The last new product launches of 2021

New brewery inspired by music legend releases six beers

New beer brewing business Lakedown Brewing Co is releasing six grain-to-glass beers along with a taproom at its microbrewery in East Sussex.

Named after the lakes Roger Daltrey of The Who built in the 1970s as a peaceful oasis, this rural family farm and fishery is at the heart of the brewery’s story and home to its taproom bar.

Lakedown’s range is claimed to comprise “flavour-forward beers” from complex bitters to refreshing pale ales that combine age-old methods with contemporary brewing equipment for both modern and traditional beers.

The beers are Pilsner (440ml, 5% ABV): using Saaz hops, German malts and Bavarian lager yeast; English Pale (440ml, 4.2% ABV): the brewery’s most sessionable beer yet, which is loaded with English Cascade and Ernest hops then dry hopped for an aromatic finish; Pale Ale (440ml, 4.2% ABV): it is packed full of Cascade, Chinook and Citra hops and has been created to be a sessionable; New England IPA (440ml, 5.3% ABV): the Neipa uses Citra, Mosaic and Centennial hops and is said to have a tropical aroma and punchy, fruity flavour; Best Bitter (500ml, 4.4% ABV): using all UK ingredients it is “brimming with biscuity malts” with Pioneer, Cascade and Jester hops with local malts and yeast; and IPA (500ml, 5% ABV): a full-bodied transatlantic fusion that blends the traditions of English IPAs with New World American hops with Centennial and Mosaic hops that join Jester, a new UK hop to give a rich fruit aroma and satisfying bitterness.

Lakedown Brewing Co is the brainchild of brothers-in-law Jamie Daltrey, Christopher Rule and Des Murphy. They said: “Our inspiration was Lakedown, our family farm in East Sussex, a traditional hop-growing area of the country, where we would often enjoy a post-work pint together.

“We wanted to create a local brewery that brought people together beyond Lakedown, celebrated the British countryside and made for easy drinking brews for people to enjoy time and again.”

Music legend Roger Daltrey added: “Lakedown in East Sussex has been a passion of mine since I designed it as a rural sanctuary away from the mania of touring. Now my family – Jamie, Des and Chris – have launched Lakedown Brewing Co.

“They have turned me into a beer drinking convert because their beers are so easy drinking. And they have created a taproom for the beers on Lakedown itself, allowing anyone to book in and enjoy this wonderful place. There couldn’t be a more perfect spot to relax over a pint.”

Set in Burwash, in the heart of the Wealden valley, the Lakedown taproom offers keg and cask beers with bottled and canned beers also available to take away.

Rums reach UK from the terroir of Grenada

A start-up rum distillery located in Grenada in the Caribbean has launched a range of spirits that uses its terroir to create the best possible sugar cane.

Mark Reynier, who was behind the renaissance of Islay’s Bruichladdich single malt whisky and Waterford Distillery, aims to explore the effect terroir, cane variety and distillation-style has on the flavour of rum at the Renegade Rum Distillery.

Drinks distributor Speciality Brands is bringing to the UK three, pre-cask white rums, which are the distillery’s very first distillates. It is hoped drinkers to explore will be able to enjoy the nuances of the terroir-driven project for the first time before the rums continue to mature in casks at the distillery.

The unaged, fresh sugarcane juice spirits include Single Farm Origin: Dunfermline Column and Pot still and Old Bacolet Pot Still.

The mountainous, volcanic Caribbean island has access to a wide range of altitudes, soils, terroirs and microclimates, which are ideal for growing quality cane and the state-of-the-art distillery is the first of its scale to have been designed from the ground up for terroir-bred sugarcane.

As well as cutting-edge still design and digital logistics, the Renegade Rum Distillery uses sophisticated technology for air filtration and water purification of waste streams, thus ensuring distilling systems run in rhythm with natural systems.

Chief executive Reynier said: “I started planning the project in June 2015 and felt this was the right home for Renegade after a fruitless 10-year search.

“We had the chance to make something really special here, with the latest thinking, drawing on our distilling experience from Scotland and Ireland to support the unique underpinning Renegade philosophy: rum defined by Grenada’s geology, farm by farm, field by field.

“Unusually this project has been both back to front and upside down. First, we had to propagate cane where none existed to prove it was worthwhile building a distillery then we had to design it backwards, from the end waste streams back to the incoming cane.

“Now we have a landmark, state-of-the-art-distillery built and run by Grenadians to use Grenadian cane – the veritable spirit of Grenada.”

Dunfermline farm is situated on the east of the island and surrounded by rainforest. Its Dunfermline – Pot Still rum is unaged and produced from fresh sugarcane juice of the Lacalome Red variety. The cane is distilled using a double-retort pot still creating a white rum that shows sweet overtones of figs and stone fruit, golden raisins, fresh lemon zest and a smooth texture.

Dunfermline – Column Still also uses the Lacalome Red cane variety. The juice undergoes a controlled fermentation and distillation on a double column still. This results in a rum with light sweet aromas, tropical tones of banana and pineapple, eucalyptus, aloe and freshly cut cane. The rum has a velvety texture with gentle hints of orange and soft marmalade.

While Old Bacolet – Pot Still is unaged and produced from fresh sugarcane juice of the fast-growing Cain variety. Mellow with hints of caramel and vanilla, the rum is claimed to have a robust spicy, cinnamon to allspice flavour, with a sweet roasted nuttiness that gives way to a dry, long-lasting finish.

Whisky maker Woven produces limited-edition drink with Spirit.ed

Leith-based start-up whisky maker Woven has teamed up with drinks company Spirit.ed to produce a limited-edition whisky for the festive period.

Woven X Spirit.ed Experience N.6 is said to be a unique blended Scotch whisky that has “aromas of marmalade and sherry, becoming orange cinnamon and cloves on the palate with a sweet fruitiness defining the finish of the whisky”. 

The drink is composed of a handful of carefully selected single malt whiskies from Speyside and Campbeltown, underpinned by lowland grain whiskies. 

Spirit.ed boss Belle Nairac said: “Within the whisky category we were searching for a brand who was pushing the boundaries and that is exactly what we got when we found Woven. We identified an opportunity to combine our strengths to create something exciting, innovative and driven by new age customer demand.”

Spirit.ed studied a September 2020 White Paper by Distill Ventures that defined the ‘new age customer’ by commissioning a survey of more than 3,000 US and UK consumers, about their whisky preferences, buying habits and values.

It found 41% of whisky consumers aged between the legal drinking age and 34 describe themselves as experts compared to only 16% of their older 55-plus counterparts. 
Spirit.ed therefore believes there has been an emergence of a new, younger (18 to 34) generation who are more affluent, curious and confident in their whisky knowledge. 

Woven co-founder Duncan McRae said: “By responding to an insight-laden brief set by the Spirit.ed customer, we were able to decode what they valued in a whisky and answer in liquid form. It was a freeform improvisation that led to some unusual combinations being explored between heavier textured malts and lighter whiskies with vibrant fruity flavours.

“This, ultimately, unlocked a taste profile unlike anything we’d have come up with using a traditional approach, proving the power of collaboration.”

Woven X Spirit.ed Experience N.6 has an RRP of £39.95 for 50cl and is bottled at 45.1% ABV.

Cocchi brings new vermouth variant to the bar

Vermouth brand Cocchi has introduced a new addition to its famous range with the launch of Cocchi Vermouth di Torino Extra Dry.

The Italian aperitivo maker is tapping into the growing appetite for the category driven by the current cocktail boom. The new vermouth will be available in the on and off-trade via UK distribution Speciality Brands.

With this new expression, Cocchi is celebrating Piedmont, the birthplace of Italian vermouth. It is claimed to be “wine-forward and elegant” through its ‘ricetta Piemontese’ (Piedmontese recipe) with all the main ingredients coming, or with strong links to the region.

The base wine used is made from local Cortese grapes, the same used for Gavi DOCG, and botanicals such as wormwood, angelica, coriander, cardamom, lemon peel and Menta di Pancalieri, a Piedmontese mint.

Cocchi managing director Roberto Bava said of the new variant: “It’s been a long process and it took a lot of work to create a vermouth that would have personality without overpowering the delicacy of a gin and vodka.

“So far, the support we got from our friends in the trade has been incredible so we’re confident this will become a classic just like our Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino. We’ll raise a Martini to that.”

Cocchi Extra Dry is the perfect addition to classic cocktails such as the Martini or the Bamboo but is also equally at home served long with elderflower tonic, soda water or sipped over ice.

Cocchi Vermouth di Torino Extra Dry, which is bottled at 17% ABV in 50cl format with an RRP of £19, is said to have fresh apple, melon and white flower notes from the wine that balance with the aromatic botanicals of cardamom, wormwood, coriander and angelica. The Piedmontese mint and lemon peels bring herbaceous notes and brightness to the palate.

If you have any new products that are being released to the on-trade, email the details with high resolution images before Thursday at midday for potential inclusion on Friday’s article to tnel.yyblq@jeoz.pbz​​​​​​​​​​.