Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage is the newest brand from Epicurean Selection, a company created in 2015 to reflect the spirits that most beguiled its founder, Jonathan Read, an industry veteran with a combined 30-plus years’ experience as a chef and wine & spirits consultant. After years of hand-carrying bottles to the US from abroad, Epicurean Selection imported their first brand in the beginning of 2020, bringing Kikuhime Sake stateside to much acclaim. Single Malt Scotch, however, was a category that captured the company’s imagination from the start.

Epicurean Selection observed that, over recent years, whisky provenance has become increasingly obscured in favor of brand narratives, while the average age statement on any given release has decreased. Though younger whisky may be a natural reflection of the category’s success and subsequent demand, Epicurean Selection wanted to seek out whiskies that represented the industry’s earlier standards, acquiring exceptional casks that could be further treated in their country of origin, aged no less than 12 years, and bottled at cask strength. The result is the Rites of Passage Cask Selection Series.