What’s happening in wine and whiskey this week:

This Week’s Unicorn Review Stories

🍷 The Jura is a region of France that is home to some fantastic wines, including its signature Vin Jaune ("yellow wine"). Find out more about the region and how its wines are built to age.

🥃 Terroir is a well-known concept in wine, but how about spirits? These whiskey distilleries are intent on proving that maturation location has an impact on flavor.

New Bottle Releases

Cathead Tintype #3 ‘Kenny Brown’ (SRP $135)

This is the latest edition of this Mississippi distillery’s Old Soul Bourbon series. It’s an 11-year-old whiskey bottled at cask strength of 103.5 proof, made from a high-rye mashbill (60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley) that was named after blues musician Kenny Brown. This is the oldest release in the series to date.

Great Jones 10 Year Distillery Reserve Bourbon (SRP $200)

This is the oldest whiskey to date from this New York City distillery. Great Jones is owned by Proximo Spirits, and while it does distill whiskey onsite, what you’ll find in the bottle is made upstate at Black Dirt (also owned by Proximo). This whiskey was made from New York State-grown grains, aged for a decade upstate, and bottled at 105 proof.

Crown Royal Marquis (SRP $40)

Crown Royal is one of the biggest names in Canadian whisky. This new release gives the original core portfolio blend a finish in rum casks, adding extra notes of brown sugar, vanilla, and tropical fruit to the palate. And, of course, it comes in Crown Royal's signature velvet bag. 

Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week

Jacob’s Pardon “Cask Collective” 16-Year-Old Oloroso Sherry Cask-Finished Whiskey (SRP $125)

The debut release of Jacob’s Pardon’s Cask Collective series has a bit of a Spanish tinge to it. This brand was founded by Palm Bay International president Marc D. Taub and his son Jake, and counts author and spirits expert F. Paul Pacult as its master blender.

This new release is not a bourbon, but an American whiskey—specifically a light whiskey distilled at MGP in Indiana—made from a mashbill of 99 percent corn and one percent malted barley. It was aged for 16 years in used barrels, and then finished in 50-year-old Oloroso sherry casks that were sourced from Span's Bodegas Williams & Humbert (also part of Palm Bay International). Just 48 barrels were selected for this release, which was bottled at 96.5 proof.

For those who are unfamiliar with light whiskey, it was a style that was codified in 1968, a time when whiskey had largely fallen out of favor. It’s distilled at a much higher proof than bourbon, and aged in used or un-charred barrels (remember, bourbon must be aged in new charred oak). It was originally meant to be a milder, lighter version of whiskey that might appeal to vodka drinkers, and while it fell out of favor for a long time, it has had a bit of a resurgence—although it’s still a very small category in the greater whiskey landscape.

The Jacob’s Pardon lineup consists entirely of light whiskey, some of it which is bottled at very high proof. That's not the case here, and the whiskey is better off for it. There are sweet notes of vanilla, maple, and caramel on the palate, and the sherry finish (the exact amount of time is not disclosed) has imbued it with notes of fruit, spice, and honey, without completely overpowering the character of the liquid. If you’re a bourbon drinker looking to expand your horizons, give this a try and see what you think.

Unicorn Wine Pick of the Week

Lady of the Sunshine 2024 SLO Coast Bassi Vineyard Albarino ($40)
Scar of the Sea 2023 SLO Coast Bassi Vineyard Syrah ($50)

I’ve been researching a story devoted to exploring the western vineyard sources in California, which means I’ve had the ocean’s influence smack in my face all fall. I can tell you it’s unrelenting, an incursion machine, coming at the coast and inland valleys with peripatetic currents of fog and wind. As anyone who’s visited the California coast in the summer knows, the beach can be a cold place to visit, and there are vineyards ten miles from the shore that are colder than vineyards two miles from it. That would describe Bassi Vineyard, less than two miles as the crow flies from Avila Beach in California’s Central Coast.

As of 2024, Bassi is owned by Mikey and Gina Giugni, who produce wines for their his-and-her labels, Scar of the Sea and Lady of the Sunshine. Even though the ocean is close, the vineyard is protected by a ridge to its south, which keeps the sea’s daily atmospheric ambush at bay. On a recent visit in November, I watched a fog bank form toward the top of the ridge. It gathered in size, but never advanced, making Bassi an exceptionally dramatic and visual microclimate. As a result, you have a vineyard that’s very cool, but not so cool that you can’t attain ripeness.

Bassi is farmed biodynamically, to six varieties. All of them are textural marvels; they share a tension that can only come from fruit sources that are literally on the edge of where grapes can ripen. The Lady of the Sunshine 2024 SLO Coast Bassi Vineyard Albariño is bright and bracing, giving off scents of lime, herb-oil and salty air. Its limey, lees-tinged flavors are marked by a flinty, energetic, mouthwatering texture, made for oysters.  

The Scar of the Sea 2024 SLO Coast Bassi Vineyard Syrah, meanwhile, is for anyone who loves savory Syrahs. Aromatically, it’s all smoke and crushed peppercorns with a hint of purple flowers. The flavors remain savory, with smoky, black pepper accents forming a kind of lattice around a core of blackberry fruit. Like his wife’s Albarino, the texture is arresting, bright, and full of rippling tension.