Top 10 spirits launches in March
From ultra-rare Highland single malts to a celebrity-backed vodka soda, March had a wide variety of spirits launches.
It was a big month for Scotch whisky, with one brand highlighting the role women play in the category and another partnering with a luxury car manufacturer. Here are our top 10 spirits launches from March.The Dalmore Luminary series
Scotch brand The Dalmore revealed the sequel to its Luminary series with two releases: ‘The Rare’ and ‘The Collectible’. Only three decanters of The Rare have been created, with two to be archived and one to be auctioned.
The Collectible will retail for £275 (US$347), with 20,000 available.
The Aberturret Gin
Scotch brand The Glenturret took a side step in March when it announced the launch of gin brand The Aberturret. The new spirit will lean on the company’s expertise however, with the London Dry Gin blended with new-make spirit from The Glenturret Distillery.
It is also distilled with 14 botanicals and bottled at 45% ABV.
Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye Whiskey
Jack Daniel’s expanded its Bonded Series with a rye expression – the brand’s first to feature a bottled-in-bond designation. To comply with the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, the whiskey was distilled by a single distiller during a single season, matured in a government-bonded warehouse for at least four years, and bottled at 50% ABV.
Sprinter
Kylie Jenner is the most recent celebrity to enter the spirits sector, creating a ready-to-drink (RTD) vodka soda brand called Sprinter. It comes in four flavours: Black Cherry, Peach, Grapefruit, and Lime.
The launch means Keeping Up With The Kardashians fans can now choose between vodka or Tequila – Jenner’s sister, Kendall, launched an agave spirit brand in 2021. All that’s left is for Caitlyn to launch a gin brand and for Kris to try her hand at whiskey…
Atonia’s Legacy: The Sarah Burgess Edition
The OurWhisky Foundation debuted its first whisky for the Demeter Collection, its auction series. Atonia’s Legacy: The Sarah Burgess Edition is a blended malt Scotch, with only one bottle created by Sarah Burgess, whisky maker at The Lakes Distillery.
The collection is dedicated to women in whisky, with funds donated to the OurWhisky Foundation.
Cygnet Welsh Dry Gin & Tonic
Classical singer Katherine Jenkins OBE was going after the gin renaissance and the RTD boom with her Cygnet brand’s latest product, a canned gin and tonic, which she launched during a Six Nations rugby match.
Each 100ml can has an ABV of 7% and contains 22 calories.
The Macallan Horizon
Edrington-owned The Macallan created a single malt that is packaged in a horizontal bottle, designed to represent the ‘horizontal trajectory of the automotive world’.
Inside the bottle is a new expression created by master whisky maker Kirsteen Campbell, which has been taken from six first-fill Sherry-seasoned oak casks.
Absolut Nights Orange Peel
Vodka brand Absolut looked to the East when designing the third expression in its Absolut Nights shot series, with the product inspired by Chenpi, a dried orange rind often used in Chinese cooking. Fittingly, it first launched in China last month.
Star & Key Rum
It’s rare for a newly launched brand to win a Master award, but Star & Key Rum, created by Dublin-based Cobblestone Brands, managed to bag two such prizes at The Rum & Cachaça Masters 2024. The award-winning VSOP rum is a single cask release that has been aged for four years in Cognac casks.
Chica~Chida
Eyebrows were raised in the SB office when we heard the news of this launch. Chica~Chida is a peanut butter-flavoured agave spirit, with its creators claiming they want to bring a ‘fresh perspective’ to an industry ‘crowded with seriousness’. Piermont Brands has teamed up with media personality Caleb Pressley to launch the product.
