News & Notes - 3/15/21

If you’re not up to speed with all of Kentucky’s new Bourbon distilleries, one of the most talked about producers of the last few years has been Castle & Key, mostly because of its decision to revamp the Old Taylor Distillery (the same trademark owned and bottled as E.H. Taylor by Buffalo Trace). This past Friday, I finally got my hands on some of the juice, albeit as part of a special mash bill contracted by the team at Pinhook.

For those of you who who tend to avoid MGP whiskies, I’d recommend taking another look at Pinhook. Run by the team of Sean Josephs and Alice Peterson, the single casks are always well chosen, but Sean’s blends are above and beyond. In my opinion, the Vertical Series is annually one of the best things going right now in American whiskey because Sean is able to marry the best parts of each barrel into something greater than the sum of its parts for a price that’s more than reasonable and with fantastic packaging.

Roughly five years ago, Pinhook signed a deal with Castle & Key to have all its subsequent whiskies produced at the Kentucky facility under Sean’s direction with a custom mash bill of 75% corn, 15% rye, and 10% barley. In working on an exclusive project for MIssion, I not only wanted the C&K recipe, I wanted a blend of various barrels done by Sean himself because that’s the draw for me. Sean sent out a variety of three barrel marriages for me to choose from and I found one that was definitely to my liking—full of fruit, brown sugar, sweet baking spices, and a bold finish. It’s NOT the bottle in the photo, but it does have Barrel #1 in the mix, which Sean thinks may be the first ever barrel filled at Castle & Key, so that’s something to look forward to this June.

For those of you wondering why they called it Castle & Key, the old Taylor distillery is literally a fairy tale castle in its design, albeit I haven’t been there since the remodel. This is an old photo from 2013 when my friends and I would annually jump the gate at the abandoned facility and go roaming around the grounds in search of whiskey memorabilia. Back in those days, there were TWO ghost distilleries practically next door to each other: Old Taylor and Old Crow. It was creepy enough in the day time, so I can only imagine what it looked like at night! It was like a horror movie plot waiting to happen.

In other news, our Pasadena store is closed today for inventory, so if you were planning to pick up a bottle, better wait until tomorrow.

I’ve got Jasmine Hirsch on the Instagram Live schedule this week, so I’m very excited about that. We’ll be talking Pinot Noir and terroir, but on Thursday rather than the standard Wednesday time slot to accommodate Jasmine’s schedule.

Still looking for the new 2021 limited edition high proof, special stave release of Maker’s 46 to land this week, along with a few other new faces.

Should be a good week!

-David Driscoll

Arturo Fuente Primer

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been smoking through a sample pack of cigars from multiple brands, at various gauges and lengths, from all over the cigar-making world: Davidoff, Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Montecristo, Tatuaje, etc. While I’ve only been into cigars for a few months, I think I’ve already found my brand: Arturo Fuente.

Not only is the Arturo Fuente Reserva Don Carlos Robusto a truly inspirational smoke, the story behind the Arturo Fuente family and the adversity these people had to overcome before finding success is also incredibly inspiring. If you’re interested in learning more, I would highly recommend watching this 20+ minute documentary. Starting over 100 years ago in Tampa, Florida using Cuban tobacco, a series of fires, multiple armed revolutions, hurricanes, and other acts of God has tested the Arturo Fuente company for more than a century; but it never managed to keep the family down.

Today, all the cigars are made in the Dominican Republic with wrappers from Cameroon on many of the higher-end sticks. The sweetness of that wrapper with the robust flavor of the tobacco and the creaminess of the smoke is something truly special, especially with the Don Carlos. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Opus X a while back, but I didn’t appreciate what I was smoking unfortunately. Sort of like if someone handed you a glass of Port Ellen before you really knew what you were drinking.

If you’re interested in checking out the full range of Arturo Fuente, we have an entire multi-tiered shelf dedicated entirely to the brand in our Pasadena store, plus a healthy inventory in the other four Mission locations.

Odds are, you’ll find me in snooping around the walk-in humidor as well, looking for the next adventure.

-David Driscoll

Southern California

During my university days in San Diego, my friends from NorCal and I would blast Wax’s Southern California driving home for holidays and school breaks, a song of regret and remorse about living down south.

“Why did I move to Southern California?” we would scream, counting the miles until we got back on our home turf. I was not a fan of SoCal in the nineties, and for years I was convinced in the superiority of NorCal with its vibrant nature, its clean air, and its prominent food and wine scene.

But all that has drastically changed over the last few years.

The number one thing I get asked from my friends up North: “Don’t you miss all the nature and the hills around the Bay Area?”

Uh….look at the above photo from last night’s drive home (and, yes, I’m well aware that was not the safest thing to do, but it was too beautiful). Driving west from Pasadena to Burbank at sunset is the highlight of my day, every single day of the week. The majestic mountains to my right, the ocean glimmering out in front of me, the tall buildings of downtown in the distance to my left, the rolling hills of Eagle Rock sprawling to Los Feliz and the Griffith Observatory.

Do I miss the food? I do not. Having lived in Los Angeles for over two years now, the one thing I can say with certainty is that—if you’re into unpretentious, regionally-specific, international cuisine—we’re living in the middle of food paradise down here. From the hundreds of specialty food trucks, to the world’s best taquerias, to the dumplings of the San Gabriel Valley, to the sushi along Ventura Boulevard, to several of the best pizzas I’ve ever had in my life, I’ve never been more excited about any food scene, anywhere.

Working in Pasadena has been one of the best developments, as I’ve gotten to know so many interesting, laid-back, like-minded individuals who enjoy the slower pace of life on the east side of LA. The more I drive the 210 freeway, the more I can imagine myself retiring out here, enjoying the snowcapped peaks of the San Gabriel mountains with the multitude of trails and easy hikes that I’ve come to enjoy on many a Saturday morning during COVID. I know that I’m surrounded by good people.

So I’m here to say, on record, that I take back all the negative and naive things I once thought and said about Southern California in the past. At this point in my life, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

-David Driscoll

Instagram Live Repost: Talking Napa With Kimberly Jackson-Wickham

If you missed yesterday’s Instagram Live conversation about Jax Vineyard, Napa, and the impact of the wildfires on the region, I’ve got it archived here on the booze blog for ya.

I had a fantastic conversation with Kimberly Jackson-Wickham, owner of Jax Vineyards, one of my favorite people in the business. Jax (short for Jackson) has long been my go-to label for an outside-the-box Napa value, and it was fun to introduce both the label and Kimberly to new customers here at Mission.

You can check out our current selection of Jax Vineyards wines here.

-David Driscoll

Ambrosia Of The Gods

Since it was a cold and rainy night in Los Angeles, I decided to finally crack my bottle of Emmanuel Camut Ambrosia and sit by a warm fire (or television) while sipping what is, without a doubt, one of the most unique and flavorful liqueurs to hit the market in years.

If you know my feelings about Adrien Camut Calvados, then you know that I think it’s perhaps the greatest spirit in the world. Emmanuel Camut, however, has been thinking beyond the legacy of his grandfather and towards a broader and more experimental future—one that involves food and other speciality items. That’s why you’ll now find two products at Mission that bear his name specifically, rather than the founding patriarch of the estate: his new Ambrosia and his outstanding, world-class vinegar.

Let’s start with the Ambrosia.

Technically not a pommeau because it doesn’t adhere to the guidelines (although I’ve labeled it as such to give customers some semblance of what it is), Emmanuel takes sweet apple must and blends it with Calvados much like you would expect, but it’s not just any old apple must. In order to concentrate the Ambrosia, he cooks down the must in batches, over and over again, until it’s so thick and packed with rich apple flavor that it’s almost too much! He then blends it with Camut Calvados and barrel ages the elixir for extra richness.

Rather than a sweet and fruity pommeau or a delightful Norman aperitif. the result is much more like a Pedro Ximenez Sherry or aged Madeira. It’s dark in the glass, thick on the palate, and the aromas are ungodly. On the palate, the Ambrosia is incredibly rich, while simultaneously tangy from the balanced acidity. When I say that Emmanuel “batch cooked” the apple must, I mean he obsessively and maniacally experimented like a mad scientist until he achieved perfection. I know this because it’s the same process he adhered to for his vinaigre balsalmique de cidre.

There was a period of time when Camut wasn’t able to produce Calvados due to a number of complications at the estate, and during that time Emmanuel Camut needed a distraction. Balsamic vinegar became his new obsession, and concentrated apple must down to its most potent and syrupy-thick essence was his end all, be all. Using two wood-fired 200 liter copper pots, Emmanuel’s apple must process reaches three times the normal concentration of Italian grape must for traditional balsamic.

Next comes a long decanting period (done during winter) where he tosses out about 15-20% of the production to keep the must as clear and clean as possible. During the spring, the must is transferred into barrels during which a slow acetic fermentation process begins, converting the sugars into a very light alcohol. From that point, the vinegar is aged for more than a decade, during which it loses roughly 10% of its volume each year from evaporation.

With each year that passes, Emmanuel moves the liquid into smaller and smaller barrels, made of different woods like chestnut and acacia, some so small that you could hold them comfortably with one hand! It’s like a Russian doll solera system, where by the end the barrels are so tiny you can barely comprehend how he got the vinegar in there! As you might expect, the bottles are not cheap at $29.99 for a 100ml, but you don’t need much when you use it. Just the tiniest bit of Camut vinegar will add insane flavor to your dish. Quite literally, it’s worth every drop.

To give you an idea of how good the vinegar is, I’ll tell you a quick story. This is Alain Passard, the master behind one of the world’s great restaurants—L’Arpege in Paris—and one of the featured chefs on Netflix’s acclaimed Chef’s Table series. I had done an interview with Alain for my old K&L blog after taking my wife to his all-vegetarian, three Michelin-starred eatery for our anniversary, and I had kept in touch afterward having booked a number of friends for future visits.

On the way back from a trip to Camut—the visit where Emmanuel had finally unveiled the final product—I had to overnight in Paris before flying home. I decided the bottle of vinegar that Emmanuel had gifted me could be a lot more powerful in the hands of a world-famous chef than in mine. So I decided to walk over to L’Arpege and give the bottle to Alain, seeing what he might think of the vinegar. Unfortunately, Alain was out that day, so I asked if I could leave the bottle in his office. I wrote him a quick note, gave him the best gist I could scribble out in my amateur French, and left the bottle on his desk.

I never heard back from Alain. But two months later, Emmanuel sent me an email, explaining that he had just received his first order for the vinegar. It was from L’Arpege in Paris and he was asking if I had anything to do with it.

If one of the best chefs in the world is using Camut vinegar in his restaurant, I’ll take that as validation of its quality.

-David Driscoll

Instagram Live Tomorrow With Kimberly Jackson-Wickham

So many Napa wines fall into one of two categories:

• Old school, terroir-driven, low alcohol, moderate oak, and food friendly

• New world, ripe and fruity, high alcohol, heavy oak, full-bodied and rich

Some Napa wines attempt to straddle both categories. A number of them manage to pull it off. Few do it well.

Jax is one of the few.

I met Kimberly Jackson-Wickham roughly six years ago while working wine retail in the Bay Area and immediately hit it off with both her and her family’s wines. The Jackson wines (Jax for short) are what I give to friends, family, and customers alike when they ask me the age old question: what’s a good, dependable, reasonably-priced Napa wine that I can drink tonight?

Why do love the wines? Because the Jax Y3 labels offer varietal typicity, ample fruit, balanced acidity, and sheer deliciousness for about $20 a pop. The higher-end Cabernet Sauvignons from the Jackson family estate deliver every single time, offering drinkers enough fruit to drink now, but enough structure to hold for later. I love having those options when I both purchase and recommend a wine.

Jax is also a winery that thinks outside the box. Rather than open their tasting room in some remote Calistoga location and wait for visitors, they brought their wines right to downtown San Francisco, opening a beautiful bar on Brannan Street where I have brought many a customer on many a night. Kimberly is also a marvelous host and a very talented businesswoman, who isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and do the hard work.

Tomorrow at 5 PM, I’ll be sitting down with Kimberly for Instagram Live at the @missionliquor site to discuss the state of the wine business, the importance of making high quality wines for affordable prices, the current challenges facing Napa winemakers, and where the market might be headed as climate change continues to bring wildfires to California wine country.

See you then!

-David Driscoll

News & Notes - 3/8/21

Talisker is the only major distillery in Scotland that I’ve never visited, which is ironic because it’s perhaps my favorite Scottish single malt.

Why have I never made it out to Talisker? Because it’s on a rugged and remote island off the west coast of Scotland called Skye, and—unlike Islay—there’s only been one distillery out there to visit, so I could never justify it from a business standpoint.

But now there is a second.

Torabhaig distillery has been in the works for some time, but it finally came to fruition in 2016 when—after more than a decade of planning—the first stills and washbacks were commissioned. The first spirit was distilled in January of 2017, and—as has become custom in recent years—single malt fans have been dying for a peek at what that spirit tastes like after three years in cask. If you’re one of those folks, you can grab the new 2017 Torabhaig “Legacy Series” Single Malt Whisky from our Pasadena store while we still have any left.

Torabhaig is owned by the same group that does the Mossburn whiskies (some of the best values in the market, I might add). Upon its founding, it became the first new distillery on Skye in almost two hundred years. The formula is a peated one, clocking in somewhere between 50-60 ppm, and it bears a stylistic resemblance to its neighbor Talisker. This first release is aged entirely in ex-Bourbon casks and was limited to just 100 barrels for the entire planet. It’s bottled at 46% ABV, and it’s not chill filtered.

As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the heralded whisky reviewer Serge compared it favorably to peated Chichibu, which got everyone’s attention real fast.

Having sipped on it for the weekend, I can give you three reasons why you’ll want a bottle:

• Trying new single malt whiskies from new Scottish distilleries is always fun, and this is one of the best inaugural launches I’ve tasted. It is perfectly-balanced whisky, moving between sweet and supple stone fruit (think fresh apricots), sweet vanilla from the oak, sweet barley grains, and sweet peat. The finish is like sugar rock candy with a touch of iodine and olive brine, the subtle smoke lending a lingering campfire note.

• The price isn’t outrageous. Sure, you can get 10 year old Ardbeg for about the same price, but you’ve had that 100 times already. It’s not often you get to try an entirely new whisky from an entirely new distillery that’s got more to offer than the initial discovery. Trust me, you’ll be excited to drink every drop of this.

• There’s not a whole lot of this available, so by the time you realize you do want one it might be too late.

I had a lunch meeting with the Beam team today (in my backyard for safe social distancing) and got the chance to try the new 2021 limited edition of the Maker’s 46 Wood Finishing Series. This one will be known as “FAE-01” and comes in at 55.3% ABV. What I appreciate very much about this Maker’s 46 series is that it seeks to innovate within the lexicon of traditional Bourbon flavors: new oak, and nothing more.

While other producers are playing around with cask finishes, new grains, radical recipes, and more modern points of differentiation, Maker’s is simply inserting different types of oak staves into the cask to see what happens. There’s nothing in the flavor profile of the new FAE (Fatty Acid Esters) edition that tastes gimmicky. What’s really exciting about it, however, is that it tastes like a completely different Bourbon than your standard MM. This whiskey has circus peanuts galore on the nose, and almost no presence of baking spices, which to me is the calling card of Maker’s. It’s all sweet oak, char, cedar, mahogany, savory spices, and more peanuts. I loved it.

And….I got to taste with my old pal Johnnie Mundell who I hadn’t seen in ages. He was decked out in Maker’s gear from head to toe: beanie, mask, flannel, pin, bag, socks. My new Beam friend Jaime Streem brought lunch and chocolate chip cookies while we sipped, which may have been the best pairing of the year for me.

The new Maker’s 46 2021 LE should be available within the week. Watch for that, but make sure you sign up for my insider email on the right hand side of this blog if you wanna be the first to know.

-David Driscoll

Cigar Stuff

The really fun thing for me about cigars right now is the chance to start over; to once again be a complete novice about something related to both agriculture and hedonistic pleasure, and spend every free minute packing my brain with as much information as I can comfortably fit!!!

Unlike with wine, beer, or whiskey, I’m not looking (or willing) to taste and smoke dozens of cigars in a single day, so my intellectual progress is tempered by a slower pace of sampling, but if you’re also new to cigars let me tell you a few fun facts that have captured my romantic imagination recently:

• Cameroon wrappers: Tobacco in cigars can be broken down into three groups—filler, binder, and wrapper—and often those three ingredients can come from entirely different places. The wrapper is obviously the leaf on the outside of the cigar, and it plays a big role in the flavor. I was completely smitten with the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Robusto this past weekend and the sweetness of the wrapper. The Don Carlos carries a very special wrapper grown in Cameroon, known for its “toothiness,” which refers to the leaf’s natural oil pockets that look like goosebumps and add complexity of flavor. Dig deeper into Cameroon wrappers, and you’ll learn that they only exist today because of a man named Rick Meerapfel, who rescued the Cameroon tobacco industry after the French pulled out of the region in 1993. In the end, I spent hours on Sunday just learning about one type of cigar wrapper with a unique character and history.

• The Rule of Thirds: I remember learning about the rule of thirds during my first photography class when taking composition into consideration. The same can be said about the composition of a cigar. As someone who almost never finished even half of a cigar, let alone all of it, I had no idea what I was missing. Cigars will evolve in their flavor over the course of the smoke, and often really hit their stride midway, changing again towards the end. It’s really three experiences in one. I was ten minutes into a La Aroma de Cuba Especial #2 on Saturday thinking it was sort of “meh,” before that thing kicked into gear and completely changed on me. The point is: you need serious patience with cigars. I am one of the least patient people on earth, so I have some serious work to do with my fortitude.

• Are Cubans Still The Best?: I’m all about questioning authority, and simultaneously I’m also a sucker for heritage and tradition. I’m dying to know more about what makes Cuban cigars so renowned, but I also love reading articles about how fine cigars from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua are challenging Cuba’s status. It gives one a great jumping off point when trying to make headway with appreciation: compare and contrast the top Cuban brands with the top Dominican brands and see what you think. So far, it’s a tight race for my palate.

There’s so much to sink your teeth into here.

-David Driscoll