New Spirits Releases - January 27, 2023

The 2022 Release of Michter's Celebration Sour Mash is the fourth ever such release from the brand which first hit the market back in 2013. Although this whiskey was due to be released in late 2022, supply issues delayed the launch until February 2023. Like the previous 2019 release, Master Distiller Dan McKee selected the barrels used here. Seven barrels were chosen for this whiskey — three Kentucky straight bourbon barrels and four Kentucky straight rye barrels — and the ages ranged from 12-30 years old. Bottled at 112.8 proof, only 328 bottles are available worldwide. (SRP $6,000)

The fourth volume in Heaven's Door The Bootleg Series, an annual collection of rare whiskeys and special blends, features an 11 year-old wheated bourbon. It is finished for almost a year in a cask seasoned with peated Scotch whisky. The bourbon is packaged in a handmade ceramic bottle featuring an oil painting by Bob Dylan titled "Lighthouse in Maine (2017), the second in his "The Beaten Path" art collection. Each bottle is individually numbered and encased in a bespoke leather journal. Available at select retailers nationwide beginning January 2023. (SRP $499.99)

Compass Box Delos is the second limited edition release in the brand's Extinct Blends Quartet Series following Ultramarine which was released in fall 2022. The inspiration for Delos was the brand's former core whisky Asyla which was first released in 2001 and retired in 2018. However, for this blend older stocks of whisky were used. Additionally, the malt whiskies used include Glen Elgin, Imperial, and Miltonduff, all of which were aged in American oak. Delos is a Greek island and the mythical birthplace of the Greek god Apollo. While the Asyla label featured a female playing a lute, here she is playing a lyre which is the instrument typically associated with Apollo. There are 5,520 bottles of Delos available as of February 2023. (SRP $325)

For this release in the Wine Cask Series, Master Blender Billy Walker began with single malt distilled in 2012 which had its primary maturation in American oak ex-bourbon barrels. He selected red wine casks from four European wineries — one each from Valpolicella and the Languedoc, and two from Bordeaux. The single malt then finished its aging for over 20 months in the various barriques before Walker blended and bottled the whisky at 48% ABV. This bottling was announced in late January 2023 with global retailers expected to see the product on its shelves in the coming weeks. (SRP £53.99)

This bottling is the third release in the Chattanooga Whiskey's limited edition barrel finishing series. The whiskey is made from a blend of 5 single malt mash bills, each one containing a range of toasted, roasted, and caramel malted barley. The whiskey is aged for over four years including the 18 months in the Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon casks. Available in select markets beginning January 2023 and at the brand's Experimental Distillery in downtown Chattanooga. (SRP $59.99)

The 29th Experimental Single Batch Series is made from a blend of pot-distilled bourbon mash bills. After their initial maturation, the whiskeys were married and then finished in a 100 year-old oloroso sherry puncheon. Chattanooga Whiskey have decided to make this an annual release so this particular sherry puncheon will be refilled in a solera style to ensure that each annual batch will continue to have traces of previous batches going forward. Released January 2023, this is available at the Experimental Distillery in downtown Chattanooga. (SRP $74.99)