Old Fitz VVS 2025, Glenmorangie Altus 25 year old, and More New Releases

This week is primarily dominated by extra-special releases from familiar names. Heaven Hill has debuted its fourth Old Fitzgerald VVS bottled in bond bourbon; not to be outdone, Glenmorangie has brought back a 25 year old single malt to its core range, while Suntory has released its oldest Yamazaki yet, this one fully matured in mizunara oak. On the craft level, Brooklyn's Kings County Distillery has introduced a widely available Empire rye, and Single Cask Nation has also put the spotlight on New York rye and peated American single malt with its latest drop.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 11 Year Old VVS 2025 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 50%
SRP: $170
Availability: Kentucky exclusive

The fourth release in Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald VVS (Very Very Special) line is an 11 year old bourbon made from the distillery’s classic wheater recipe of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley (as all Old Fitzgerald whiskeys are). Master distiller Conor O’Driscoll created the 2025 bottling—which follows 2024, 2020, and 2018 releases—using a selection of Heaven Hill’s very best wheated bourbon barrels. The VVS line is quite limited, and while we don’t have a specific bottle number to share this year, if you’d like to purchase the whiskey, you’ll have to travel to the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown, Kentucky, or visit a Kentucky retailer.

Back in June, Heaven Hill introduced a more accessible Old Fitzgerald whiskey: a 7 year old that’s the sole permanently available bottle in the Old Fitz lineup, and just $60. A month earlier, the brand’s Spring 2025 whiskey was released, that one coming in at 9 years old. And we can expect yet another Old Fitzgerald whiskey later this year, when the Fall 2025 bottle is released. While VVS whiskeys are part of the brand's Decanter Series, they differentiate from the bi-annual releases in one notable physical way: The VVS labels are maroon, in contrast to the green labels of the more standard Decanter Series whiskeys.

Kings County Empire Rye

ABV: 45%
SRP: $69
Availability: Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn; online at kingscountydistillery.com; and New York retailers

Brooklyn, New York-based Kings County Distillery has unveiled a new flagship whiskey, Empire Rye. Previously available on a limited basis, the release marks a shift in the distillery’s inventory, which is finally robust enough to supply Empire Rye year-round. The whiskey is made from a mashbill of 80% danko rye grown in Ancramdale, New York (about two hours north of New York City and home to another New York distiller, Hill Rock Estate) and 20% English malted barley. It’s pot distilled and aged for a minimum of 3 years.

Empire Rye joins a straight bourbon, peated bourbon, and American single malt in Kings County’s core lineup. The distillery is one of four making whiskey in Brooklyn; among its cohorts are Widow Jane, Fort Hamilton, and New York Distilling Co. Until recently, there had been a fifth Brooklyn distillery—Van Brunt Stillhouse—but that shuttered in May after 13 years in business.

Single Cask Nation New York Distilling 10 Year Old Rye

ABV: 67.8%
SRP: $100
Availability: 123 bottles

Single Cask Nation Balcones 4 Year Old Peated American Single Malt

ABV: 66.3%
SRP: $80
Availability: 150 bottles

Single Cask Nation Cedar Ridge 5 Year Old Peated American Single Malt

ABV: 61.4%
SRP: $80
Availability: 150 bottles

While independent bottlers are quite common in Scotland, you’re less likely to come across them in the U.S. Joshua Hatton and Jason Johnstone-Yellin, however, were early American adopters of the business model, founding Single Cask Nation on the premise of bottling whisky from lesser-known, underrated, or overlooked distilleries back in 2011. Its newest releases put the spotlight on three American distilleries and two distinct styles: Empire rye and peated American single malt.

The oldest of the three releases is a 10 year old rye from New York Distilling Co. This marks Single Cask Nation’s first collaboration with the Brooklyn distiller, which was acquired by Scotland’s Loch Lomond Group earlier this year. Next, there’s a 4 year old peated American single malt from Texas distiller Balcones that aged entirely in first-fill bourbon barrels. Johnstone-Yellin notes that this is the company’s third time working with Balcones, but its first peated cask from the distillery. The third expression is a 5 year old peated American single malt from Iowa’s Cedar Ridge; the 5 year old whiskey finished for 2 years in first-fill sauternes casks.

As with previous Single Cask Nation drops, these whiskeys are available exclusively through singlecasknation.com.

Glenmorangie The Altus 25 year old Highland single malt scotch

ABV: 43%
SRP: $675
Availability: specialist retailers, the distillery’s visitors center in Tain, and glenmorangie.com; imported by Moët Hennessy USA

Glenmorangie is adding a new 25 year old expression to its core range, joining Glenmorangie Original 12 year old and Glenmorangie The Infinita 18 year old. Known as The Altus, the whisky’s flavor profile begins with Glenmorangie aged in bourbon casks, including stock matured in Glenmorangie’s custom toasted bourbon casks. These whiskies are married with a small quantity of Glenmorangie finished in malmsey madeira casks, inspired by the pioneering Glenmorangie Madeira Wood Finish, the first madeira drum finish of its kind. This was released in 1995, coinciding with the start of Dr. Bill Lumsden’s career with The Glenmorangie Co. nearly 30 years ago. The name Altus, Latin for “high,” was chosen by Lumsden, director of whisky creation and master distiller, because he found the madeira wood influence elevated Glenmorangie’s signature style. Actor Harrison Ford became one of the first people outside of the whisky creation team to try Glenmorangie The Altus 25 year old, and his reaction is captured on film in Episode 10: “Teamwork” in the “Once upon a time in Scotland” mini-series.

Glenmorangie has only released a core range 25 year old twice before. The distillery has been owned by LVMH since 2004, and Glenmorangie Quarter Century, released in 2010, was matured in bourbon, oloroso sherry, and burgundy casks. Under the previous ownership of Macdonald & Muir, the Glenmorangie Co. released an earlier edition, called Glenmorangie 25 year old, simply described as being aged in oak barrels.

Yamazaki 25 year old Mizunara Japanese single malt

ABV: 48%
SRP: $7,500
Availability: Specialist stores and select online retailers; imported by Suntory Global Spirits

The House of Suntory has released a new Yamazaki, its oldest yet Japanese whisky fully matured in mizunara oak casks. Founded in 1923, Yamazaki is the oldest whisky distillery in Japan, and the history of its use of mizunara oak goes back to the 1940s. Previous releases of Yamazaki 25 year old, and even Yamazaki 55 year old, only included mizunara oak-matured whiskies as part of the recipe. Yamazaki routinely fills six different types of casks; bourbon barrels, bourbon hogsheads, American oak puncheons, Spanish oak butts, Bordeaux red wine barrels, and mizunara oak casks. Suntory’s chief blender Shinji Fukuyo has found that Yamazaki maturing in mizunara oak begins peak maturation at 15 years onward, and finds it to be a key component in Yamazaki 12 year old’s recipe. Building up to this release, there have been three earlier Yamazaki 18 year old Mizunara expressions; the 2017 edition, 100^th anniversary edition, and 2024 Tsukuriwake edition. Yamazaki 25 year old Mizunara is distilled, matured, and bottled in Japan and meets the production and labeling standards for a product of Japan set by the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association.