PATRÓN EN LALIQUE: SERIE 2

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Brand owner Patrón Tequila

RRP US $7,500

Markets US/ Travel Retail/Duty Free

Contact patron-lalique.com, patronconcierge.com/

Patrón tequila and Lalique have come together for the second series in this collaboration. The product is aged for eight years in a combination of American oak, French oak and sherry barrels. Only 299 bottles of Patrón en Lalique: Serie 2 (40%) have been created at Lalique’s glass factory in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace, France. Lalique’s dedicated glassmakers combine modern techniques and traditional skills to create the decanter, which is characterised by straight lines and frosted finishes.

Patrón master distiller Francisco Alcaraz and his team created a blend of extra añejo tequilas, aged at the Hacienda Patrón distillery in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, for an average of more than seven years.

Tequila from three different types of barrels were selected to create the blend.

MOKO RUM

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Brand owner Maison Peyrat

RRP €60

Markets Global

Contact (trade) maisonpeyrat@orange.fr

Moko rum is aged for several years in Panama to achieve maturity, then imported at its full alcohol level to ‘preserve aromatic richness’. The rum is then finished in old cognac barrels in France to achieve what the brand claims has ‘notes of cardamom, vanilla and tea with hints of dried coconut.

GREEN SPOT CHATEAU MONTELENA

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Brand owner Irish Distillers/Pernod Ricard

RRP US$65, €53

Markets US, Canada and Ireland (including Ireland Travel Retail)

Contact Nathan Nye: Nathan@RTC.london

Green Spot Château Montelena has been initially matured in American bourbon and sherry casks then finished for a year in casks previously filled with Zinfandel wine from the Château Montelena winery in California’s Napa Valley.

Created at the Midleton Distillery by Kevin O’Gorman, head of maturation, and long-serving head blender Billy Leighton, Green Spot Château Montelena is the second edition in the Wine Geese series following the launch of Green Spot Château Léoville Barton in 2015.

Bottled at 46% abv and without chill-filtration, Green Spot Chateau Montelena will be available in limited quantities each year in its markets.

LANGHAM BLANC DE NOIRS

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Brand owner Langham Wine Estate

RRP £27

Markets UK-only

Contact caroline@langhamwine.co.uk

The decision to produce a Blanc de Noirs followed a successful Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier harvest in 2013.

The grapes, both black varieties, were picked from October 11-24, 2013, and gently pressed, whole bunch, in a pneumatic press. Fermentation took place both in stainless steel vats and used oak barrels, then the wine was left to age on its lees for six months before being bottled.

Langham Blanc de Noirs 2013 is a blend of 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Pinot Meunier.

The nose is said to be “alive with red fruit, violet and brioche aromas”, while the palate has “citrus fruit, complemented by the complexity derived from prolonged lees ageing”.

LUXARDO SOUR CHERRY GIN

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Brand owner Luxardo

RRP £28, €32, $39

Markets US, UK and Canada

Contact Matteo@luxardo.it

The base for the Sour Cherry gin expression is Luxardo London Dry gin based on a 1936 recipe. From this, Luxardo has added some Sur Cherry Juice, produced in Hose with natural ingredients. The gin is produced in Italy and is said to be the only sour cherry gin in the world.

JOHNNIE WALKER BLENDERS’ BATCH SHERRY CASK FINISH

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Brand owner Diageo

RRP £26.50, US$44 for 1 litre bottle

Markets global travel retail

Contact Lindsey Stobo, +44(0)-289-039-5500

Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Sherry Cask Finish (40% abv) has launched in global travel retail as the latest expression in the series. It is made with whiskies from distilleries including Blair Athol, Cardhu and Strathmill. It is said to be a smooth-sipping dark Scotch.

YAMAZAKI MIZUNARA 2017 EDITION

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Brand owner Beam Suntory

RRP €1,000, £1,000, US$1,000

Markets Asia/Europe/Global Travel Retail/Duty Free/UK

Contact Maxxium.com, 01786 430500

Beam Suntory has released 5,000 bottles of the Yamazaki Mizunara 2017 Edition. It has been released worldwide as the first whisky to be aged solely in a Mizunara cask for a minimum of 18 years.

Created in the Yamazaki Distillery, Osaka, Japan, the Mizunara edition has been blended from a selection of single malt whiskies by Suntory’s chief blender, Shinji Fukuyo, who believes age is key to unlocking the signature taste of Mizunara wood and only a long maturation can provide the spiciness and incense-like flavour of sandalwood and aloe wood.

The expression is presented in a wooden box crafted from recycled Suntory casks.

BODEGA GARZÓN BALASTO 2015

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Brand owner Alejandro Bulgheroni

RRP £45 (trade) $62, €50

Markets China, Japan, Hong Kong, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, US, France

Contact Lisa McBain, LMcBain@bibendum-plb.com

Bodega Garzón Balasto 2015 is a Uruguayan wine made from grapes grown on ballast soils or decomposed granitic rock. The wine has been aged in untoasted French oak barrels.

Balasto takes the name of the ballast soils on which the grapes are grown. This provides drainage for the vines and Bodega Garzón, where the grapes are grown, is located 11 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

The wine is made up of 45% Tannat, 25% Cabernet Franc, 20% Petit Verdot and 10% Marselan and has been aged for 20 months in 25hl and 50hl untoasted French oak barrels and is unfiltered. It was bottled in April 2017.

PAMPELLE

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Brand owner Think Brands

RRP £20

Markets Australia, UK, with plans to expand to USA, UAE, Europe and GTR in 2018

Contact Minfo@mangroveuk.com

Pampelle (15%abv) is a new, bitter-sweet spirit aperitif made with organic ruby red grapefruit from Corsica together with selected botanicals.

The grapefruit juice is infused with the botanicals and distilled to produce the aperitif, which is naturally low in sugar.

The bottle is designed to show Mediterranean cues and is stamped with the seal of a Damselfly.

BOWMORE 1966

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Brand owner Beam Suntory

RRP £20,000, €21,000, $27,700

Markets Global (key markets include US, Canada, UK, Asia, GTR)

Contact bowmore.com

Bowmore 1966 is available in limited quantities and celebrates a pivotal year for the Islay distillery. The single malt whisky was distilled in the same year that Bowmore Islay Single Malt was officially first bottled. The ex-bourbon cask laid down in 1966 was kept aside as a ‘special’ cask and protected by distillery manager Eddie MacAffer, who joined Bowmore distillery that very same year.

Sitting at the pinnacle of Bowmore’s age-statement portfolio, Bowmore 1966 is presented in a handmade crystal decanter featuring sterling silver adornments, and is housed in a handmade cabinet made from Scottish oak.