Rampur Asāva
Rampur distillery was founded in 1943 in the Indian city of Rampur, making it the oldest distillery in India and also part of the Radico Khaitan liquor conglomerate. The company has a portfolio producing spirits for the Indian domestic market, the international market, and the Indian military market, along with neutral spirit for use in a variety of commercial products. They also own their own bottling plant, enabling them to incorporate much of the production process. Rampur is part of the international portfolio. Situated at the base of the Himalayas, the location and elevation give it greater climate variance not seen elsewhere in India. The Rampur Asāva are aged for a time in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to casks formerly containing cabernet sauvignon wine from India. This expression was first released in October 2020.
Balcones Brujeria
Though Balcones has a very wide portfolio with many takes on traditional American spirits staples like bourbon and rye, they are also don’t neglect one of the first things that put them on the map: their single malt. Having clearly invested in an American single malt from the beginning, time and continued experimentation has allowed them to craft various expressions of this cornerstone offering. For the distillery’s tenth anniversary in 2019, they released two single malts only available at the distillery store, both with cask finishes. The Balcones Brujeria, which approximately translates to “witchcraft” or “witchery”, is finished in a mix of ex-Oloroso and PX sherry casks.
Glendalough Grand Cru Burgundy
Glendalough was founded in 2011 by five friends and was one of the first craft distilleries in Ireland after the whiskey production on the island had dwindled to four major distilleries at the turn of the millennium. They make a variety of whiskies, gins, and poitín. The image on the bottle is St. Kevin, a seventh-century abbot who lived for several years in Glendalough. One of the distillery’s focus is on the wood, and all their whiskies are aged in an additional cask besides the usual ex-bourbon. The Glendalough Grand Cru Burgundy is a single grain whiskey aged for 3 years in ex-bourbon casks before spending another year in ex-Grand Cru Pinot Noir casks from Burgundy. 12 casks were produced, each yielding 366 bottles.