Four Roses has announced the launch of its new Anthology series, beginning with Chapter 1: Origin, a 21-year-old barrel strength Kentucky bourbon that represents the distillery's oldest single-aged expression to date. 

The new series will chronicle the history and heritage of Four Roses through limited releases. Chapter 1: Origin kicks off the collection by referencing the brand's founding story, when Paul Jones Jr.'s proposal was accepted by his Southern belle, who wore a corsage of four red roses to signal her "yes." 

While Four Roses has previously released blends containing older components – including a 25-year-old bourbon in their 135th Anniversary Edition and a 21-year component in their 2019 Limited Edition Small Batch – this marks the first time they've released a straight 21-year age statement. This guarantees that every drop in the bottle has aged for at least 21 years, distinguishing it from previous releases that mixed various age components. 

The bourbon features Four Roses' OESO recipe, combining: 

Distilled in 2001, the whiskey will be bottled at barrel strength, with an indicative 100 proof (50% ABV). The release is planned for 2026. 

Bardstown Bourbon Company is doubling down on their French connection with the second release in their innovative Distillery Reserve series. Following the remarkable success of their Cathedral French Oak finish—which has sold out virtually everywhere—the Kentucky distillery has unveiled their latest experiment: Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve, Normandie Calvados Brandy Barrel Finish.

The new label approval reveals an intriguing maturation process: straight bourbon whiskey aged 28 months in Christian Drouin Calvados barrels, then refined for an additional 4 months in toasted American barrels. The blend itself consists of 76% Indiana bourbon aged 13 years (mash bill 75/21/4) and 24% Indiana bourbon aged 12 years (also 75/21/4 mash bill). This dual-finishing approach promises to deliver layers of complexity that marry Kentucky bourbon tradition with Norman apple brandy heritage.

The choice to follow their Cathedral French Oak with a Calvados finish isn't coincidental. Bardstown appears committed to exploring France's rich barrel-aging traditions, and this latest release reinforces that theme beautifully. Where the inaugural release drew from 300-year-old French oak that helped restore Notre Dame Cathedral, this second expression taps into the artisanal world of Normandy's apple brandies.

The latest introduction to Macallan's extensive single malt portfolio, The Timeless Collection, has brought with it an even more interesting design update across multiple Macallan collections in 2025. The Macallan Timeless Collection, informed by the Speyside Distillery's long-standing collaborative partnership with renowned artist and designer, David Carson, is the first new bottling shape since the mid 2010's, around the time the cult-status Fine Oak Collection was discontinued. This new silhouette will feature across Double Cask, Sherry Oak and the Colour Collection ranges from mid-2025 onwards.

What's changed?

The Timeless Collection reintroduces a more shapely stopper design, with accentuated contours around the bottleneck and stopper, exaggerating curvature that makes this new shape instantly recognizable and discernible when compared with its straighter, modernist predecessor. To me, this makes the bottle a touch more sophisticated and refined, reconnecting with the intention of the bottle as something we open and drink rather than collect and admire.

A sign of the times?

Several iconic brands have brought back 'classic' designs and logos in recent years, the Burberry redesign immediately springs to mind, and it seems Macallan is the latest international powerhouse to revert to a slightly more traditional shape in line with this ethos. Certainly this silhouette is closer to bottlings released during The Macallan's heyday, with the new shape purportedly a nod to the iconic roof atop The Macallan Distillery, with curves that mimic the natural landscape around its Speyside home.

Just when you thought Buffalo Trace couldn't push the Eagle Rare line any further, they've gone and done something almost unthinkable: Eagle Rare 30-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has appeared on TTB label approvals, marking what could be one of the most audacious bourbon releases in recent memory. 

The Eagle Rare family has been on quite the journey lately. What started as a humble 10-year-old has blossomed into a full premium lineup – we've seen the Double Eagle Very Rare 20 Year Old for a few years now, last year's Eagle Rare 25 (2024), and just this month, the new Eagle Rare 12 has emerged in corners of the market. But 30 years? That's entering uncharted territory for American whiskey. 

The upcoming Eagle Rare 30 comes bottled at 101 proof (50.5% ABV) – a return to the higher proof that made Eagle Rare famous before the 10-year dropped to 90 proof in 2005. It's still that classic Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 we know and love: 71% corn, 21% rye, and 8% barley, but now with three decades of barrel interaction. 

No official announcement or bottle image yet from Buffalo Trace, and both release date and pricing remain mysteries. But if recent ultra-premium bourbon trends are any indication, expect extremely limited availability and a price tag that reflects three decades of remarkably aged whiskey... This one could break the bank!  

With the Trump administration announcing (and then promptly postponing) tariffs on several global importers this week, it’s an extremely uncertain time for the local U.S. whiskey and spirits economy. As the threat of a major trade war looms, sparked by the authorization of executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on liquor from Canada and Mexico, we look at the implications on the industry and how the landscape might look, for both locally produced and imported liquor, should these tariffs come into effect.

A tariff is a tax that the federal government imposes on goods or services imported from other countries. A whiskey tariff is a tax on imported whiskey (all imported liquor from the abovementioned countries is being taxed) coming into the United States, discouraging buyers from purchasing imported goods, and encouraging them to buy local.

The proposed 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods covers all liquor being imported into the U.S. by these countries, the United States’ closest key trading partners. To put this in whisky terms, if a $100 bottle of Crown Royal is imported into the U.S. from Canada then that bottle will incur a 25% tariff on the product cost, payable by the importer to the U.S. government. In other words, a $100 bottle becomes a $125 bottle before it has reached the market. 

Buffalo Trace Distillery has announced two significant releases for 2025 with the submission of Eagle Rare 12 Year Bourbon and Weller 18 Year Bourbon labels via TTB. As if the Kentucky powerhouse’s 2024 expansions to the Taylor and Weller lineup weren’t already enough (introducing the much anticipated Taylor Barrel Proof Rye and uber-premium Weller Millennium), these two new additions to the ever-popular Eagle Rare and Weller lines bring even more variety to the core Buffalo Trace Distillery bourbon range and are sure to become hot commodities in 2025 amongst bourbon collectors and connoisseurs. While this undoubtedly diversifies the Weller and Eagle Rare portfolios, giving whiskey lovers more choices and options, what does introducing these new releases mean for the rest of the collection and will they live up to the hype?

Eagle Rare 12 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey is a 95-proof straight bourbon whiskey distilled and bottled by Buffalo Trace Distillery that represents an evolution of the standard Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon (90-proof). It joins the entry-level Eagle Rare 10 and becomes a middle point between this core offering and the highly limited Eagle Rare 17 Bourbon from the annual BTAC. Beyond this sit the Double Eagle Very Rare 20 Year Old Bourbon and Eagle Rare 25 Year Old Bourbon, making Eagle Rare 12 the fifth addition to this collectible and sought-after silo.