It seems like there is a new alcohol brand launching every day (and you may be on to something there). Everyone from giant corporations to niche alcohol brands to celebrities is launching alcoholic brands or spinoffs. It can be hard to keep track of, so we’ve done you a solid and ranked some of the Top New Alcohol Brands launched this year.
Biggest Surprise Alcohol Brand Added To This List
Target’s Casa Cantina
Target has already become my favorite grocery store, and the fact that they carry adult beverages on their shelves is a game changer. We all know that the ready-to-drink (RTD) market is booming, and brands are popping up left and right with their canned cocktails – you can read my latest article about canned wine. Target is leaning into new and profitable trends and creating a more robust offering of in-demand items. If you’ve noticed, they carry celebrity-backed and higher-quality products now.
In June 2022, Target entered the RTD mix and announced a line of pre-mixed cocktails in their private-label booze brand, Casa Cantina. The line comes in three flavors – Classic Margarita, Strawberry Margarita, and Piña Colada. Casa Cantina boasts premium ingredients like strawberry, pineapple, and coconut at a low price of less than $10 a bottle. Grab that big red shopping cart and head to Target. Casa Cantina is available at all Target locations that sell wine.
Top New Alcohol Brand Of 2023
Dissent Gin
This one is cool. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as a constitutional precedent in June, an independent Washington DC-based distillery sprang into action in the only way they knew how. Republic Restorative Distillery is women-owned and LGBTQ-led and creates delicious crowd-funded booze with an outspoken, disruptive, and American voice. In the Summer of 2022, RR Distillery released a Ruth Bader Ginsberg-inspired gin with a serious charitable component.
After the Supreme Court rocked the nation with its decision last summer, Republic Restoratives partnered with ‘DC Gin Goddess’ and global gin personality Nicole Hassoun to create Dissent Gin. The gin inspired by RBG was developed to honor the late justice’s history of dissenting opinions. Additionally, to bring to the forefront her hometown’s flavors – pepper, allspice, ginger, orange, and hickory smoke, to name a few. Plus, proceeds from Dissent Gin go to raise money for abortion charities.
Our Favorite New Vermouth Brand Launched This Year
Top Couvée House Vermouth
Top Couvée is a London-based natural wine bar that operates out of its brick-and-mortar bar and retail as well as online. In 2022, Vermouth was their top seller, so they expanded their house-label range and started selling it publicly. . Only $25!
If you’ve never had Vermouth, it is fortified wine aromatized and flavored with botanicals like flowers, roots, herbs, and spices. It tastes sweet and subtly spicy and can be commonly found in drinks like Manhattans or Negronis (…spagliatto, with prosecco). Apart from the cutest label, House Couvée’s new Gin is 14.9% ABV and is lighter so it’s perfect for mixing cocktails. We love that this brand launched Vermouth this year because at-home mixology has blown up. People are curated their bar carts and made their custom cocktails. Make sure yours includes Top Couvée.
Marks and Spencer Distilled Range
Another British retail brand, Marks and Spencer, has put sustainability at the center of their new line of spirits. Their newly launched 10-bottle collection appeals to at-home mixologists who have been their bartenders for a few years during the pandemic’s isolation periods.
The expansive collection includes London Dry Gin, Vodka, British Raspberry Vodka, Rum, Blended Scotch Whisky, and XO French Brandy. All ten spirits come in at around $20 a pop, and every bottle is made with 100% British glass to reduce its footprint.
Top New Alcohol Brands From Celebrities
If you’re a Page Six watcher like me, you’re probably up to date with the top celebrity booze brands launched. In my opinion, the best celebrity alcohol brands are those that don’t half-ass it and slap a label on a bottle but work directly with experienced businesses
Carmelo Anthony’s VII(N) Seventh Estate Wine Label
Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James – big basketball stars who are even bigger about their wine. This past June, Carmelo Anthony took his aficionado one step further (read: his already successful digital series, What’s in Your Glass?), by announcing the release of his wine label, titled VII(N) Seventh Estate. And Melo took this seriously. VII(N) was created with third-generation Rhône French winemaker Stéphane Usseglio. The retired basketball star fully immersed himself in the project.
So what does it taste like? The 14.5% ABV wine is a full-bodied red with notes of cherries, sage, lavender, and pepper. You can also taste notes of tobacco as well as dried fruits and tea leaves. The wine is 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre grapes, fermented in concrete vats and aged for two years in the concrete and oak barrels. That’s commitment.
Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door Spirits Rye Whiskey
It’s no question that Bob Dylan loves whiskey and has referenced the booze in a ton of his songs such as Shot of Love and Moonshiner. Heaven’s Door Spirits are the singer-songwriter’s line of American Whiskey, and in July 2022 announced a new limited-release, part of a Decade Series line of premium spirits.
They’re calling it Decade Series #01 – high-rye bourbon whiskey aged for ten years in hand-selected barrels from smaller producers. Don’t forget to eat dinner before you drink this. #01 is bottled at 100 proof. The flavors contain toffee and dark chocolate notes, which is bitter but ends with a really smooth finish.
Lenny Kravitz’s Nocheluna Sotol
The story of this North Mexican spirit is too good not to share. Casa Lumbre is a global spirits brand that produces innovative and unique alcohol brands. It recently debuted its newest endeavor with musical legend Lenny Kravitz. It’s called Nocheluna Sotol, which originated from the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico. The spirit is fully rooted in North Mexican heritage and made the Sotol plant thrives in that region.
The North Mexican desert is actually what gives Nocheluna Sotol its unique flavor. The harsh elements help the plant release a uniquely layered flavor once processed. It tastes herby, with notes of dried stone fruit, caramel, honey, and a hint of smokey oak. Lenny Kravitz became a partner in this new booze launch when he fell in love with its flavor & storied history. He was in Mexico for the launch of Nocheluna Sotol, stating “I am honored to bring more awareness to this incredible spirit and region.”
This is not a complete list of new brands but it covers our favorite brands launched this year. We’re keeping our eye out for the next launches as well. Take a sip and let us know what you think.