Whisky Rumours: May Edition

In the United States, all alcoholic beverage manufacturers must submit the labels of their products to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for approval. These labels are published on the TTB website under the Freedom of Information Act, which means that they’re available to see before the whiskies are released.

Although it’s definitely not a guarantee that the submitted labels will actually end up on whisky bottles, or that these bottles will be released in any country other than the US, it is very interesting to look at. We all love rumours, right?

These are some of the most interesting new labels we spotted during the past few weeks:

Spirits of the Apocalypse – The Walking Dead

Following the success of their Game of Thrones whisky series – many of these whiskies are ranked high on our ‘Most Wanted Whiskies’-list – Diageo seems to be planning the release of a new tv series whisky. Spirits of the Apocalypse – The Walking Dead is a Kentucky Bourbon whiskey, bottled at 47% abv.

Johnnie Walker A Song of Fire & A Song of Ice

Speaking of Game of Thrones, it appears that Diageo isn’t finished with their Game of Thrones releases. Johnnie Walker A Song of Fire and Johnnie Walker a Song of Ice will be the 10th and 11th GoT whiskies and the third Johnnie Walker release, following their White Walker blend. A Song of Fire will mostly contain Clynlish single malt, while A Song of Ice leans on Caol Ila whisky. Lets hope these blends have a better finish than the TV series…

Laphroaig 16 Year Old

For their 200th anniversary in 2015, Laphroaig released a 16 year old single malt as a travel retail exclusive, in a 350 ml bottle. This release seems to get a successor, since a label of another 16 year old Laphroaig appeared. This time in a larger bottle, and bottled at 48% abv in stead of 43%.

Glen Scotia Victoriana 2019

Glen Scotia Victoriana is a modern interpretation of a classic Victorian Campbeltown malt, bottled at cask strength. The first edition (51.5% abv) was released in 2015, followed by a slightly higher abv version (54.8%) in 2018. Judging by a recent label submission, this year’s edition will be bottled at 54.2% abv.

The Kurayoshi 15 & 25 Year Old

Kurayoshi Distillery of Matsui Shuzo has released multiple aged and non-aged Japanese malt whiskies, mainly in the United States. A 15 year old and 25 year old whisky were missing in their line up, but that might change in the near future, as new labels have surfaced.

Royal Salute 29 Year Old

Only shortly after they announced their first peated, travel-exclusive blend, a new Royal Salute may already be on its way. Finished in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, this 29 year old Royal Salute blended whisky is bottled at 40% abv.

Ledaig 21 Year Old & Tobermory 19 Year Old

Two new expressions from Tobermory Distillery, on the Scottish Isle of Mull, might be announced in the near future. An unpeated, Marsala wine cask finished, 19 year old Tobermory single malt (55.7% abv) and a peated, Manzanilla sherry cask finished, 21 year old Ledaig single malt (52.9% abv) both sound very promising.