Liquid assets: the latest drinks launches for November

Glen Scotia 12-year-old

Scottish distiller Glen Scotia has partnered with London sherry bar Bar Pepito for the launch of its 12-year-old Seasonal Release. Inspired by a winter’s day in Glen Scotia’s home of Campbeltown, the unpeated, cask strength (53.3%), whisky has been matured in first-fill bourbon barrels before a final 12-month finish in amontillado sherry casks, which hail from the Montilla region of southern Spain. The resulting spirit is described as a ‘warm, nutty dram with lingering vanilla notes and a mildly dry finish’ with subtle maritime nuances.

Stella Artois Unfiltered

Stella Artois’ new Unfiltered lager is now available both on draught and in bottles in the on-trade. The lager, which has a golden haze and a fresh flavour thanks to the absence of filtration, is being positioned as a super-premium drink by brand owner Budweiser Brewing Group, which regards the unfiltered lager category as a  currently an untapped segment in the UK. It forecasts that by 2025, 65% of total beer consumption in the UK will be from brands in the premium or super-premium category. “With unfiltered lager taking Europe by storm and hazy beer becoming hugely popular in the craft segment, we wanted to bring something new to the world lager category,” says Jean-David Thumelaire, on-trade sales director. “We have already seen in the off-trade how Stella Artois Unfiltered encourages consumers to trade up and we are confident it will prove a success in pubs and bars across the country.”

Piercing Pils

US brewery Dogfish Head has collaborated with UK-based Signature Brew for a pear-infused Czech pilsner. Called Piercing Pils, the Czech sytyle pilsner bis brewed with white pear tea and pear juice, which were added in the kettle during the whirlpool, after the boil, for maximum flavour and aroma contribution. The beer also contains Amarillo hops which the brewers say add nuanced citrus notes that meld perfectly with the fruit. It is available in 440ml can priced at £5.50 and in 30-litre kegs.

Bushmills Causeway Collection 1997 Rum Cask

Irish Whiskey brand Bushmills has released the latest expression in its The Causeway Collection of luxury single malts. Its Causeway Collection 1997 Rum Cask is the first rare release in Great Britain from Bushmills’ master blender Alex Thomas and is inspired by the Giant’s Causeway and tales from the Caribbean. It is made using American oak casks which previously housed Caribbean rum, which were filled with the Irish whiskey on 14 February 1997, to create a drink with oak and tropical rum flavours including mango and pineapple. Priced at £399, only 1,350 bottles are being made available in Great Britain through specialist whisky retailers including The Whisky Shop and The Whisky Exchange and online spirits retailer House of Spirits.

Camden Town Chilly, Cold IPA

Camden Town Brewery is embracing the beginning of the cold season with the creation of a Chilly, Cold IPA. Its new Cold IPA gets its name from a new hybrid brewing style rather than its serving temperature and is brewed with Camden’s original lager yeast but at a warmer temperature. It is made with flaked rice, wheat for haze and mouthfeel, and new world hops ‘for big, fruity flavour and frosty freshness’ and is available during the winter months in 440ml cans with an abv of 6%. The brewery is partnering with clothes waste charity TRAID for the launch of its Camden Chilly TRAID Off – a nationwide tour where consumers can swap their pre-loved clothes for a can of the new beer. The brewery has also brought back Gentlemen’s Wit, its popular take on a Belgium white (wit) beer. The beer is brewed with perle hops, Belgian wit yeast and pilsner, wheat and torrified wheat malts and is available in 330ml cans only.

The GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 11

Highlands-based The GlenDronach Distillery has released the latest in its series of richly sherried single malts. The GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 11 is matured slowly in fine pedro ximénez and oloroso sherry casks, which the distiller says imparts flavours of richly spiced bramble wine and treacle toffee, chocolate raisin, cinnamon maple and sultana with Seville orange peel, nutmeg, caramel and maraschino cherry on the finish. The high strength whisky has an abv of 59.8% and is priced at £68 per bottle.

Brewdog Bad Beer Vodka

BrewDog’s spirits arms has launched a vodka that’s made from any batches of beer that don’t meet the craft brewers standards. The Bad Beer Vodka range comprises Original, Vanilla and Toasted Marshmallow; and Tropical Guava. Packaged in a recycled glass bottle and using a wood pulp label, BrewDog says the vodka is its ‘the next step in its commitment to the environment’. “This is a hugely exciting launch for BrewDog and BrewDog Distilling Co,” says BrewDog co-founder and CEO James Watt. “We are looking forward to continuing our research into new ways to prevent wastage in our industry.”

Ramsay’s Gin

Former Gordon’s ambassador Gordon Ramsay has put his name to yet another gin. Ramsay’s Gin is the superstar chef’s second project with Scotland’s Eden Mill Distillery and is billed as a premium London Dry gin with botanicals selected from the wild coastline of Fife. The botanicals used include seaweed, pink peppercorns, fennel seeds, lavender, lemon verbena and honeyberries which together ‘produce an innovative twist on the classic London Dry gin’.

King of Soho Copacetic vodka

King of Soho has launched a vodka thereby bringing its range of spirits up to a total of three. Its Copacetic vodka has a striking purple bottle and looks to ‘celebrate the ascendancy of the spirit in the late 70s and early 80s’. Produced in England, the small batch vodka is billed as a subtle and delicate spirit that’s well-suited to use in cocktails. The King of Soho brand was created in 2013 to honour infamous Soho publisher and property magnate Paul Raymond. The range also includes a London Dry gin and a pink variant.

Beavertown Fuzz Box

Craft brewer Beavertown has launched a beer inspired by the taste of canned peaches. Made with peach and apricot pulp, the 5% ABV brew is billed as a tangy-sweet hazy pale ale with low bitterness. The drink is billed as the perfect replacement for Beavertown summer favourite Tropigamma. The Walthamstow-based brewer has also launched its first ‘glitter beer’ Frozen Neck. A festive take on the brewer’s popular session beer Neck Oil, the beer is infused with edible glitter and – according to Beavertown – is “perfect for both naughty and nice beer drinkers”.

Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru 

Billed as the Bombay Sapphire brand’s most premium expression, Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru leads with lemons from Murcia in Spain complemented by mandarins and navel oranges for ‘a bittersweet yet balanced taste’. With a higher ABV than any of its other gins at 47%, Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru is described as having a complex flavour profile that provides a ‘unique citrus foundation for a variety of creative cocktails’. Seasonal serves include Premier Cru White Lady, Premier Cru Martini and a Premier Cru French 75.  

Nespresso Origins Colombia Organic coffee

Nespresso Professional has added a new blend to its Origins coffee range. Its Origins Colombia Organic is produced by farmers in Tolima, Colombia and is characterised by having bready, toasted cereal and red fruit notes and a lasting after taste. The new coffee is currently available to Scottish hospitality businesses.

John Paul Jones Ranger rum

Rum maker John Paul Jones has released a white variant specifically to be drunk with tonic water. Called Ranger, it is steeped in spiral wrack seaweed picked from the shores of south west Scotland and contains botanicals including apple and lime to give it a lighter, citrus-forward profile. Unlike its oak-aged, dark Lowland Rum, is which closer in feel and taste to whisky or brandy, Ranger has been created to appeal more to traditional gin and vodka drinkers. Bottled at 37.5% abv it is priced at £35.

The Balvenie Sixty

Whisky maker The Balvenie has released its oldest and rarest expression to date. The Balvenie Sixty is a single cask with only 71 bottles being released globally and celebrates malt master David C. Stewart’s six decade career at the distillery. It is described as having flavours of rich toffee, roasted coffee and layered oak on the palate. 

Salcombe Brewery’s Maya chocolate stout

Salcombe Brewery Co has expanded its range of beers with a sweet-toothed variant for drinkers. Its new 4.5% abv Maya chocolate stout, named after the ancient civilisation for whom the cacao bean was sacred, is available on tap and in 330ml cans and is created by adding cacao nibs during the brewing process. The launch has been timed for the winter months, with the drink said to pair well with braised or spiced meats and rich stews.