The best whiskeys that were released this week are quite an eclectic bunch. From ryes that celebrate rivers on the verge of extinction to rare bottles from prominent Japanese houses, the list of whiskeys is a truly special lineup. It seems like every bottle in this selection tells a story — and that’s what whiskey is all about.
This week’s selections feature offerings from Bowmore, Laphroaig, Laws Whiskey House, Tamdhu and Yamazaki. Read on to learn all about some of the most exciting whiskeys that dropped the week of May 30.
Fèis Ìle 2025 by Bowmore
Each year the scotch region of Islay throws a music and culture festival called Fèis Ìle. Lucky attendees can visit and tour some of the top distilleries on the island during the festival. Bowmore refers to itself as Islay’s oldest licensed distillery, and the brand dropped this whisky to honor the 2025 festival occuring on May 26, according to The Scotsman Food and Drink.
For those who can’t jet over to Scotland in time for the event, Bowmore’s Fèis Ìle 2025 might be almost as good as tickets to the event itself. The Bowmore team crafted this whisky exclusively with floor maltings from the distillery before hand-filling it from Bowmore’s No. 1 Vaults, according to the outlet.
Bowmore claims this whisky’s opulent nose is a spicy, peaty symphony of black currents and licorice. The palate possesses no shortage of oily sweetness with black cherry and orange rind all the way down to a thick, deliciously chewy finish.
Càirdeas Lore Cask Strength by Laphroaig
The Scotsman Food and Drink additionally reported on another Fèis Ìle whisky to drop from another storied Islay house, Laphroaig. We would be completely remiss if we didn’t include this whisky with a suggested retail price of £89 ($119.87) in our weekly round-up.
Laphroaig picked out an eclectic array of casks to mature this whisky in, yielding a dram with citrus and vanilla fudge flavors. The whisky spent time maturing in Oloroso sherry, ex-Bourbon, European oak and quarter casks before the team at Laphroaig withdrew it at a cask strength of 59.6% ABV.
With plenty of citrus, salt and creamy dessert-like flavors, Càirdeas Lore Cask Strength marks another great release celebrating the storied scotch whiskies of Islay.
Rio Grande Rye by Laws Whiskey House
Colorado whiskey brand Laws Whiskey House announced the release of Rio Grande Rye as part of its Headwaters Series on May 13. This series goes to a good cause, and 10% of the profits will go towards restoring this endangered river that is such a huge part of irrigating major swaths of the Southwest.
Laws distilled its Rio Grande rye from a mashbill exclusively composed of San Luis Valley Rye, and it spent somewhere between 4 and 8 years aging in charred oak barrels. The team cut it to proof with water from its namesake, making it extra special.
Laws cites a herby profile to this rye whiskey, with cola syrup and sandalwood. The palate offers up flavors of tree fruit and citrus with a dry and complicated finish of citrus and oak. Each bottle clocks in at 50% ABV and Laws offers it up for sale at $84.99.
21 Year Old Whisky by Tamdhu
Few distilleries do sherry cask-aged whiskies better than Tamdhu, and news that the Speyside whisky brand would be adding this expression to its core portfolio made headlines in The Spirits Business on May 23. This whisky spent time maturing in Sherry casks coopered from European oak from Bodegas in Jerez.
The 47.5% ABV scotch whisky has aromas of toffee, chocolate and golden raisins. The sherry cask aging reveals itself fairly heavily on the palate, according to the brand, with plenty of soaked Christmas cake and candied oranges.
Just 12,000 bottles of this expression with a $403 suggested retail price drop a year, making it relatively short in supply.
55 Year Old Whisky by Yamazaki
This last release on our radar is a bit of a departure from the releases we usually cover, but it is a pretty significant release. The auction house, Bonham’s, announced on May 27 that it was putting up one of the oldest age-stated Yamazaki whiskies up for auction starting May 31. The auction will run until June 12.
For the first time in two and a half years, this bottle of Yamazaki 55 Years Old is the first to be offered up for auction in perfect packaging, and it is expected to fetch around $250,000. Yamazaki 55 Years Old is distilled from a blend of malts that date back to the 1960s, according to Bonham’s, and it spent time in a mixture of Mizunara and white oak casks.
Yamazaki 55 Years Old clocks in at an ABV of 46%, and just 200 bottles of this whisky dropped in 2020.
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