If you’re in search of a new favourite, we have three rich and peaty drams for you to explore.
We’ve got an Islay staple, a peated Speyside and the exciting new distillery to the Isle of Skye.
See below for The Whisky Exchange team’s recommendations.
Penelope Bourbon expands its lineup with ready-to-pour Peach Old Fashioned
New premium cocktail is crafted for convenience and quality without compromise
ST. LOUIS (April 1, 2025) – Penelope Bourbon is shaking up the ready-to-pour market with the launch of its first-ever bottled cocktail: the Penelope Peach Old Fashioned. This premium, handcrafted cocktail offers the perfect balance of convenience and quality, delivering a fresh take on a timeless classic – just in time for spring celebrations.
Marking its highly anticipated entry into the booming ready-to-pour market, Penelope Bourbon introduces Peach Old Fashioned – a cocktail that combines the brand’s signature bourbon expertise with an effortlessly enjoyable drinking experience. Penelope Bourbon is renowned for its dedication to quality, and its new Peach Old Fashioned reflects that same craftsmanship. This ready-to-pour cocktail blends Penelope’s award-winning straight bourbon and rye whiskey with peach bitters and farm-sourced 100% pure maple syrup, creating a balanced, sophisticated twist on the classic old fashioned.
The first in a series of nationwide releases in Penelope’s new ready-to-pour portfolio, Peach Old Fashioned is packaged in a striking 750mL white matte bottle with elegant peach-colored lettering. It is bottled at 80 proof and available for a minimum suggested retail price of $29.99.
“Peach Old Fashioned is our first leap into the ready-to-pour category and we think folks will really enjoy it,” said Michael Paladini, Penelope Bourbon founder and vice president of strategy for MGP Ingredients. “We handpicked the bourbon and rye we used, along with the premium ingredients, to craft a modern take on an iconic classic. We think this will be a go-to for anyone looking for a delicious old fashioned at a great price.”
Peach Old Fashioned opens with inviting aromas of dark cherry and vanilla, complemented by hints of stone fruit and orange peel. On the palate, rich vanilla and allspice mingle with decadent peach and fig, leading to a lingering finish of caramel syrup and sweet candied ginger spice.
“Old fashioneds are one of our personal favorite cocktails to drink, especially the peach old fashioned variation,” said Danny Polise, Penelope Bourbon founder and master blender. “So when we set out to create a ready-to-pour cocktail, it was clear where to begin. Most importantly, we wanted to create a cocktail with the same great taste as if it were made from scratch in your own home or at a great bar. Teaming up with Nashville, Tennessee, cocktail creator Tim Beckner, we created a recipe layered with flavor using quality ingredients you’d find behind any great bar. It’s been a fun new direction for us, and we’re just getting started.”
A product locator for the Penelope family of bourbons can be found here.
ABOUT PENELOPE BOURBON
Founded in 2018, Penelope Bourbon has become one of the country’s fastest-growing whiskey brands. Named after founder Michael Paladini’s daughter, Penelope Bourbon offers a range of uniquely blended and finished straight bourbon and rye whiskey expressions, known for their smoothness and rich flavor, perfect for sipping neat or mixing in cocktails.
Penelope’s core expressions, including Wheated, Four Grain, Barrel Strength, Architect, and Toasted Bourbon, have won more than 40 awards across the spirits industry. In 2024 alone, Penelope won Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for Barrel Strength and Toasted Rye, alongside innovation awards for limited releases such as Rio.
Penelope Bourbon continues to innovate within its Cooper Series, Limited Releases, and Estate Collection, further establishing its place among the top premium whiskey brands. Today, Penelope is available in all 50 states and seven countries, proving that with passion, dedication, and love, anything is possible.
For more information, visit penelopebourbon.com or follow us on social media @penelopebourbon (Instagram/Facebook).
The American Classic Meets the Bold, Sweet Flavor of Pineapple
Clermont, KY, March 25, 2025 – Jim Beam is getting ready for summer with the unveiling of its latest flavor innovation, Jim Beam Pineapple, adding to its award-winning portfolio. This new expression blends the bold flavor of pineapple with signature smooth Kentucky straight bourbon –a fresh and flavorful take that adds a tropical piña twist to classic Southern traditions.
This new release infuses the sweetness of pineapple notes with the smooth oak and caramel that bourbon fans know and love. It is a fresh take that is easy to enjoy, whether you are a seasoned whiskey drinker or whiskey curious. With its bold flavor and laid-back vibe, Jim Beam Pineapple offers an inviting introduction for those who find whiskey intimidating and encourages more people to raise a glass together and enjoy it together.
“As a brand rooted in Kentucky tradition, we love putting fresh spins on our brands— and Jim Beam Pineapple does exactly that,” said Freddie Noe, 8th Generation Master Distiller of the James B. Beam Distilling Co. “This new flavor is our first flavored spirit in four years, and reflects the bold, vibrant spirit of today’s South. It is a celebration of flavor and community, made to be enjoyed with family and friends this summer season.”
Designed for versatility, Jim Beam Pineapple can be enjoyed in a variety of refreshing serves, including the Jim Beam Pineapple & Lemon Lime Soda — served in a tall glass over ice and garnished with a slice of lime or a Pica y Piña, a bright yet spicy cocktail of Jim Beam Pineapple, lime juice, simple syrup, jalapeños and a tajin rim. Jim Beam Pineapple is ideal for bringing people together for backyard barbecues and front porch gatherings, offering a modern take on Southern flavors for drinkers 21+.
Jim Beam Pineapple (32.5% ABV) is now available nationwide at select retailers for a suggested retail price of $19.99 per 750mL bottle.
About Jim Beam®: Jim Beam is the world’s best-selling bourbon, crafted by eight generations of family distillers since 1795. Fred Noe, Jim Beam’s seventh-generation Master Distiller, and Freddie Noe, Jim Beam’s eighth-generation Master Distiller, have stayed true to the family recipe that’s been passed down through generations. The Jim Beam portfolio of products includes Jim Beam Bourbon, Jim Beam Black®, Jim Beam Double Oak, Jim Beam Devil’s Cut, Jim Beam Flavors, and Jim Beam Rye among other offerings. For more information, go to www.jimbeam.com, @jimbeamofficial on Instagram and @jimbeam on Twitter.
About Suntory Global Spirits: As a world leader in premium spirits, Suntory Global Spirits inspires the brilliance of life, by creating rich experiences for people, in harmony with nature. Known for its craftsmanship of premium whiskies, including Jim Beam® and Maker’s Mark®; Japanese whiskies, including Yamazaki®, Hakushu®, Hibiki® and Toki™; and leading Scotch brands including Laphroaig® and Bowmore®, Suntory Global Spirits also produces leading brands such as Tres Generaciones® and El Tesoro® tequila, Roku™ and Sipsmith® gin, and is a world leader in Ready-To-Drink cocktails, with brands like -196™ (minus one-nine-six) and On The Rocks™ Premium Cocktails.
A global company with approximately 6,000 employees in nearly 30 countries, Suntory Global Spirits is driven by its core values of Growing for Good, Yatte Minahare and Giving Back to Society. The company’s Proof Positive sustainability strategy includes ambitious goals and investments to drive sustainable change and have a positive impact on the planet, consumers and communities. Headquartered in New York City, Suntory Global Spirits is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan. For more information, visit www.suntoryglobalspirits.com and www.drinksmart.com.
This is a peated Korean single malt that should be on your radar. Remarkably, the up-and-coming distillery has only been making whisky since 2021, yet its peaty depth and complexity suggest a far longer tradition. You will find layers of sweet barbecue smoke, seaweed, cooked meats, polished oak, heather, and salted dark chocolate – shaped by maturation in oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, Bordeaux wine and quarter casks. With growing demand in South Korea and now reaching international shelves, Kim’s whisky is making its mark – and this is your chance to be part of the journey.
To mark today as the 80th anniversary of VE-Day, we’re releasing a special commemorative whisky.
We are honoured to have collaborated for the second year running with Norfolk charity Walking With The Wounded for this incredibly special bottle to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
£2 from every bottle will be donated directly to this wonderful cause, which leads the way in helping UK ex-servicemen and women receive 1-2-1 help to recover their wellbeing. Every bottle sold will help those who served.
This single malt whisky has been expertly aged in a perfect marriage of ex-bourbon casks and virgin oak casks, a choice that enriches the whisky with a complex and deeply satisfying flavour profile. The beautiful decanter can be treasured for years to come as a special keepsake of this momentous occasion.
ASB first fill ex bourbon and virgin oak casks
Notes of sweet toffee, ripe bananas and burnt sugar mingle with soft tropical fruits, vanilla sponge, a hint of pepper and rich honeycomb
Sweet sticky toffee, crisp apples and pears, milk chocolate, brown sugar and a gentle ginger
A crisp, fresh and oaky finish
Non-chill filtered. Natural colouring.
70cl
*Add 6 bottles to your basket and use discount code VEDAYCASE at the checkout to get 10% off
SALTIRE RARE MALT DEBUT CIGAR MALT SERIES
Saltire Rare Malt, independent whisky bottlers based in Falkland, Fife – the birthplace of Scotch Whisky – has released bottles from their brand-new exclusive range of rare whiskies; the Cigar Malt Series – the first is a luxurious limited-edition 18-Year-Old from a ‘lost distillery’ in Speyside – the bottler’s oldest release to date.
Scotland’s newest independent whisky bottlers Saltire Rare Malt has released the first bottles from their brand-new limited-edition collection, the Cigar Malt Series. Distilled at the ‘lost distillery’* of Speyside Distillers, the 18-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky is the company’s oldest whisky release yet.
With only 336 bottles available, priced at £162 each – this is the first in a brand-new series from the Falkland whisky bottlers. Bottled at 48.8% ABV, the liquid has a deep-copper richness in colour, heavily influenced by 1st Fill Pedro Ximenez and Bodegas Ximenez-Spinola casks.
The Saltire Rare Malt Cigar Series whiskies are designed to be the perfect partner for the finest, premium cigars. The first in the collection is available to buy online at their website now: https://www.saltireraremalt.com/
Saltire Rare Malt works with world-renowned whisky experts Hans & Becky Offringa — known internationally as ‘The Whisky Couple’ — who personally curate the entirety of the Saltire Rare Malt Collection. ‘The Whisky Couple’ describe the first in the Cigar Malt Series from Speyside Distillers as having a “beautiful copper colour*” with notes of “unripe pineapple, spicy oak, and maple syrup on pancakes” followed by “a maraschino cherry infused with Angostura bitters, milk chocolate, and a hint of liquorice in the finish.”
‘The Whisky Couple’ bring over 50 years of unrivalled industry experience and are a trusted part of the Saltire family. With incomparable guidance and advice, if curators Hans & Becky disapprove of a sample, the cask will not be bottled.
Commenting on the release of the Cigar Malt Series, Saltire Rare Malt Founder & Director Keith Rennie said: “We are so proud to announce the first release from our brand-new Cigar Malt Series. It’s an idea we’ve been discussing for a while, and once we saw the reaction from our trusted whisky experts Hans & Becky, we knew we had created something very special.
“Pairing the perfect whisky with the perfect cigar is one of life’s great pleasures, a ritual we know our loyal fans of Saltire Rare Malt will love. The visual beauty of the rich, copper colour combined with the complex, sweet & fruity mouthfeel of the liquid makes for an all-round joyous sensory experience. One of the most exciting parts of what we do at Saltire is witness the reaction to our brand-new whiskies – we’re confident our whisky fans will adore this release.”
AN EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION
Saltire Rare Malt are bottlers of a unique range of limited-run single malt whiskies. The independent bottling company was born from a longstanding partnership between friends & Founders Nigel Heywood and Keith Rennie. The pair have worked together for three decades, before moving into the whisky world to collect fine and rare single malts.
Since launching their first bottles in 2024, Saltire Rare Malt can now be found across the UK, as far as Japan, Latin America and the Netherlands as they welcome new stockists in Belgium and Uruguay. In 2025, the company has now assembled an unrivalled team of whisky veterans boasting over a century of combined industry experience.
The Saltire Rare Malt Collection is available to buy online on their website at: https://www.saltireraremalt.com/
NOTES
– – *Saltire Rare Malt; Cigar Malt Series – Speyside Distillers Full Tasting notes; “Beautiful copper colour. At fi rst notes of resin, unripe pineapple and spicy oak appear, followed by maple syrup on pancakes, adding sweetness to a malty background. Then a funny sweet-bitter note, like a maraschino cherry infused with Angostura bitters, followed by milk chocolate, hazelnut, and a hint of liquorice in the fi nish. Quite an interesting dram.”
Price: £162
Bottled at: 48.8% ABV.
Distillation date: 20/12/2006
Region: Speyside
Release date: May 2025
Link to buy; https://www.saltireraremalt.com/collections/all
*’Lost Distillery’ – a distillery no longer in operation.
About Saltire Rare Malt Whisky Saltire Rare Malt are bottlers of a unique range of limited-run single malt whiskies. The independent bottling company was born from a longstanding partnership between friends & Founders Nigel Heywood and Keith Rennie. The pair have worked together for three decades, before moving into the whisky world to collect fi ne and rare single malts. A shared passion for the ‘water of life’ led to the creation of Saltire Rare Malt – a global vehicle to share their outstanding collection of Single Malt Whiskies.
The founders felt that 2024 would be a good year to launch the very first bottlings of Saltire Rare Malt, 530 years after the birth of Scotch Whisky – in the beautiful, historic town of Falkland. Among Saltire Rare Malt’s meticulously curated collection are ‘well-known labels’, ‘rare gems’ and casks from ‘lost distilleries’ with Single Malt Scotch Whisky releases that are ‘never rushed or hurried — they’re bottled when the right time arrives’.
W: https://www.saltireraremalt.com/ I: https://www.instagram.com/saltireraremaltwhisky F: https://www.facebook.com/people/Saltire-Rare-Malt-Whisky/61554723364117/
About The Whisky Couple, Hans & Becky Offringa:
Hans Offringa is an international author and whisky expert who has worked in the industry for over 30 years. An inductee of the Whisky Hall of Fame, a Kentucky Colonel and a Keeper of the Quaich, Hans is a judge at the Scottish Whiskies Awards and the World Whisky Awards and serves as Director on the Advisory Board of The Council of Whiskey Masters.
Now, I’m not saying that things are running a bit behind schedule here, but two of the bottlings below were supposed to be 12yo…
Not to worry though, as the rest of the year is shaping up nicely. New distilleries, old favourites, some sherry, a bit of peat … there should be something for everyone from Chorlton Whisky in 2025!
For now though, let me introduce you to three new Highland drams that, despite the delay, feel just right for the season.
First up we have a 16-year-old Balblair. I still dreamily reminisce about a hand-fill from the distillery I had maybe a decade ago that was easily the fruitiest whisky I’ve ever tried, and I’m delighted to be able to bottle a cask from there.
So, on the nose I find honey, dessert wine, blackcurrant branches, lime, rose petals, fruit leathers and cordials, and maybe a bit of rosemary. It’s quite idiosyncratic, and really enticing.
The texture on the palate is really quite something – somehow dense and light at the same time. A wine friend described it as “supple and bouncy” which I can’t improve upon. (Thanks Athila!) I get cherry and cranberry juices, Gewürztraminer, oranges and limes, Bakewell Tart, and blackberry, cinnamon and brown sugar pie going in to a long finish.
Adding water brings out green apple sweets, citrus and a bit of a limestoney mineralic edge.
There’s very little wood influence here, so it’s mostly the spirit doing the talking. And what a spirit it is! Fruity, floral, complex and changeable.
This hogshead produced 271 bottles at 55.8% and they’re available for £95 each.
Next is a 13-year-old Glen Garioch. I’m surprised I’ve made it this long before bottling something from this grand old distillery. There will be more!
So, on the nose: cider lollies, pear, mango skins, lemongrass, shoe polish and wax. There’s a distinct minerality too, plus a handful of malted barley and hints of yellow flowers and violets.
The palate is fresh and zingy with quite a full waxy texture. I get lemons and limes, peaches*, honey and lemon cough sweets, limestone and salted butter. The finish is nicely clean and mineralic.
* – other tasters have suggested apricot, nectarine, greengage and yellow plum. It’s like a Spot The Stone Fruit competition round here…
Glen Garioch can be quite variable, but in this mode you can feel its kinship with other Highland distilleries like Pulteney or Clynelish. If you like that sort of mineralic and fruity profile you can’t go wrong.
This first-fill barrel produced 248 bottles at 50.2%, and they are available for £69.50 each.
Last up we have a 13-year-old Tullibardine. A distillery on the up! This one has been treated to an unusual maturation in a refill barrique that previously held peated spirit.
On the nose then: banana, more banana, toffee pennies, clotted cream, brioche, and little touches of tar and smoke. There’s a chestnutty earthiness, some allspice, orange and a touch of mint.
The palate is big, fruity and a bit funky, with almost a rum-ish vibe of banana, tarry liquorice, and a pile of oranges. It develops on spiced coffee cake, custard, and some very old-school Tulli rye and juniper.
This is great fun – rich, chunky and engagingly weird around the edges. The smoke from the cask doesn’t jump out at you, but provides a nice bit of background complexity. Maybe not for those phobic of the banana though…
This barrique produced only 213 bottles at 52.2% and they are available for £72.50 each.
And…
…that’s it for now. I hope you found something in the above to tickle your fancy, and there’s also a small restock of last year’s Jura and peated Knockdhu up on the site now if you missed those last time around.
I’m always available through the usual channels if I can be of any assistance.
Cheers!
David
Jack Daniel’s “K&L Exclusive” Single Barrel #24-06163 Cask Strength Tennessee Whiskey (750ml) $64.99 View
Jack Daniel’s “K&L Exclusive” Single Barrel #24-24096 Cask Strength Tennessee Whiskey (750ml) $64.99 View
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
$1,400.00
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
Ardnahoe Bholsa Islay Single Malt Whisky 70cl · 50% ABV
A New Islay Classic
Three Generations In The Making
Ardnahoe Bholsa is a bold Islay whisky matured primarily in Oloroso sherry casks, offering a unique character with no artificial colouring and free from chill-filtration. Bottled at 50% ABV, this whisky embodies the spirit of the ‘Bholsa’ caves near the distillery, leaving a lasting impression.
Rich notes of peat-smoked raisins, soaked in Oloroso, dominate the flavour profile. Expect a nose of red fruits, walnuts, orange zest, and peat smoke, with raisins, dates, and ripe plums on the palate. A long, peppery finish completes this exceptional dram.
