Ultra-Aged Whiskies, Led by Scotland, Dominate the Latest Round of New Releases from Overseas

In this week’s list of new scotch and world whisky launches, we find distillers delving deep into the warehouse for ultra-aged—and usually ultra-expensive—expressions. With the gift-giving time of year approaching, whisky houses including Talisker, GlenDronach, Aberfeldy, and Crown Royal are releasing some of their oldest whiskies yet. Talisker has a 45 year old, while Crown Royal’s 30 year old release is its oldest ever, and Aberfeldy is out with its first 25 year old in two decades. The new Chivas XV is among the few scotch releases here to be feeling some gravitational pull, priced at $50.

We also have this year's release of Bruichladdich's Bere Barley and Black Art expressions from Islay, which are always a treat if you can find them. While the mysterious Black Art contains some very mature whiskies and is priced accordingly, Bruichladdich Bere Barley is looking positively affordable at $140 if you're gift-giving for a loved one, a friend, or possibly yourself! From elsewhere around the world, we have the latest from Kaiyo, a blending house that ages its whiskies at sea for three months as part of their maturation—a process similar to that for the sea-aged Kelt cognac label, which is part of the same group.

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Islay)
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 50%
Price: $140
Release: October
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
The latest edition of Bruichladdich Bere Barley—which is always distilled from unpeated bere barley, an ancient 6-row variety grown on Orkney—was aged in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels and refill Pauillac wine casks.

Bruichladdich Black Art 11
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Islay)
Age: 24 year old
ABV: 44.2%
Price: $550
Release: November 2023
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
While Bruichladdich is incredibly transparent about 99.9% of its production, Black Art is a notorious outlier, with minimal information given about how the whisky is made. Only head distiller Adam Hannett is privy to the recipe to the 11th edition and the composition of casks, sharing just the age and ABV. This edition is rich with notes of dried fruits, leather, poached pear, praline, marzipan, and honey.

Whisky Advocate says:
There’s not a whole lot of bere barley to go around, but Bruichladdich’s partnership with the Agronomy Institute of the University of the Highlands & Islands has made it possible for the distillery to make Bere Barley single malt an annual limited release. A 2013 vintage was last released two years ago, when the whisky was just 8 years old. Black Art, meanwhile, is even more limited than Bere Barley, and represents the best of the best at Bruichladdich, routinely fetching high scores.

Talisker Glacial Edge 45 year old
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Islands)
Age: 45 year old
ABV: 49.8%
Price: $5,000
Release: November
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
Talisker has announced the oldest whisky in its series of adventurous releases, a new 45 year old expression finished in ice-fractured casks. Twelve heavily charred American oak casks with the ends removed were left exposed to sub-zero temperatures and biting Arctic winds on a glacier for 96 hours in the Canadian ice fields. The intention was to explore the extreme cold’s impact on the wood, causing micro-fractures and thus increasing the surface area of the cask resulting in greater interaction with the mature island whisky when it was finished back in Scotland.

Whisky Advocate says:
Talisker has released a series of whiskies in partnership with marine environmental organization Parley for the Oceans. For this release, Parley ambassadors surfer Greg Long and snowboarder Taylor Godber trekked across the ice fields and explored ice caves with glacier scientist Dr. Alison Criscitiello, who helped the team understand how the planet’s ecosystems are interconnected from the glacial fields of Canada to the sea surrounding the distillery’s home on Skye. Luxury travel specialists Abercrombie & Kent are offering guided tastings of Talisker Glacial Edge 45 year old as an optional extra on the itineraries of guests booking select glacial adventures to Iceland during November.

Chivas Regal XV
Style: Blend
Origin: Scotland
Age: 15 year old
ABV: 40%
Price: $50
Release: October 2023
Availability: Widely available

Need to know:
Chivas Regal has launched Chivas XV, a 15 year old blended scotch created by master blender Sandy Hyslop, who finished a portion of the blend in cognac casks, that was previously not available in the U.S.

Whisky Advocate says:
Chivas XV received 92 points when it was originally launched in 2018 and has been repositioned to a lower price point with this reintroduction. Roman numerals are uncommon on whisky labels, though Chivas Brothers has used them elsewhere on Chivas Regal Ultis XX, and the discontinued Glenlivet XXV. William Grant & Sons also used them on its Glenfiddich Gran Cortes XXII.

GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 12
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Highlands)
Age: 29 year old
ABV: 49.2%
Price: $830
Release: November 2023
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
This Highland single malt was matured for nearly three decades in oloroso casks. It’s presented in individually numbered 700 ml bottles, each of them wax-sealed.

Whisky Advocate says:
The Grandeur series is a relatively recent bookmark in the history of GlenDronach, which stretches back to 1826. The first Grandeur expression, a 31 year old single malt, was launched in 2010. Subsequent entries have followed suit, also sporting ultra-age statements. The line has seen some success with our tasters, with most expressions falling at or above 93 points.

Aberfeldy 25 year old 125th Anniversary Special Edition
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Highlands)
Age: 25 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $550
Release: November 2023
Availability: Limited; select retail stores and ReserveBar

Need to know:
Aberfeldy Distillery is marking 125 years of whisky making with a limited edition 25 year old expression initially matured in refill hogsheads and butts before being finished for over a year in first-fill oloroso sherry casks.

Whisky Advocate says:
This is Aberfeldy malt master and Dewar’s director of blending Stephanie Macleod’s first Aberfeldy 25 year old release, and while it has bottled older whiskies, this one marks the first time this age statement has been chosen for an Aberfeldy release since 2003.

Macallan Distil Your World Mexico
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: Not stated
ABV: 48%
Price: $4,500
Release: November 2023
Availability: Limited global release of 2,000 bottles, sold through select Macallan boutiques, the Macallan website, and premium retailers

Need to know:
The next edition of Macallan Distil Your World focuses on Mexico, in celebration of the Day of the Dead festival. It’s being launched with a new documentary and vibrant packaging featuring artwork by Mexican folklore illustrator Alfredo Rios. Macallan whisky maker Diane Stuart created this expression in collaboration with the Roca Brothers, owners of El Celler de Can Roca, selecting Macallan matured in European and American oak casks.

Whisky Advocate says:
Following earlier expressions that celebrated London and New York, Macallan’s Distil Your World series is an exercise in sensory anthropology, aiming to capture the essence and spirit of a city and its people in a bottle. Diane Stuart and Joan Roca traveled to Mexico City to immerse themselves in the cultures and traditions of the festival. A new 30-minute documentary film captures their journey. On the trip, they met three key people who influenced their conceptualizing: chef and baker Elena Reygadas; Josefina Garcia, a director of the Dolores Olmedo Museum in Mexico City, which has the world’s largest collection of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera artworks; and marigold farmer Luiz Perez, who grows the marigold flowers that play a central role in the Day of the Dead festival.

World Whisky

Kaiyo The Ramu 8 year old
Style: Blended malt
Origin: Japan
Age: 8 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $70
Release: November 2023
Availability: 4,380 bottles

Kaiyo The Rye 10 year old
Style: Blended malt
Origin: Japan
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $80
Release: November 2023
Availability: 2,460 bottles

Kaiyo The Unicorn 10 year old
Style: Blended malt
Origin: Japan
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $100
Release: November 2023
Availability: 4,872 bottles

Need to know:
Each whisky of three new releases from Kaiyo's Wood Library Series is made from 100% malted barley. As part of their initial maturation in new mizunara oak casks, the whisky spends 3 years in a Japanese warehouse, then 3 months at sea voyaging from Osaka to the UK, where they continue to mature in the Japanese mizunara oak casks and then receive different finishings. Kaiyo The Ramu was matured in mizunara for six years, and then finished in rum agricole casks from Martinique producer JM Rhum for two more years. Kaiyo The Rye and Kaiyo The Unicorn were both aged in mizunara oak casks for five years: Kaiyo The Rye underwent a secondary maturation in Knob Creek rye barrels for five more years, while The Unicorn spent an additional five years in experimental “wet char” bourbon barrels.

Whisky Advocate says:
Kaiyo The Unicorn is the first whisky to have undergone this "wet char" technique, which was developed by master blender Jeffrey Karlovitch. It evolves the traditional technique for reconditioning seasoned casks, but rather than fully draining the casks before scraping the staves and recharring the cask, Karlovitch selected casks that still had around 5 liters of cask-strength bourbon inside—in this case, the casks were untoasted bourbon barrels with a previous No.- 3 or 4 char that had been used for 12–23 years. Without scraping the staves, the residual bourbon was ignited inside the cask, drawing out the moisture of the untoasted staves as the spirit burned on the inner surface of the staves. The idea was to gain access to untapped pockets of flavor deeper inside the oak. The process must be carefully controlled so that only the fire does not consume the wood of the barrel or create an even deeper layer of char.

Crown Royal 30 year old
Style: Blend
Origin: Canada
Age: 30 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $500
Release: November 2023
Availability: Limited; AZ, CA, DE, FL, GA, IL, LA, MI, OH, PA, and TX.

Need to know:
Crown Royal’s latest limited edition is a blend that carries a 30 year old age statement. All the components of the blend were produced on Crown Royal’s Coffey still. It’s packaged in an iridescent bottle with an accompanying cream-colored Crown Royal satin bag.

Whisky Advocate says:
This is Crown Royal’s oldest blend to date, just ahead of last year’s 29 year old Extra Rare. Both expressions belong to Crown Royal’s Master’s Collection, which encapsulates some of the label’s most exclusive (and priciest!) expressions. The new blend follows Crown Royal 23 year old Golden Apple, a 23 year old flavored whisky with a suggested price of $250. This expression is a marked jump in price, even when compared to the 29 year old which originally retailed for $400.

Alfred Giraud Une Odyssée
Style: Blended malt
Origin: France
Age: Not stated
ABV: 52.9%
Price: $2,800
Release: November 2023
Availability: 459 numbered decanters globally; available in CA, FL, NY, and reservebar.com.

Need to know:
This limited edition non-age stated blend of two malt whiskies was aged in a 60 year old cognac cask, and marks the luxury debut of the Alfred Giraud Singular Collection. The series is reserved for one-off expressions aged in exceptional casks.

Whisky Advocate says:
After nearly a century of experience in crafting cognacs, the Giraud family is now earning a reputation for releasing elegant, innovative high-end French whiskies too. In addition to fine old cognac casks, they favor American oak, wine, and French limousin oak casks to help enhance the flavors in their whiskies. Giraud has styled Une Odyssée as a double malt, simply a blend of two malt whiskies from different distilleries, adding to its roster of 92-point double malts including Voyage, and last year’s limited release, Intrigue.