Chew On These

With over fifty new Scotch whisky distilleries recently launched or in the works right now, gone are the days when a new single malt whisky would attract immediate press and fanfare from enthusiasts around the world.

Remember when Kilchoman originally launched? That was a really big deal back then. Everyone wanted to try it.

But do you also remember when Ballindalloch, Inchdairnie, and Dalmunach announced their plans to create new single malt distilleries?

I don’t either.

As I try to get reacquainted with the world of Scottish single malt, there are all sorts of new faces I’ve never even heard of, many with prices that seem quite high for whiskies that seem quite young. With the current tariffs on single malt Scotch, and the industry bursting with so much new blood, I have to wonder if the investment in a new distillery is still paying off for investors.

With all the time it takes to get going, and all the other unrelated booze you have to push in order to bring in revenue, I’m wondering why more producers don’t take a page from the Ian Macleod playbook. Rather than follow the ubiquitous start-up model, Macleod has been quietly revitalizing Scotland’s underutilized and lesser-known distilleries into some of the best in the business. Starting with the purchase of GlenGoyne in 2003, Macleod’s slow, quality-oriented approach has demonstrated real results and real value over the last fifteen years.

The proof is in the glass. Look at GlenGoyne and Tamdhu as two great examples.

The GlenGoyne Legacy and the Tamdhu 15 year are not only among the top single malt bargains I’ve tasted this year, they’re just flat out great whiskies. Neither dram reinvents the wheel, they’re just really tasty Sherry-matured single malts that offer a texture, weight, and viscosity that makes my mouth very happy. I know old-fashioned Highland single malt at a normal ABV doesn’t move the needle in today’s ADHD marketing world, but even after thirteen years in the business I still get excited about a whisky that tastes better than I expected.

When I first broke in the booze business, the major marketing efforts were moving away from Scotch whisky tradition. No one wanted to be boring. New whiskies needed to be big, bold, and edgy with over-the-top ABVs and explosive flavor profiles. The only way you could sell a single malt described as “mellow” or “delicate” was if it had an age statement of 25 years or more attached to it.

While exciting flavors and exuberant descriptions are what bring new drinkers to the market, they’re merely the top of the marketing funnel. As the funnel narrows and consumers become more educated, a large portion of drinkers invariably gravitates towards complexity and restraint. We’ve seen the same thing happen with wine culture, with lower-alcohol and more food-friendly expressions becoming much more popular with the general public, rather than jammy Zins and inky Syrahs.

Because of my beginner’s mindset, I wasn’t paying much attention to traditional, dependable GlenGoyne distillery back in 2010, but it has become one of my go-to standards over the past year, and undoubtedly one of the best values in all of whisky. Compared to Macallan 18 at $299, you can get a bottle of GlenGoyne 18 for $139.99 and it’s comprised of mostly first-fill Sherry butts. You can also get the 21 year for $199, which is the same price as the Glenlivet 21. I know which one I would choose: the one that’s absolutely drenched in mouth-coating, lip-smacking Sherry.

That’s what separates the GlenGoyne whiskies from other bargain malts like the Glenlivet or Glenfiddich: rich, supple, chewy texture. You don’t drink Glengoyne as much as you sink your teeth into it, especially the brand’s new Legacy: Chapter One edition. Bottled at 48%, unchillfiltered, and practically oozing with first-fill Oloroso Sherry character, it’s every bit as inviting as something like Macallan Rare Cask. But it will cost you about $200 less per bottle.

Because of its immense value, Glengoyne’s Legacy release was one of my favorite malts of 2019, bested only by the Tamdhu 15 Year Old, another distillery purchased by Ian Macleod back in 2011. Sweet to the first sip, but bolstered by rounded, mouth-coating waves of honey, dried fruit and caramel, there are few—if any—distillery releases as good as the Tamdhu for $125. I would put it against Macallan 18 and Balvenie 15 any day of the week, and a notch up from Aberlour 16 for sure in terms of complexity and depth of flavor.

There’s a toffee note on the finish that goes on for at least five minutes, teasing my mouth into taking another luxurious sip. I adore this whisky, but it’s important to point out that I don’t get anywhere near the same level of satisfaction from independently-bottled Tamdhu casks that pull stocks from the previous regime. That’s because Ian Macleod invested in top notch Oloroso barrels from Jerez and upgraded the quality of the wood, enhancing the spirit and heightening the quality. When you buy the distillery bottle, you get all that investment right on your tongue.

The investment hasn’t stopped there, however. In 2017, Ian Macleod decided three times was a charm, purchasing the long-dormant Rosebank distillery from its property owners, while simultaneously securing the trademark and back-stocks from Diageo. One of the lost legends of the Lowland, Rosebank never quite garnered the same cult prestige of Diageo’s other fallen treasures like Port Ellen and Brora, with its lighter, triple-distilled character and fruity charm. Set to reopen in 2020, Macleod plans to slowly release Rosebank editions from the 80s and early 90s, while setting out to revamp its third outfit. This project, however, will require a much larger overhaul, as almost all of the existing equipment has been stolen over the years, as well as a heavier marketing effort to convince malt fans globally that Rosebank’s Lowland style is something worth seeking out.

Given the company’s fifteen year track record, I’m not betting against them. Rather than build a completely new start-up from scratch, Ian Macleod has clearly shown the benefits of applying talent to an already existing infrastructure. I’m confident more longtime whisky drinkers will continue to take notice.

-David Driscoll

Four Pillars Returns With Best New Gin of 2020

There are two things in this world that I am unabashedly passionate about: good people and good booze.

As I was telling some of my co-workers yesterday, one of the best feelings in this industry comes when your favorite wine or spirit is made by someone you genuinely respect and care for. That’s been the case with Four Pillars gin since the moment I met Cameron Mackenzie and Stu Gregor a few years back. They walked into my store with a bottle of their Rare Dry gin and I instantly fell head-over-heels for both their incredible, orange-scented elixir and their kind, open-hearted Aussie demeanor. We’ve been friends ever since.

If you’re unfamiliar with Four Pillars distillery, let me quickly get you up to speed: it’s a boutique operation in Australia’s Yarra Valley, about an hour outside of Melbourne, that makes gin and only gin. No whisky, no vodka, no liqueurs or any of that stuff. Just gin. Only gin.

Not only do they make gin, they make what is for my money some of the best gin on the planet—if not the best.

I’m not alone in that assessment, either. There are other more professional entities that have bestowed various titles and honors of that nature upon Four Pillars multiple times over. “World’s Best Gin.” “Best Gin in the World.” That type of thing.

Why is the gin from Four Pillars so good? I’ll give you two important reasons straight away:

1. FOCUS OF FLAVOR: The Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin is unmistakably orange-focused in its flavor. It’s like smelling a big bag of fresh oranges and then tasting that citrus all over your tongue when you sip it. When you mix a gin and tonic with the Rare Dry, you’re actually supposed to add an orange slice instead of a lime. In comparison, the Navy Strength expression is finger lime-focused. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of other herbs and botanicals in the Four Pillars recipes, it’s just to say that their gins have very specific characters that are very, very, very well curated.

2. TEXTURE: What immediately grabs most drinkers when they first taste Four Pillars gin is the purity of flavor. Second, however, is the texture. These pot-distilled beauties have a supple mouthfeel and somewhat weighty texture on the palate. They’re so easy to drink that at times I’ve poured myself a straight glass of Four PIllars gin like I would a fine single malt Scotch. That’s been especially true over the last week with the new Olive Branch gin.

Cameron working on a batch of gin at the distillery

So let’s talk about the new Olive Branch gin, the newest kid on the Four Pillars block and a savory delight that I am unhealthily obsessed with at the moment. Imagine if someone distilled a Dirty Martini into a spirit, so that you didn’t need to add any olive juice or any olives! In essence, that’s what the Olive Branch gin amounts to: pure briny goodness, but inherent to the gin itself, not resulting from additives or flavors!

Using three types of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and olive leaf tea from the world-class groves of Victoria's Cobram Estate, the team at Four Pillars then added botanicals like rosemary and bay leaf to bring out the flavors of the Mediterranean (even though they're really from the Cam’s garden), with native macadamia nuts and lemon myrtle as well.

I’ve been carrying a bottle around with me all week, sampling friends and colleagues, and these are some of the more detailed and scientific responses I’ve heard thus far:

• “Wow, that’s really good.”

• “Holy shit, that’s incredible!”

• “Oh my God, that’s amazing.”

When something tastes as wonderful as the new Four Pillars Olive Branch gin, professionalism goes out the window and human emotion takes over. You’ve got all the specs above, but in the end all I really have to say is: wow, wow, wow.

-David Driscoll

Precision and Finesse Along the Central Coast

The view from Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills

I’m not going to act like I didn’t get into Central Coast Pinot Noir because of the movie Sideways.

Maybe that’s not cool to say out loud, but as the late rapper MC Breed once famously said: “There ain’t no future in yo frontin’.”

I stopped drinking Merlot in 2003 just like everyone else. I made the switch to Pinot Noir because it was trendy. Might as well just be honest about it.

Shortly after watching the film, I bought my first bottle of Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir. At $20, it was the most expensive bottle I had ever purchased at that point. But it was worth every penny. When all you’ve ever known is cheap red wine from the nearby supermarket, a wine like Au Bon Climat can completely change your life.

Raj Parr, the co-founder of Sandhi winery and the wine director for the Michael Mina restaurants, feels the same way. He’s been open about just how much the wines from Au Bon Climat and the guidance and generosity of its esteemed winemaker Jim Clendenen have inspired the efforts at Sandhi—a wine that I am obsessed with right now. It’s a big reason why Sandhi sources fruit from the Sanford & Benedict vineyard, where Clendenen has also purchased fruit since the 1987 vintage. Because Jim was such a pioneer in seeking out cooler growing regions and fermenting naturally and without additives, it’s no surprise that Raj would want to follow in those footsteps.

If you’re new to Pinot Noir (or if you’ve seen Sideways and remember the monologue), it’s not an easy grape to ripen. That being said, it’s one of the three main varietals in Champagne, so even if you don’t have the warm temperatures for red wine, you can still make sparkling wine with all the acidity. In fact, that’s exactly what people thought Raj Parr was planning to do when he teamed up with winemaker Sashi Moorman in 2007 to purchase land in the Santa Rita Hills and plant a vineyard. Having chosen a site at the very western end of the appellation, near the town of Lompoc, people thought they were crazy. How could you ripen fruit in such a cold and windy section of the region? Today, however, it’s one of the most coveted sources of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the state.

Domaine de la Côte

Naming it Domaine de la Côte, Raj and Sashi planted their south-facing hillside with the most interesting cuttings they could find; a variety of rootstocks from legendary California vineyards like Swan, Calera, and Mount Eden. They broke the estate up into sub-vineyards based on the different elevations and facets in the soil profiles—six individual sites across roughly forty acres. The land is farmed without chemicals, organically whenever possible and the wines are made with as little intervention as possible. Not to spoil another wine movie for you, but in the popular documentary Somm 3, Domaine de la Côte takes top honors, which is why you won’t find a bottle on any retail shelf from here to Manhattan. Today, wines sell for $100+, if you can even locate one.

But if you’ve managed to read this far down, I’ve got good news for you: 70% of the fruit in the 2018 vintage of the Sandhi Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir comes from Domaine de la Côte, and that wine will only cost you $30. If you’re a whiskey drinker, then I’ll break it down this way: if Domaine de la Côte is Pappy, then Sandhi is like Weller 12 year. The wine is absolutely gorgeous, like a river of soft and supple cherries running over your palate, but balanced with ample structure and acidity. To top things off, much of the remainder comes from the aforementioned Sanford & Benedict vineyard, so any way you slice it you’re getting some of the best Pinot Noir that California has to offer.

But as good as the Pinot Noir from Sandhi is, it’s the Chardonnay that has me spinning at the moment. Not only the fantastic Central Coast expression for $25, but the three single vineyard expressions at $50 that are as close to white Burgundy as Southern California gets. In fact, the Central Coast Chardonnay—and the partnership between Raj and Sashi as a whole—started when Raj was looking for a by-the-glass Chardonnay at his RN74 restaurant and couldn’t find anything he liked at the price point he was searching for. He ended up creating his own option with Sashi instead, sourcing fruit from vineyard sites along the Central Coast that fit the cool-climate profile he wanted.

While RN74 is no longer open, its customized, by-the-glass pour lives on in the Sandhi Central Coast Chardonnay. The wine is a great introduction to the Sandhi style with nuanced aromas of both citrus flowers and fruit that turn slightly creamy with the oak influence, but never flabby. If you’re after richness infused with the individuality that is terroir, then you need to check out the single vineyard expressions. I popped the 2017 Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay last night at dinner and it was so supple, and so packed with lemon cream and white flowers that it blew my mind.

But the real star of the show right now, and perhaps the most beloved of the three, is the 2018 Bentrock Chardonnay because it bolsters the citrus and the white flowers with minerality and a savoriness that really counterbalances all the weight. Or if you wanna get a taste of what Domaine de la Côte’s white fruit can offer, grab a bottle of the 2018 Sta Rita Hills, made for the first time entirely from estate Chardonnay!

I’ve been in the wine industry going on fourteen years now and having spent most of that time pining for Chassagne-Montrachet and Chablis, I’m somewhat embarrassed that I haven’t given more attention to the incredible wines made just up Highway 101. Raj and Sandhi are making wines that showcase the potential communion between man, earth, and vine. Find a good piece of earth, plant some vines, and get the hell out of the way. Let nature do its thing. Nurture the process. Put it in a bottle.

That’s Sandhi in a nutshell.

-David Driscoll

Bourbon For Veterans Day

You know the famous names of today’s hottest American whiskies: Stagg, Weller, and Handy, for example. 

But do you know who these men were before they joined the whiskey business and became industry icons? They were just like many Americans in the whiskey business today: former soldiers who came home from war and found a career making and selling Bourbon.

George T. Stagg? He was a fearless Civil War officer.

William LaRue Weller? He fought in the Mexican-American war.

Thomas Handy was a Confederate soldier who helped lay the foundation for the Sazerac company, from whom you get your coveted Blanton’s, Pappy, and Elmer T. Lee. 

The late Dave Pickerall of Maker’s Mark and WhistlePig fame served eleven years in the U.S. Army after graduating from West Point. 

My fellow San Francisco Spirits Competition judge and best-selling whiskey writer, Fred Minnick, is a veteran of the Iraq War. He’s actually the person from whom I got all this information, and his forward to the book Bullets and Bourbon lays out this spiritual connection to whiskey. I texted him last night about the subject, and he pointed me to an article where he spoke candidly about his service, saying: “Bourbon allowed me to keep my focus on what’s happening inside my mouth, instead of on a jet that is about to drop a bomb or something.”

There’s an undeniable link between Bourbon and the military, and that relationship forms the foundation of Bullets and Bourbon.

Coincidentally, it was that exact book by John C. Tramazzo that inspired two former Green Berets to start their own whiskey company. Having fought for their country and looking to create the next chapter of their lives, John Koko and Scott Neil decided to follow in the footsteps of their veteran counterparts and start their own Bourbon company. 

But there’s more to the story than just the legacy of American soldiers and whiskey. Quite a lot more.

John and Scott were not only Green Berets, but Scott in particular was part of the original team of ninety soldiers sent into Afghanistan after 9/11 to fight the Taliban and Al Queda; the same mission that was recently turned into a film called 12 Strong with Chris Hemsworth. I caught up with Scott in the store this week as he was visiting from Florida, and he filled me in on more of the details.

“Right after 9/11, small teams of Green Berets were inserted behind the lines in Afghanistan to link up with Mujahideen fighters and create a resistance against the Taliban as well as Al Queda,” he explained; “This was an impossible mission against impossible odds, but yet everybody volunteered and was happy to so. In as little as ninety days, ninety Green Berets had expelled the Taliban, sending Osama Bin Laden into hiding.”

Mark Nutsch in Afghanistan

Scott and John’s Bourbon label is called Horse Soldiers because of the moniker by which these fighters would come to be known. To help with the brand, they enlisted the help of Mark Nutsch and Bob Pennington, who both fought with Scott in Afghanistan.

“Some of us came into the mountains and linked up with General Dostum and fighters who were on horseback,” he added; “Mark and Bob were the two commanders and they raised a Mujahideen cavalry of 3500 horsemen and 1000 infantry. They took an all-horse cavalry in against tanks, something that hadn’t been done since the first World War.”

Scott explained that because the Taliban had captured all the armor and equipment since the fall of the USSR, they had been able to overpower the smaller towns in the area. As a result, the Mujahideen had reverted to horseback in order to maneuver through the nearby mountains and valleys. As a result, the conflict against the Taliban was a clash of two completely different technological eras.

“We had all served doing various missions, but imagine getting the ultimate mission,” Scott continued; “The country had been attacked. We were not expected to survive. This was an impossible mission against impossible odds, but yet everybody volunteered and was happy to do so.”

After returning from battle, Scott pondered how the rest of his life might play out: “I left the military at the end of 2011, and I worked for a veterans non-profit for a while. I had talked to many successful people who had done well, and they had all invented something or had a family business. I admired their pursuit of the American dream, so I decided I needed to start a business, too.”

Stationed in Afghanistan

It was during that time that Scott and John took a trip to Yellowstone, where they spent time riding horses, climbing the Titons, and fly fishing. They discussed starting a business together, and as the trip was coming to an end, they happened to drive by a small craft distillery offering free tours and tastings. 

“We thought it would be fun to stop and have a few drinks, but we came away with a fascination about how whiskey is made and how it comes to market. So we spent the next three weeks visiting distilleries on the way back to Tampa. We called some of our other friends who we had served with and we decided to go to Scotland.”

The two had contacts with other soldiers who had served in the British Royal Marines at Wolfburn distillery and they spent time working at their facility in Thurso, Scotland. 

“When we got home, we had another military friend with connections to people in Ireland at Teeling and Kilbeggan, so we went and visited them,” Scott added; “We learned different ideas, fundamentals, operations, funding and finance, etc. Not only just the making of the whisky, but the business side as well.”

When the two finally visited Kentucky, they knew that Bourbon was going to be the business. “We were referred to Ryan Lang at Middle West Spirits from another soldier via our network of veterans, but we visited a number of Bourbon distilleries before that. There was a kinship between former soldiers that helped open the door to these businesses in a way that likely wouldn’t have happened if we were a rival or a new distillery.”

Today, Horse Solder Bourbon is made in Columbus, Ohio from two different recipes decided on by the team: a high-rye Bourbon mash bill of 68% corn, 27% rye, and 5% barley, alongside a wheated Bourbon recipe of 70% corn, 20% wheat, and 10% barley. “We liked the higher rye recipes,” Scott explained; “but half of us also loved wheated Bourbons—the whole fantasy of Pappy. Many of us also grew up drinking Maker’s Mark. We couldn’t decide which to choose, so we just decided to do both.” 

While the whiskey is currently made in Ohio, Horse Soldiers is in the middle of building its own Kentucky distillery. “We bought 200 acres in Somerset, Kentucky; about an hour south of Lexington,” Scott outlined; “No one here has any fantasy about the work this is going to take and how much this costs, we’re here because we love this and we want to start a real business.”

Having walked the Bourbon aisle together at Mission, chatting about the endless array of new American whiskies that continues to expand, Scott once again ensured me that he’s ready for the competition. “Just like we had to fight 50,000 Taliban, I feel like we have to 50,000 other brands. And we don’t have billions of dollars at our disposal. All we have is our grit and determination.”

Since tomorrow is Veterans Day, now seems like the right time to tell you a bit more about the Horse Soldier Bourbons:

Horse Soldier Straight Bourbon $44.99 - Roughly three and a half years old, bottled at 95 proof, and made from the high-rye recipe, this is a classic profile of charred oak vanilla and herbaceous spice with earthy finish that is bolstered by the richness from the oak.

Horse Soldier Small Batch Bourbon $59.99 - Made from the wheated recipe and bottled at 95 proof, the small batch is marriage of eight to ten barrels, roughly five years of age. In the vein of Weller and Maker’s Mark, it has all the creamy sweetness and baking spice goodness one would expect given the mash bill. 

Horse Soldier Barrel Strength Bourbon $69.99 - The exact proof varies by batch, but this full-throttle wheated Bourbon brings huge waves of vanilla, cinnamon, clove, and pepper as it lights up the palate and sends the taste buds into overdrive.

Besides the opportunity to try a new Bourbon portfolio (one actually made to their specifications, not simply sourced from Indiana), there are other perks to buying a bottle of Horse Soldier Bourbon. “Our bottles were built for charities,” Scott explained, “and part of the proceeds go to help various causes. We’ve raised more than $15,000 for the America’s Response Monument. Each year we focus on one cause, so this year it’s Project Healing Waters, and I just did another event at the distillery for a Veteran’s Day bicycle ride. We’re signing bottles, doing free tours, whatever we can do to give back.”

As to the future, Scott is hoping he can be just as successful as American soldiers of the past like George T. Stagg.

“This is our legacy and our long term investment for our families,” he said before we parted; “Our kids work here, our wives are involved. We grew from three initial friends, to ten, to twenty, to fifty. The majority of us have military backgrounds, but we have some industry people here as well. We just want to make great whiskey.”

-David Driscoll

High On The Mountain

I caught up with Anand Virmani from Nao Spirits recently, the mastermind behind the Jin Jiji and Hapusa gins that are part of a new craft spirit movement in India. I’ve been obsessed with these babies for weeks on end and I was excited to finally teleconference with Anand from Goa, India where the distillery is located. I’ll go into more of the details later, but there’s an amazing story that I want to tell you right now concerning the source of the Himalayan juniper used in the gins and how Anand once drank what could be a Negroni made at the highest elevation ever.

It was after individually distilling more than 100 different Indian botanicals, experimenting with potential flavors, that Anand got the idea to search out juniper grown distinctly within the country, rather than continue to source it from Macedonia as he had done for previous gin projects. He made the trek to Khari Baoli in Delhi, the biggest spice market in South Asia, to see if he could find a vendor sourcing Indian juniper. After two days with no results, he finally came across a tiny, hole-in-the-wall shop where he showed the proprietor a photo of the plant. The man went into his desk drawers and came back with a tiny bag of what looked like juniper and smelled somewhat like juniper, but neither man was sure.

Since he was already planning a trip to the UK the following week, Anand asked if he could take the bag with him and ask some of his distiller friends in London what they thought. After running the juniper through a still at a friend’s distillery, they both confirmed that the resulting spirits both smelled and tasted like real juniper. He had found his source. Returning to the shop in Delhi the following week, he told the owner he’d like to place an order of whatever he called that plant. The man answered: “Hapusa.” 

After launching the Hapusa brand, Anand and his partners decided to take a trip to the source of the juniper in the Himalayas, hoping to document the experience for their website and social media sites. It was a 15+ hour drive from Delhi to the village from where they would make their way into the Rohtang Pass (click here for a cool video I found of the landscape). It turned out to be a much more complicated journey than they had prepared for, as they would need to get permission from the locals to enter the site of the juniper. After driving hours from the village in a tiny car (manned by an aspiring race car driver, according to Anand), they arrived at the mountain entrance, but it turned out the Rohtang Pass into the Himalayas is only open from 9 AM to 6 PM daily, and they didn’t arrive until after 8 PM.

The driver went and spoke to the guard who was willing to look the other way and let them in, but not long after they began their ascent up the narrow, winding mountain roads it became clear why the pass closed so early: at such a high elevation (over 13,000 feet) the cold evening air creates black ice on the roads.

As they began fish-tailing and sliding around each bend, Anand and his friends begged the driver to slow down. “I know what I’m doing, I do this all the time,” he answered confidently each time they pleaded. Finally, they reached the site of the juniper and along with their photographer they got out of the car and did their sightseeing. On the way back, however, it was now much colder and as they approached one of the curves, the driver found that the car breaks were not responding. Anand saw his life flash before his eyes as they approached one of the bends, but just before reaching the edge of the cliff the car hit a huge pot hole and came to a stop. The boys got out to survey the damage and found a huge oil leak, among other problems. They couldn’t get much of a phone signal so high up in the mountains, so they began walking until they could get within range and call for help. 

The group managed to get a hold of a tow truck, but it was going to be at least three hours before it could reach them, maybe longer considering the pass was closed and no one was supposed to be on the road. Anand had stowed a bottle of Hapusa, a bottle of Campari, and a bottle of sweet vermouth in his bag, so now seemed as good a time as ever to have a drink. They huddled together in the car to keep warm as Anand mixed Negronis for the group and the Mountain Negroni was born! “We thought about calling it the Rohtang Negroni,” Anand said as he finished the story; “But we didn’t think anyone would get the reference. So we stuck with Mountain instead.”

The Mountain Negroni

• 1 1/3 oz. Hapusa Himalayan gin

• 1 1/3 oz. Campari (or other bitter liqueur)

• 1 1/3 oz. sweet vermouth (I use Volume Primo)

-David Driscoll

A Long Time Waiting

Todd Leopold looks over a fermenting Bourbon mash

It would take me at least ten pages to truly explain just how much of a distillation genius, whiskey savant, and overall booze geek that Todd Leopold is, so let me just say that the real work that we will come to know the Leopold Bros Distillery is only now coming to light.

For the last 10+ years we’ve been drinking their gin, their vodka, their various liqueurs and such, but the true craft of what Todd Leopold can do is finally here. And we’re just getting started. When the Three Chamber Still rye whiskey comes out in January, we’re all going to be on our knees, begging him for more, because that whiskey is just that good, but for now let’s break down the new 5 year old Bottled in Bond Bourbon. 

• WHY YOU WANT IT: This is real deal, grain-to-glass, pot-distilled farm Bourbon, aged for five years in the Leopold’s government-bonded warehouse, and it beautifully bridges the gap between the grainy, spice-laden flavors of small production whiskies and the richness and sweetness you expect from your favorite Kentucky Bourbon. It’s impeccably balanced and complex from front to back, finishing very soft and very smooth.

• HOW IT’S MADE: Using 65% local corn, 21% in house-malted barley, and 15% heritage rye, the custom-mash creates a creamy, malty, and very distinct flavor profile, imparted with fruit from the open-top, native yeast, cold fermentation that coaxes out the flavors over 120 hours, more than twice the fermentation time of most other distillers. The Bourbon is also pot-distilled, rather than column distilled, so the whiskey truly tastes more like the mash itself than the new charred oak it was aged in.

• WHAT/WHO MAKES IT: Todd and Scott Leopold originally built their distillery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but soon moved to Denver, Colorado for better access to grains. Everything they make is from scratch. 100% of the grains used for their spirits are floor malted by hand, meaning rye, wheat, and barley. With the exception of their grape-based absinthe and maraska cherry liqueur, all of their base spirits are made in house. Todd Leopold is also a professional maltster, selling in-house malted grains to many of the nation’s top craft breweries.

We’ve got plenty in stock right now for the time being. I’ve got my bottle and I keep going back for more as I type this. It’s incredibly lithe for being 100 proof, so I need to be careful. There's so much to like about this: the way it's made, the people who made it, the way it tastes, the complexity of oak, rye, chocolate, malty grains, oatmeal cookie, etc. 

Grab your bottle here:

Leopold Bros 5 Year Old Bottled in Bond Bourbon - $54.95

-David Driscoll

Diffusing Tequila Knowledge

There’s an incredibly-complex, ongoing situation with Tequila that needs a very simple explanation, but unfortunately is quite difficult to summarize.

Last night, however, while stress-eating whatever junk food I could grab at the store before leaving, it hit me: Hot Cheetos.

Hot Cheetos are delicious, right? You can’t stop eating them once you start (at least I couldn’t as the election results kept rolling in). They taste so good, and they’re oh-so satisfying, but you recognize them for what they are: cheap little puffs of starch that are covered with artificial flavoring.

That doesn’t mean you won’t continue eating them, but it does mean that you would never pay $100 for a bag of Hot Cheetos. Or would you?

That’s what I have to ask some Tequila drinkers these days because most of the population has no idea that most of the Tequila it’s drinking is basically distilled starch water with artificial chemicals added to make it taste like Tequila.

It’s called diffuser Tequila. It is the Hot Cheetos of booze. It may taste good, but it’s super cheap to make and it’s full of sugar.

What is a diffuser and why is it such a dastardly machine? I’ll tell you. There are plenty of articles that go into detail about what the diffuser is and how it works, but I'll give you the simple breakdown here: 

1. Diffusers make Tequila production cheaper and faster! But not better.

2. As a result of so much production, agave is now short supply! Producers want to get the most potential alcohol from every single piña harvested. Blue agaves take 6-10 years to fully ripen, which is too long for many producers to wait when sales of Tequila are at an all-time high.

3. Traditionally in Tequila production, the piñas are cooked, crushed, and pressed to extract the sugars, which are eventually fermented in tanks or vats like with winemaking. In both cases, the process requires ripe produce because one needs sugar to start a healthy fermentation (I've always said that Tequila and mezcal are much more like wine than whiskey for that reason).

4. With the invention of the agave diffuser, the need to cook and crush the agave has been completely eliminated from the process. Instead, an uncooked, under-ripe, sugarless agave is fed into a shredder and the resulting agave chunks are moved onto a conveyor belt into the diffuser. 

5. The diffuser sprays the agave pieces with hot water that extracts the starch from the pulpy plant and collects it in a tank. Now rather than having to cook the actual agave to create the sugars, the distilleries can instead boil the starch water and add an enzyme to convert that starch into sugar, much like how Bourbon is made (and not at all like wine).

6. While the diffuser results in a more efficient use of manpower and potential alcohol, it results in a flavorless product. But, much like with processed food, all that "agave" flavor can be re-added later on the back end (like the seasoning on Hot Cheetos). 

7. Because the resulting diffuser Tequila is still entirely a product of agave, the labels continue to tout their "100% agave" classification and market the liquid as a top quality Tequila, rather than a mixto or blended agave product. It means they can use young agave piñas that have no sugar and no flavor, and still make “Tequila.”

The reason Patrón Tequila was such a big deal when it first launched was because it marketed itself as 100% agave—meaning no added grain alcohol. It’s quite akin to the single malt revolution that began around 2007, when drinkers began passing up blended Scotch because it uses grain whisky to stretch out volume. Savvy sophisticates wanted the good stuff—pure. No baby laxative added to the cocaine. Just the straight product.

From that point on, every premium Tequila began putting “100% agave” right there on the label to distinguish it from cheaper mixtos.

The problem Tequila producers found themselves in nearly two decades later was that the new demand for 100% pure agave Tequila was using up all the agave! But they couldn’t go back to making mixtos because that would destroy the lucrative market they had worked so hard to create. So they invented the diffuser.

Now I know what you’re going to ask next: David, which distilleries are using diffusers?

Let me tell you the hard truth: it’s much easier to ask which distilleries aren’t using diffusers.

And let me add this: while some diffused Tequilas taste very smooth, with lots of richness and no burn, there’s no economical justification for a fancy diffuser Tequila to exist. Yet, they’re out there.

And they’re like $100 bags of Hot Cheetos.

-David Driscoll

(P.S.- If you’d like suggestions as to which producers make a traditional Tequila without diffusers, additives, or other artificial flavorings, check out this blog post here)

Tracking Your Single Barrel

Like I mentioned yesterday, I’m still playing catch-up to make up for the 2+ years I was out of the retail loop, but I’m working at a breakneck pace to get back up to speed, tasting as much booze as I can while reaching out to my friends across the industry for more information.

One Bourbon that caught my attention this week was the updated Baker’s 7 Year Old Bourbon from Jim Beam, now with a new package and single barrel status that gives it an updated look and a modern desirability. Not only was the bottle I purchased absolutely delicious, it came with the opportunity to track my single barrel’s individual journey as part of an interactive journey on the Baker’s website. We’ll get to that in a second. First, let’s break it down:

• WHY: The new and improved Baker’s 7 year old 107 proof Bourbon is hands down one of the best high-proof whiskey options on the market right now, exploding with flavor and finishing with equal blasts of vanilla, oak, and spice.

• HOW: Jim Beam does not disclose any of its mashbill recipes, but the general belief is that Beam Bourbons use 13-15% rye in addition to 75% corn, the rest being malted barley. When dialed up to 53.5% ABV, the fruit and clove flavors really punch through.

• WHAT: Part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Series (in addition to Booker’s, Basil Hayden's, and Knob Creek), Baker’s has long been the overlooked sibling in the family. That changed in 2020, however, when positive reviews for the new edition began simmering online with reviewers and consumers alike. Named after former distiller Baker Beam, the label was first released in 1992.

I’m nosing my particular single barrel expression of Baker’s right now and, again, I’m getting lost in Big Red cinnamon gum aromas, mixed with Blackjack cloves. The vanilla comes through as you pull your nose away, then you sip and BOOM: your palate lights up with herbaceous rye notes, citrus, and more baking spices.

The Baker’s 7 year single barrel is not the rich, supple, mouth-coating Bourbon you’ve been looking for as a Blanton’s alternative. It is, however, the big, spicy, sweetly-scented powerhouse of Bourbon you need for a rocks pour, or a more potent Manhattan. Even as a straight sipper, if you like bold, assertive Bourbon concentration, this is a great grab.

Like I mentioned above, if you input the serial number on the neck of your Baker’s single barrel bottle, you can virtually roll your barrel through the rickhouse and track the data on your particular whiskey. My barrel was aged towards the top of the pile, meaning it likely went up in proof over time due to evaporation and the 102 degree heat it withstood.

But that doesn’t necessarily translate into why my bottle of Baker’s tastes so darn good, it’s just a fun little diversion to help me better understand how the transformation occurred. Personally, having spent my formative years obsessing over Bourbons from Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, and Wild Turkey, I’ve been very impressed by a number of Beam whiskies this year, from this single barrel of Baker’s, to some of the Knob Creek editions out there, to the last batch of Booker’s I tried. Something good is happening in Clermont, KY. Whatever it is, I’m on board.

-David Driscoll