CHILGROVE BLUEWATER EDITION GIN

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Brand owner Chilgrove Spirits

RRP £39, €45

Markets Europe/UK

Contact chilgrovespirits.com

Chilgrove Bluewater Edition is said to draw its inspiration from the ‘rich history’ that exists between England and Australia, in terms of the early explorers and settlers and also the subsequent maritime trade routes. The botanicals which have been chosen all had their part to play in this story, says the company.

Bottled at 46% abv, Chilgrove Bluewater Edition is a London Dry gin crafted using 14 botanicals, including indigenous Australian and English botanicals. These are distilled with a 100% grape alcohol base and natural mineral water, said to be sourced from the South Downs which surround the hamlet of Chilgrove in West Sussex.

Bluewater tasting note: crisp, citrus notes from the Australian botanicals that complement the traditional gin flavours that the English botanicals deliver. The botanicals are depicted on each side of the bottle, while the neck label alludes to Captain James Cook’s first voyage, during which he became the first European to map the coastline of New Zealand and land on Australia’s east coast, fittingly at Botany Bay.

SLANE TRIPLE CASKED IRISH WHISKEY

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Brand owner The Conyngham family/Brown-Forman

RRP €33, £30, US$29.99

Markets Ireland, select UK outlets, US and Australia (autumn)

Contact slaneirishwhiskey.com

Slane Castle, north of Dublin, is currently having a distillery built courtesy of a joint venture with Brown-Forman, which owns leading bourbon brand Jack Daniel’s. The JV amounts to a $50 million investment from the US drinks giant. The new brand comprises a blend of grain and malt whisky aged in virgin oak, seasoned bourbon and oloroso sherry casks and was launched at Dublin airport.

SHACKLETON

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Brand owner Whyte & Mackay

RRP £40

Markets Global Travel Retail initially then North American and Asian markets in September

Contact beka@margaretlondon.com

Shackleton blended malt scotch whisky (40% abv) has been created by master blender Richard Paterson, who drew inspiration from polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.

This malt is inspired by 12 bottles of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky found frozen in ice underneath Shackleton’s hut in New Zealand.

Paterson built upon the original Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt, using a selection of Highland malt whiskies, allowing it to marry over a long period to create what is described as “a contemporary and enigmatic blended malt which is rich, robust, with a whisper of smoke”.

THE LAST DROP 1947 HORS D’AGE COGNAC

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Brand owner Sazerac

RRP £3,200, US$4,150, €3,725

Markets Global

Contact lastdropdistillers.com/stockists

The Last Drop Distillers is launching the ninth release in its special collection. There are only 186 bottles of this 1947 Hors d’Age cognac (41.1% abv).

Cognac expert Nick Faith has awarded the 1947 Hors d’Age Cognac 96.5 points, and describes it as “fresh, young and delicious”, detailing how ‘the aromas have the richness of summer flowers’.

Every Last Drop 1947 Hors d’Age Cognac is said to have been hand-bottled and sealed with a driven cork dipped in boiling wax. Presented in a deep-red leather case with its own 5cl miniature, also included is a certificate of authenticity, a leather-bound tasting booklet and a custom-made stopper.

Tom Jago, The Last Drop Distillers’ founder said: “First, the nose: a waft of old roses, but charged with a touch of citrus. The complexity of sensations stems from that history: distilled in 1947 in a small, ancient copper still, burning wood or charcoal, it’s rich in the imperfections that mark the exceptional from the simply fine Cognac. In the mouth, you will find great complication.”

MEZAN RUM

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Brand owner – Marussia Beverages

RRP €55-70, £55-£60

Markets Europe, domestic

Contact justinecharlemagne@marussiabeverages.com

The Mezan vintage rums are said to capture the depth and diversity of Caribbean rums, offering their and most authentic flavours. Unsweetened, uncoloured and only lightly filtered, all Mezan’s Caribbean rums are aged in ex-bourbon casks until they reach optimum maturity, says the company.

BULLARDS STRAWBERRY & BLACK PEPPER GIN

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Brand owner Bullards Spirits

Markets UK

RRP £40

Contact @BullardsGin

Strawberry & Black Pepper Gin (40% abv) is described as a hand-crafted, small-batch distilled gin made in Norfolk, England. It is said to offer a sweet, fruity and slightly peppery combination.

It is made in small batches using real strawberries, black pepper, cardamom and lemon peel.

BODEGA VOLCANES DE CHILE RESERVA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

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Brand owner Bodega Volcanes de Chile

RRP from £13.99, €15.99 $16.99

Markets UK, US, Europe, Asia

Contact UK Connoisseur Estates’ director Andrew Steel – +44 1344 862230

Bodega Volcanes de Chile: A range of premium wines from Chile.

The bodega says its their mission is to create wines of high quality and character, that reflect the varying degrees of volcanic influence throughout Chile.

Bodega Volcanes de Chile sees itself as one the great pioneers in the Chilean wine industry by venturing into this new form of viticulture, committed to producing high quality, distinctive wines that express the secrets of the terroir. The Rapel Valley grapes were hand-harvested. The total time in the tank is between 22 to 25 days. After the wine was devatted, it is racked into French and American oak, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and ageing for about nine months.

HIGHLAND PARK REBUS 30

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Brand owner Edrington

RRP £30, €35, SAR518

Markets Europe and South Africa

Contact Maxxium UK, highlandparkwhisky.com/Innercircle

Highland Park is collaborating with writer Ian Rankin and the Orion Publishing Group to help mark the 30th anniversary of John Rebus, one of crime fiction’s best loved creations.

To help start the celebration in style, a special edition of Highland Park is being produced – Rebus 30 ( 40% abv), which is a 10-year-old single malt scotch, and will be available for Rebus fans to buy exclusively from Highland Park.

It will be delivered in time for the launch of RebusFest at the end of June.

It will only be available to those who join the brand’s Inner Circle tribe.

Tasting Note: “Natural colour, mature citrus fruits and creamy vanilla with a hint of peppery sauce. An intensely balanced single malt fit for a detective who truly stands apart.”

THE DUBLIN LIBERTIES COPPER ALLEY

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Brand owner Quintessential Brands

RRP €50, £65

Markets UK, Ireland and Dublin Airport

Contact Marblehead, T: 0141 955 9091

The Dublin Liberties Copper Alley (46% abv) non chill-filtered single malt whiskey is said to be double barrelled for 10 years in bourbon casks and finished in 30-year-old oloroso sherry casks. There are only 31 casks.

It was created by master distiller Darryl McNally and is launching in America at the end of 2017.

Tasting note: malted, sweet, sherry finish on the nose.

LARSEN SUMMER BLEND

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Brand owner Cognac Larsen

RRP €39

Markets Global

Contact Jerome.durand@cognac-larsen.fr, larsen-summerwinterblend.com

Larsen Summer Blend is an eaux-de-vie, the result of the double distillation (charentaise) of wine made from 100% Ugni Blanc grapes, produced in the dorsale de Saintonge region of the Charente. Ageing for six months in small old casks is said to reduce the eaux-de-vie’s youthful power, amplify its juicy pear and lemon flavours and maintain its intense freshness.

The company says its fruity style has always challenged the traditional image of the cognac digestif. The tradition of innovation is claimed to continue with Larsen Summer Blend, specifically designed to be used in cocktails.

Cognac Larsen’s managing director, Jérôme Durand, says the new fresh, fruit-driven Summer Blend gives a whole new expression to eaux-de-vie: “Blending young eaux-de-vie is breaking the mould but we wanted to produce something which favoured fruit and freshness.

“Bartenders are looking for aromas, flavours and mouthfeel to build their cocktails.”