Lost Lantern Spring 2025 Collection
Launching on April 2nd, the Lost Lantern Spring 2025 Collection is entirely focused on New American Finishing Traditions.
Exploring New Styles of Finished Whiskey
Today, whiskey finishing is an important part of the whiskey tradition all over the world. In the United States, distilleries now routinely finish single malts, bourbons, ryes, and more in secondary casks that amplify and enhance existing flavors. Most of these finishes are in types of barrels that are widely used across the world, and are effectively part of a worldwide 'canon' of finishes like sherry, port, and madeira casks.
Yet some American distilleries are going further, expanding the boundaries of what finished whiskey can be. They are exploring innovative new finishes that are uniquely rooted in their own local environment, and imbuing their whiskies with new flavors that have rarely been seen in whiskey before.
The Spring 2025 Collection explores this new world of American finishes. Some of these you may never have seen before. Others are becoming more common. And we hope that some of them, over time, eventually join the canon of finishes that almost every distillery explores at some point.
What Whiskies are Included in this Collection?
The flagship of the collection is Opulent Orchard, the latest release in our Single Distillery Series. Distilled by New York Distilling Co. in Brooklyn, it is a 7-year-old rye whiskey finished in apple brandy casks. Like all Single Distillery Series releases, the Lost Lantern team blended this release ourselves from several different barrels. Longtime Lost Lantern fans may remember that our very first rye was an apple brandy finish from New York Distilling Co, and this release is a larger, older, and even more delicious homage to that longtime fan favorite!
The Collection also includes five unique single cask whiskies:
An apple brandy-finished mesquite-smoked New Mexico single malt from Santa Fe Spirits
A tequila-finished Texas peated single malt from Andalusia
A honey-finished Indiana bourbon from Starlight
A Nocino walnut liqueur-finished 8-year-old Ohio bourbon from Watershed
A Pommeau-finished New York rye from Finger Lakes Distilling, a first-time Lost Lantern partner!
Further details on all the casks are below!
We hope the Spring Collection encourages you to explore new flavors that you may rarely have seen before -- and consider which ones you eventually want to see become part of the broader American whiskey tradition, as common in the United States as a sherry finish is in Scotland.
Opulent Orchard
New York Distilling Co. Apple Brandy Finished Rye
New York Distilling Co. was the first rye whiskey distillery we ever worked with, and we are proud to once again shine a light on one of the most unique types of whiskey they produce: apple brandy-finished rye whiskey, a unique style that adds the fresh fruit flavors of apple brandy to the warmth and spice of northern rye.
For this special release, the Lost Lantern team blended three different 7-year-old rye whiskies that were finished in American apple brandy barrels. The result is spice and sweetness in perfect balance.
Andalusia Whiskey Co.
Tequila Finished
Peated Texas Single Malt
Andalusia has quickly become a leading Texas distillery and an important voice in American single malt. Their whiskies truly reflect the climate and character of Texas Hill Country.
This unique single cask was made with 100% malted barley, 10% of which was peated in-house using Irish Peat. It was aged in a barrel that previously held Stryker, an Andalusia single malt smoked with Texas wood, for 2 years and six months, and then finished in an ex-Añejo tequila cask for six months.
A note from Nora: the combination of peat and a tequila finish is something incredibly special. It's the perfect choice for all of you mezcal lovers out there!
Watershed Distillery
Nocino Finished
Ohio Straight Bourbon 8 Years Old
Watershed is one of our favorite Midwest distilleries, and this release--our oldest and most unique whiskey from them so far--truly shows why. There's nothing else like it.
This was originally aged for 3 years and 8 months in a new oak cask. Then, it was finished for 4 years and 7 months (!!) in a cask that previously held Watershed’s own nocino Ohio black walnut liqueur. This adds rich, herbaceous nutty flavors to an already powerful and deep bourbon.
A note from Adam: Nocino is one of the most unique finishes we have seen so far, and a Watershed specialty. We knew we had to have this as part of this Collection, and this cask is a must for anyone who loves new flavors.
NOTE: This release tested negative for tree nut allergens (they generally do not survive the distillation process). However, we cannot guarantee it is completely allergen-free and would advise against it if you have a walnut allergy.
Santa Fe Spirits
Apple Brandy Finished New Mexico Single Malt
One of the country’s foremost American Single Malt producers, Santa Fe Spirits is a pioneer of mesquite-smoked single malt.
This is our first single cask release from Santa Fe Spirits since 2020! It was made from 100% malted barley, 30% of which was mesquite-smoked. It was aged for 3.5 years in a 53-gallon barrel, then finished for over a year in an ex-Santa Fe Spirits apple brandy barrel.
You might be wondering why this is the only single cask not in our cream label. That's because we established with our first collection that an apple brandy finish doesn't take the whiskey too far away from the expected profile!
A note from Nora: Do not sleep on this whiskey! We got so few bottles that we are only offering this through our online partners.
Starlight Distillery
Honey Finished
Indiana Straight Bourbon
Starlight is famous for its finishes, and this single cask shows why. Starlight took their 4-year-old bourbon whiskey and finished it for 3 months in a cask that previously held locally made barrel-aged honey from their own farm.
A note from Adam: Starlight is one of the original pioneers of the increasingly popular honey finish, and we love that it's honey from their own family farm. This has beautiful sweetness and depth. This is our first-ever finished whiskey from Starlight!
Finger Lakes Distilling
Pommeau Finished
New York Straight Rye
Finger Lakes Distilling in New York’s Finger Lakes region was founded in 2007 and is best known for its flagship McKenzie whiskey brand. The traditional distillery makes a wide range of spirits from the agricultural bounty of Upstate New York. This is our first release from Finger Lakes, making them our fourth New York distillery and first outside of Brooklyn!
This unique release is a rye whiskey that was aged for 6 years in a new oak barrel and then finished for 3 months in a barrel that previously held Pommeau (a blend of apple brandy and fresh apple juice) from Finger Lakes Cider House. It is juicy, spicy, warm, and fresh. Finished specifically for us for this Collection by Finger Lakes Distilling, this is a very limited release.
A note from Nora: I absolutely adore Pommeau... it's the essence of apple! If you haven't had it, snag a bottle when you can. This is the first Pommeau-finished whiskey we've ever seen, and we're so happy with the results. Two notes: First, this is actually cask strength, despite the unusually low proof (we blame the Pommeau). Second, while the official count for this whiskey is 205 bottles, we're actually only releasing around 100 bottles. Snag one while you can!
