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By Susannah Skiver Barton

Now hitting shelves: three different barrel-finished 10 year old Masterson’s ryes, plus the fourth edition of the engimatic scotch-Japanese fusion whisky  The Glover .

Masterson’s Finished Ryes

Style: Rye Origin: Canada Proof: 45% ABV Price: $79 Release: Spring 2017 Availability: Permanent, but limited—1,200 bottles of each are available in select markets

Need to know: This is regular 10 year old Masterson’s that has undergone a finishing period in one of three different barrel types: American, French, or Hungarian oak. The finishing period varies depending on how new the barrels are to start, ranging from a month...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

Charm City just got another attraction that’s sure to entice whiskey fans. After about 18 months under construction, Sagamore Spirit Distillery opened on april 21 ^st in the Port Covington neighborhood on Baltimore’s waterfront. The facility spans five acres and includes a distillery, a processing building, and a visitors center, with restaurant and event space that will open in the fall. Production of Sagamore’s rye whiskey—currently made at MGP—began on april 10 ^th .

Sagamore Spirit launched last year as a blend of two straight rye whiskeys—each with a different proportion of rye in the mash...

“The Archer” Karuizawa 1960 (pictured) sold for over $125,000 at auction, while its sister whisky, “The Wanderer,” netted more than $140,000 at a different auction. (Photo by Fraser Band)

By Jonny McCormick

A bottle of Karuizawa 1960 52 year old, nicknamed “The Wanderer,” has broken the record for the most expensive standard-sized bottle of whisky sold at auction, wresting the title from the Yamazaki 50 year old. The record-breaking bid of $141,551/ HK$1.1million was set on april 2 ^nd by Poly Auction Hong Kong (with buyer’s premiums, the total was $166,793/HK$1,298,000). This represents a 29% increase over the previous record...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

The popular Blade and Bow 22 year old bourbon is returning in time for Derby Day, while Lord Calvert has a new Canadian blended whisky and Rabbit Hole Distilling , a new Kentucky whiskey brand, has rolled out two bourbons and a rye.

Blade and Bow 22 year old

Style: Straight bourbon Origin: Kentucky Proof: 46% ABV Price: $200 Release: april 2017 Availability: Highly limited

Need to know: Originally launched on Derby Day two years ago, this is a re-release. The first bottling scored a 91 in our Buying Guide.

Whisky Advocate says: Though the brand talks a...

Master distiller Darryl McNally and marketing director Sinead O’Frighil next to the natural water source at the site of The Dublin Liberties Distillery

Just a few years after Dublin’s first distillery in over a century opened, the city will soon have another. The Dublin Liberties Distillery has started construction work on its facility located at Old Mill Street in the city’s Liberties neighborhood. The €15 million project involves renovating a 300-year-old former mill and tannery building to encompass both the distillery space and a visitors center. The site includes a natural water source that will provide water for the mashing and...

Tuthilltown Spirits cofounder Ralph Erenzo (Photo by Ben Stechschulte)

By Susannah Skiver Barton

Seven years after it acquired the Hudson whiskey brand—though not the distillery—from Tuthilltown Spirits , William Grant & Sons has bought the whole facility. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but it includes 36 acres, a restaurant and visitors center, a distillery with a capacity of 110,000 gallons, and several additional spirits brands, including Half Moon gin and Indigenous vodka.

William Grant & Sons is best known as the parent company of the Balvenie and Glenfiddich scotch brands, though it also owns Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey , Drambuie...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

As part of its partnership with the Chicago Cubs , announced earlier this year , Jim Beam is rolling out a limited-edition bottle of its trademark bourbon that celebrates the team’s World Series win last fall. The “Game 7 Batch” purportedly reached maturity—a full four years of age—the very night of the final championship game, november 2, 2016.

Jim Beam spokeswoman Mila Kunis revealed the new bottle this past weekend after throwing the first pitch at Wrigley field before the Cubs’ game versus the Milwaukee Brewers. (The Cubs won, 11 to 6.) The bottle’s label features...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

The Macallan has unveiled part 6 of its Masters of Photography series, a partnership between the scotch brand and celebrated photographers that has included projects with Annie Liebowitz and Mario Testino, among others. This year’s release features the work of Steven Klein, a frequent collaborator with Madonna, Lady Gaga, and other musicians.

Klein explored the influence of time on Macallan through 10 still images and a short interactive film, which you can experience here . The 53.5% ABV whisky, created by Macallan’s master whisky maker Bob Dalgarno, includes some influence from Rioja wine casks, as well...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

This week, discover a couple of under-the-radar scotches— Tullibardine and Wolfburn —a series of new whiskeys from Texas, and if you’re feeling flush, a five-figure, half-century Tamdhu .

Tamdhu 50 year old

Style: Single malt scotch Origin: Speyside Proof: 55.6% ABV Price: $20,000 Release: april 2017 Availability: 100 bottles for the world

Need to know: A single cask whisky that matured for 50 years in a first-fill European oak sherry butt, this is the oldest Tamdhu ever released and celebrates the distillery’s 120 ^th anniversary. It was distilled in november 1963 and bottled in mars 2017.

Whisky...

major Ken Behrens and Templeton Rye cofounder Keith Kerkhoff broke ground on the Templeton Distillery on april 5th, 2017.

After years of bottling sourced whiskey blended with a proprietary formula of added flavors to create its unique taste profile, Templeton Rye will soon be distilling. Cofounder Keith Kerkhoff and Templeton, Iowa major Ken Behrens broke ground on a distillery in the town on april 5 ^th . The 34,500-square-foot facility will have a capacity of 500,000 proof gallons, and the site includes a warehouse that can store up to 40,000 barrels. It’s projected to be complete in about 18 months.

The distillery marks a...

The Tully Tavern at Fenway Park

By Susannah Skiver Barton

Tullamore D.E.W. is now the official Irish whiskey of the Boston Red Sox . The partnership means that not only will Tully be available throughout Fenway Park, it will also host special events and promotions throughout the baseball season for the next three years.

As of last week’s opening day, the Tully Tavern, located in the right field grandstand, is open to all ticketholders. The Irish pub-style venue serves Tullamore D.E.W. whiskeys and the Monster Mule, an Irish whiskey take on the Moscow Mule mixing Tullamore D.E.W., ginger beer, and...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

Woodford Reserve —the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby—has unveiled its latest $1,000 Mint Julep Cup. Now in its 12th year, the annual promotion raises funds for equine-related charities—in 2017, the beneficiary is the Kentucky Derby Museum.

This year’s cup pays tribute to the Derby’s origins in British horse racing. After Churchill Downs founder Meriwether Lewis Clark attended the Epsom Derby in England in 1872, he was inspired to launch the Kentucky Derby in the same high-society vein. Created by Louisville-based jeweler From the Vault, the $1,000 Mint Julep Cup’s design and recommended recipe are based on the theme “The...

Islay’s Bruichladdich Distillery is rolling out three limited-edition 10 year old single malts—The Laddie 10, Port Charlotte, and Octomore—as well as its fifth edition of Black Art. Read on for details.

Bruichladdich The Laddie 10 Second Limited Edition Style: Single malt scotch Origin: Islay Proof: 50% ABV Price: $66 Release: mars 2017 Availability: 18,000 bottles for the world

Need to know: Distilled in 2006 from 100% Scottish barley, this unpeated whisky was matured in first-fill ex-bourbon, sherry, and French wine casks. It’s coloring-free and non-chill filtered.

Whisky Advocate says: Once upon a time, the Laddie 10 was a standard release,...

Our founder and longtime Editor & Publisher, John Hansell, is retiring from Whisky Advocate at the end of this month. Taking the reins is Marvin R. Shanken, chairman of M. Shanken Communications, who acquired the magazine in 2010, welcoming it into the elite company of Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado .

As always, Whisky Advocate’s highest priority will remain giving you, our readers, quality information and access to everything that matters in whisky, from the stories of the people who make it to our database of thousands of reviews and ratings.

Please join us in thanking John and his wife,...

Botas from the Williams & Humbert solera at J. Rieger & Co. in Kansas City

There’s a new sherry-finished whiskey in town, and this one offers an unusual twist. J. Rieger & Co. Monogram Whiskey is a blended whiskey—comprising 11 year old rye sourced from Alberta Distillers and 9 year old light corn whiskey sourced from MGP—that has been finished for 18 months in sherry barrels. All sounds pretty normal so far, right?

Here’s what makes it special: the barrels themselves are roughly 100 years old and came from the solera of Williams & Humbert , one of the oldest...

Barrels age in Buffalo Trace warehouse.

By Susannah Skiver Barton

The age of your whisky might matter to you—but how important is the age of the barrels it aged in? As part of its Experimental Program, Buffalo Trace Distillery is making barrels with very old oak—300 years old, in fact. The company aims to find out what effects, if any, the age of tree at harvest could have on the whiskey. Most oak trees don’t live past 200 years old, so acquiring wood that managed to tack on another century is unusual. The staves used in the barrels were seasoned...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

It’s a world whisky week, as new releases from both Kavalan in Taiwan and the New Zealand Whisky Company are hitting the U.S. for the first time. Read on for details.

New Zealand Whisky Company Collection  

Dunedin 16 year old DoubleWood Style: Blended whisky Origin: New Zealand Proof: 40% ABV Price: $85 (375ml.) Release: maj 2017 Availability: Major U.S. markets

High Wheeler 21 year old Single Grain Style: Single grain Origin: New Zealand Proof: 43% ABV Price: $95 (375ml.) Release: maj 2017 Availability: Major U.S. markets

The Oamaruvian 16 year old Cask Strength DoubleWood Style:...