Westland, Woodford, Knob Creek, 2XO, Compass Box, Glenmorangie and More [New Releases]

No dog days of summer this week, as whisky lovers are being treated to lots of exciting news. In American whiskey, Seattle's Westland Distillery, whose co-founder Matt Hofmann moved on last year, continues its reset with the release of two new expressions—one finished in beer casks and the other in wine casks. Knob Creek, always among the most traditional of whiskey makers, gets creative with a new blend of bourbon and rye, while Woodford Reserve has blended two malt whiskeys for the latest edition in its Distillery Series. Dixon Dedman, who made his name with the Kentucky Owl whiskeys back in 2014, continues to see his star rise with 2XO, whose latest release is a bourbon finished in French oak casks.

Not to be outdone, the scotch side has some very interesting news. Compass Box, whose celebrated founder John Glaser departed the company earlier this year, is ready for its next act with two entirely new labels, Nectarosity and Crimson Casks. In single malt, Glenmorangie's Signet expression, the pinnacle of its portfolio, is now one-upping itself with Signet Reserve. It's available at the distillery, on reservebar.comreservebar.com, at specialist retailers, and at London's Heathrow Airport Terminal 2. If you're traveling through Terminal 2 this summer and have a spare $345, head for The Glenmorangie Boutique (yes, they have their own shop there) and score a bottle on the way home.

Knob Creek Bourbon X Rye Blend

ABV: 56.5%
SRP: $45
Availability: Limited; nationwide

As the name suggests, this is a blended whiskey that combines Knob Creek bourbon and rye to create an entirely new expression in new territory for the brand. 70% of the blend is made up of Knob Creek 7 year old rye , while the remaining 30% represents Knob Creek 9 year old bourbon.

Poly-style blends like this one are becoming an increasingly common sight for whiskey drinkers. Though some distillers have dabbled in it, the practice is more popular among blending houses that source their whiskey. Those housese blend different styles as an alternative way of influencing what the final product will taste like. Other examples include High West’s Bourye and Campfire, Basil Hayden’s Two by Two Rye, and Four Gate Kelvin Collaboration IIII. Just last week 15 Stars released Three Kings, a blend that combines bourbon, rye, and wheat whiskeys.

Woodford Reserve Distillery Series Blended Malt

ABV: 45.2%
SRP: $65/375 ml
Availability: Limited; at the distillery, in select Kentucky retailers, and online

The Woodford Reserve Distillery Series is a line of limited-edition whiskeys that showcase the brand’s more creative side. This newest member is a blend of two malt whiskeys. The first one is a ruby port cask-finished single malt that was distilled in 2013 and aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels. The second component was distilled from a mix of five different malts—brewer's malt, wheat malt, pale chocolate malt, Carafa 1 malt, and kiln coffee malt—which was aged for 9.5 years in new oak barrels.

While Woodford is best known for its bourbon, the distillery boasts more than a few malt whiskeys. Its core range includes a straight malt whiskey that was made “for bourbon drinkers,” which has 51% malted barley in its mashbill—the legal minimum for an American malt whiskey—and was aged in new charred oak. Other examples include Straight Malt and Classic Malt, which were previously released as part of the Master’s Collection.

2XO French Oak Straight Kentucky Bourbon

ABV: 46%
SRP: $50
Availability: Nationwide

2XO has a new member of its ongoing Oak Series. It’s a bourbon finished using master blender Dixon Dedman’s “double oak” process, which involves pieces of charred oak threaded through stainless steel chains that are inserted into the barrel while the whiskey ages. The goal is to use the oak pieces to impart flavors on the whiskey like a typical cask finish, without transferring it to a secondary finishing cask. This time around Dedman used French oak scraps, which he sourced from cooperages across France.

The Oak Series kicked off last September with the launch of 2XO American Oak. The series is meant to showcase 2XO’s “everyday” whiskeys, which are priced lower than the rest of its offerings. The series is also currently the only stable for the label’s ongoing releases. The rest of the portfolio is dominated by the Icon Series (one-off blends, including Tribute and Kiawah) and Gem of Kentucky (a $200 single barrel). French Oak’s predecessor, American Oak, scored 91 points with our tasting panel.

Westland Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt (Batch 1)

ABV: 46%
SRP: $75
Availability: Distillery and e-commerce only in August, nationwide starting in September; 10,0961 bottles

The beer casks used for finishing this whiskey are from undisclosed Washington brewers, and here Westland aims to celebrate the state’s long craft brewing heritage. The whiskey itself was aged for a minimum of 8 years. The cask types include scotch ale, stout, brown ale, doppelbock, saison, and stock ale. The mashbill includes Washington select pale malt, Munich malt, extra special malt, brown malt, pale chocolate malt, pilsen malt, and Maris Otter malt.

Westland Wine Cask Finished American Single Malt (BATCH 1)

ABV: 46%
SRP: $75
Availability: Distillery and e-commerce only in August, nationwide starting in September; 14,614 bottles

The casks used for finishing this one are all from Washington state wineries, and the wine types include tempranillo, Washington red blend, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and petit verdot. The minimum maturation time was 5 years. As with the beer cask expression, Westland is hailing Washington’s rich winemaking tradition—the state has 1,050 wineries, according to the Washington State Wine Commission. The mashbill recipe for the whiskey includes Washington select ale malt, Munich malt, extra special malt, brown malt, and pale chocolate malt.

Yellowstone Bourbon Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon (2024 Release)

ABV: 50.5%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited; nationwide in September

Limestone Branch has released Yellowstone Limited Edition bourbon every year since 2015. For this ninth bottling, master distiller Stephen Beam blended 7 and 17 year old bourbons, and finished them in a combination of French brandy and cognac casks. The double finish marks a first for Limestone Branch, which has slowly built up a repertoire of cask finishes over the years, most often through these Limited Edition bourbons and the more recently launched Special Finishes collection.

Westward Whiskey Bottled in Bond American Single Malt

ABV: 50%
SRP: $100
Availability: Westward Whiskey Club exclusive

A crucial component of American whiskey drinking for well over a century, bottled in bond (BIB) whiskey went out of fashion for a time and is now enjoying a modern moment in the sun, benefiting from growing attention from both distillers and us whisky fans alike. It’s few and far between, however, that you see a bottled in bond offering that’s not a bourbon (or to a lesser extent, rye or wheat whiskey), making Westward Whiskey’s newest bottled in bond American single malt something of a surprise.

The Portland, Oregon distillery’s new whiskey was distilled in March 2017, and spent the next seven years aging in the state’s warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. At 7 years old, it’s quite a bit older than the 4 year old requirement that governs bottled in bond (but this speaks to a growing trend within the category, as distillers like Heaven Hill, New Riff, and Wilderness Trail have released older BIB whiskeys).

The new whiskey is available exclusively to members of Westward’s Whiskey Club, which is comprised of two tiers: the Expedition Club ($100 a quarter), whose members receive one bottle of whiskey every three months, and the Founder’s Club ($300), which ships three bottles each quarter. The club ships to 35 states across the U.S. (and features perks aside from the bottles, including an annual tour and tasting, among others).

Compass Box Nectarosity Blended Scotch

ABV: 46%
SRP: $65
Availability: Nationwide starting in September

Compass Box Crimson Casks Blended Malt Scotch

ABV: 46%
SRP: $75
Availability: Nationwide starting in September

Nectarosity leans on two parcels: a grain whisky from William Grant’s Girvan Distillery in the Lowlands, and a single malt from the Clynelish Distillery in the Northern Highlands. The remainder of the blend includes stocks from Highlands distilleries Linkwood and Balmenach and grain whisky from Cameronbridge, Diageo’s giant Lowlands grain facility. The recipe includes a mix of bourbon and sherry casks, alongside new toasted and charred oak barrels, which are first used to hold new-make grain distillate for a year before aging single malt for 6–8 years.

Crimson Casks, is Compass Box’s new take on a sherried scotch. It’s a blend of single malts, with a large slice of the pie coming from an undisclosed distillery, described only as “near the town of Aberlour.” Other parcels come by way of Benrinnes, Glen Moray, and Teaninich. Some of the Glen Moray components and all of the ones from Aberlour were aged in oloroso-seasoned butts, contributing to the whisky’s wine-driven profile.

These two new expressions are part of a larger plan to reboot Compass Box’s core range of whiskies. Unfortunately for Compass Box devotees, that means some other bottlings are now being discontinued—notably Spice Tree and Story of the Spaniard.

Spice Tree and Spaniard now mark the second and third whiskies to be dropped from Compass Box’s ongoing release cycle this year. In February, Compass Box announced that Hedonism would become a limited annual release, citing a dearth of aged stocks. The move to an annual release schedule came with a fairly steep price jump.

Glenmorangie Signet Reserve Highland Single Malt Scotch

ABV: 46%
SRP: $345
Availability: Glenmorangie.com, the distillery visitor center, the Glenmorangie Boutique at London’s Heathrow Terminal 2, Reservebar.com, and specialist retailers; imported by Moët Hennessy USA

Glenmorangie is releasing a rarer version of Signet, its luxury expression, as a new limited annual release: Signet Reserve. Glenmorangie’s director of whisky creation Dr. Bill Lumsden’s aim was to create a darker, richer flavor profile. His starting point was fully matured Signet, which he further aged in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, though the duration of cask finishing isn't disclosed.

The innovation behind the original Glenmorangie Signet, first released in 2008, was the use of highly roasted chocolate malt. Lumsden’s chocolate malt experiment was designed to create an indulgent whisky that evoked the flavors of freshly brewed Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, though chocolate malt proved to be so impactful that he drew on other Glenmorangie stocks including older whiskies distilled in 1974 to balance the recipe in the debut batch. Coffee continues to be a popular flavor trend across different whisky styles, while maltsters have widened their offering to distillers to meet the expectations for greater flavor varieties from malted barley. Glenmorangie Distillery produces spirit for Signet only one week a year. Recently rated 94 points, Signet is matured in bourbon barrels, sherry butts, and new charred oak casks, and has been released continuously since 2008. Notably, Lumsden launched Glenmorangie Private Edition the following year, beginning with a 90-point rated Pedro Ximénez finish called Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX in 2009.