The world's most coveted bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle has released six new whiskies aged 10 to 23 years. The lauded bourbon brand has distributed its new bottles through a partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery since 2002. While the distillery's suggested retail prices for Pappy's latest lineup range from $69.99 to $299.99, market prices will undoubtedly be much higher as resellers capitalize on demand for the award-winning bourbon.
15 New Bourbons To Drink For National Bourbon Heritage Month
Image Source: Michter's
September is National Bourbon Heritage Month, when distilleries release some of their best bottles. This year's notable releases include Kentucky Owl's Dry State bourbon ($1,000 a bottle), the annual Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch bourbon ($150); Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon ($130); Michter’s 10-year-old single barrel bourbon ($130); Blade and Bow’s 22-year-old straight bourbon ($1,000); a high-wheat bourbon from Colorado’s Old Elk distillery ($70); and the barrel-strength Boston Batch from Booker’s ($90).
2,600-Year-Old Phoenician Winery Discovered In Lebanon
Image Source: The Drinks Business
Archeologists in Lebanon have excavated a wine press used as early as the 7th century B.C. The remains of the 2,600-year-old wine press were discovered during an archaeological dig at Tell el-Burak, a Lebanese city near the Mediterranean sea in what would have been ancient Phoenician homelands. The discovery suggests that wine previously found in hundreds of amphorae in two Phoenician shipwrecks off the Israeli coast was supplied by the Tell el-Burak winery.
New "Strongest Beer In The World" Sells Out In A Day
Image Source: BrewDog
Scottish brewing company, BrewDog, and German brewer, Schorschbräu, have settled a decade-long rivalry over who could make the strongest beer. The two breweries collaborated on “Strength In Numbers,” now considered the strongest beer in the world at 57% alcohol by volume (ABV). The high-alcohol brew is made by a process known as “fractional freezing,” and when released in the UK at £29 ($37.50) per bottle, it sold out within a day.
Why Whiskey Age Statements Can Be Deceptive
The longer a distilled spirit is left in an aging barrel, the greater the concentration of flavor compounds it collects from the barrel. Spirits also evaporate over time, a portion known as “the angel’s share.” That’s one reason why older whiskeys cost more: there is less in the barrel for the distiller to sell. The accepted wisdom is that older whiskeys are worth more, but time is not the only factor influencing evaporation. Temperature and humidity also effect the rate at which the spirit evaporates in the barrel. And evaporation rates vary around the world. “In Scotland, the angel’s share evaporation rate is 1 to 2 percent per year,” says award-winning spirits importer Raj Sabharwal. “Whereas in Bangalore it’s 10 to 15 percent.” Warmer and drier climactic conditions will, in effect, “age” a whiskey sooner. Sabharwal points to Indian single malt producer Amrut Fusion located in Bangalore in southern India. The Amrut distillery sits roughly 3,000 feet above sea level, and at that altitude, temperature highs range from a warm 75 degrees Fahrenheit in winter to a hot 120 degrees in summer. Since the distiller is inland, the humidity also stays low all year, ranging from 45 percent in the winter to 75 percent in summer. Amrut’s spirits evaporate and concentrate in flavor in just a few years. In Scotland, on the other hand, the typical temperature range is a somewhat low 36 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity levels stay between 70 and 90 percent. With those climactic conditions, it takes longer for Scotch whiskeys to evaporate and concentrate in flavor. But it stands to reason that a 12-year-old single malt from Bangalore may be nearly as flavorful–and expensive–as an 18-year-old single malt from Scotland.
