifier, another first for the distillery—while 2022 saw the release of Ardcore, Ardbeg made with heavily roasted black malt.

Ardbeg Day releases are made in celebration of Islay’s Festival of Music and Malt, Fèis Ìle. On the last day of each Fèis Ìle, the distillery hosts Ardbeg Day; this year’s celebrations begin on May 25, with Ardbeg Day falling on June 1. Unlike previous Ardbeg Day releases, this one will not be split into two (with one higher ABV bottle going exclusively to Ardbeg Committee members).

Four Gate The Kelvin Collaboration VI Blend of Straight Bourbons

ABV: 57.8%
MSRP: $199
Availability: 3,876 bottles; available in 11 states and at select online retailers.

Kentucky-based blending house Four Gate has released Kelvin Collaboration VI, a blend of three 9 year old Kentucky bourbons made with different mashbills. The blend was first finished in madeira casks before undergoing a second finish in casks that previously held dark rum from the Florida Keys. The casks were sourced with help from Kelvin Cooperage.

Four Gate released its first whisky back in 2019. The founders had sourced more than 100 barrels of 9–11 year old whiskey and blended 14 of the oldest ones together. The final blend was finished in sherry casks that were used for aging rum, and were selected by neighboring Kelvin Cooperage. That expression, dubbed The Kelvin Collaboration, became the first in a line of annual releases.

Four Gate has a track record of achieving high-scores, but the Kelvin Collaboration series is in a realm of its own. Thus far, none of them have scored below 93. Much of their acclaim comes from a masterful utilization of layered cask finishes—each bottling features either a dual cask finish, or a single finish in casks that have held two different wines/spirits. All of them utilize a rum cask at some point, but VI is the first time we’ve seen madeira casks added to the mix.

Quest’s End: Sandkheg’s Hide Bourbon

ABV: 46.5%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited

Actor, gaming entrepreneur, and Find Familiar Spirits owner Matthew Lillard has teamed up with production company Critical Role for the latest Quest’s End whiskey. In a first for Quest’s End, whose whiskeys nod to the fantasy genre and tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, the new bourbon—named Sandkheg’s Hide—is a direct reference to lore laid down in Critical Role’s own Vox Machina game, which took place in the fantasy land of Exandria.

The whiskey is designed to look like liquor does in Exandria—it’s packaged in a dark green bottle and features a distressed label, wax seal, and coin medallion around its neck, as well as a journal that tells the story of the whiskey (and includes original artwork and a map of Exandria). In terms of what’s in the bottle, the whiskey was created by master blender Alé Ochoa, an alum of TX Whiskey, who blended straight bourbon with bourbons finished in vermouth and sherry barrels.

Sandkheg’s Hide goes on presale for Quest’s End newsletter subscribers on April 30, while sale for the general public will follow on May 2. The bottle will be sold exclusively online, through the Quest’s End website, Seelbach’s, or sandkhegshide.com. Any interested parties, be aware—the sale will run for just three weeks.

Old Potrero 16 year old Bottled in Bond Malted Rye Mash Whiskey

ABV: 50%
MSRP: $199
Availability: 432 bottles; California exclusive

San Francisco-based Hotaling & Co.—the distillery formerly known as Anchor Distilling Co.—has re-released its Old Potrero Bottled in Bond. It was made from 100% malted rye using a copper pot still, and was aged for 16 years in air-dried American oak barrels that were used to age Old Potrero rye.

The original Old Potrero Bottled in Bond was released in 2006 to mark the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake. On April 18, 1906, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake rocked the city of San Francisco. Many gas lines ruptured, and untrained firefighters used dynamite to establish firebreaks; those factors sparked raging fires that destroyed more than 28,000 buildings and claimed over 3,000 lives. Some claimed the catastrophe was divine punishment for the city’s seedier elements, but ironically A.P Hotaling’s—the spirits merchant whom the distillery gets its name from—warehouse and thousands of whiskey barrels were unscathed.

Though it follows the same mashbill as the rest of the Old Potrero lineup, the new Bottled in Bond is a bit of a departure from Hotaling & Co.’s style. That’s entirely down to the use of rye refill casks. Unlike the others, this release bills itself as “distilled from rye mash” rather than a “rye whiskey”—just like with bourbon, American rye whiskeys must be aged in new charred oak in order to carry that title. The casks were picked to compliment the liquid’s flavor profile, while also paying tribute to A.P. Hotaling’s original whiskeys, which were aged in bourbon barrels.