Instagram Live Repost: Talking Cigars With La Palina's Sammy Phillips

I’ve been hitting up Instagram Live quite a bit in the last two weeks and for good reason: you get to see, hear, listen to, and learn from the people making the creative decisions about the products we love!

As you may have picked up on, I’ve become completely smitten with La Palina cigars over the last month, also for good reason: they’re well constructed, they burn perfectly, they draw effortlessly, and they’re priced at about half of what they should be.

There’s a point in the interview where I say to Sammy: the ultimate high of whiskey buying is finding the next great $25 bottle of whiskey, not the next great $100 bottle.

Seeing that no one gives a shit about $25 whiskey anymore, I’ve had to transfer that bargain-based emotion over to cigars and as of late I’m riding a nostalgic high over La Palina. Considering the La Palina Classic sticks are only $5.99 a piece (and smoke like $10-$15 cigars), it’s as excited as I’ve been about doing my job in years.

I think cigars are where whiskey was 20 years ago: phased out, passé, but primed to make a serious comeback. Get in while the gettin’s good because we all know what happens when categories get hot.

-David Driscoll

High Noon With La Palina

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With La Palina now in stock at all Mission locations, and their $5.99 sticks already besting a number of cigars that typically cost between $10-$15, I thought it was time to sit down with the brand and learn more about what makes their product so fantastic.

Today at 12 noon PST, I’ll be on Instagram Live with the gang from La Palina to talk history, sourcing, construction, and everything in general about the brand.

Join us at the @missionliquor handle or check back tomorrow on the blog to see the repost.

-David Driscoll

Instagram Live Repost: Talking Bourbon with Michter's Master Distiller Dan McKee

Having America’s top master distillers on speed dial is indeed a luxury, especially when you need a quick explanation or a tidbit of information to help finalize product notes.

One thing I always tell people about Michter’s is that they fill at a lower proof, so when they bottle their Bourbon it requires less water. They add the water before it goes into wood, so even the H2O gets aged in oak. The result is a creamier, softer, richer whiskey. Watch the conversation with Dan McKee for more fun facts like that.

-David Driscoll

Instagram Live Repost: Talking Mezcal With Justin Briggs

I just reunited with my old co-worker Justin Briggs on Instagram Live to talk about the exciting new Cuishe Mezcales that have just hit the California market. Working with some of the biggest names in the business, like Berta Vasquez, Cuishe started as more of a mezcalería before transitioning into a full-fledged label.

Once you hear Justin talk about the capón and how removing it concentrates the sugar into a an agave piña (and that Cuishe has a mezcal made entirely from super ripe capón-ed agaves), I don’t see how you’ll be able to resist trying a bottle for yourself.

-David Driscoll

Double Instagram Live Tomorrow

Starting at 2 PM PST tomorrow, I’ll be live with my old colleague Justin Briggs from Skurnik to talk about Cuishe Mezcal and all the supercool new selections we’ve just brought into Mission. If you’re looking for a master class in agave spirits, Justin knows more about mezcal than just about anyone I’ve ever met.

At 3 PM, I’ll be back on with Michter’s to talk about all the new developments in Kentucky and what’s been happening at the distillery.

Lots of fun stuff to look forward to!

-David Driscoll

Instagram Live Repost: Talking Bourbon With Pinhook's Sean Josephs

When you share both common philosophies and passions about alcohol, what was supposed to be a twenty minute conversation can turn into an hour. That’s what happened yesterday with Pinhook’s Sean Josephs, when what started as a brief tutorial about the Old Taylor Distillery, aka Castle & Key, turned into a much longer discussion about single barrel whiskey, the future of the Bourbon market, and general overviews on what constitutes quality.

So much fun! Can’t wait to do it again.

-David Driscoll

The Rebirth of the Old Taylor Distillery

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Every whiskey fan knows about Col. E.H. Taylor at this point due to the uber-popular label produced by Buffalo Trace.

What many whiskey fans may not know is that Col. E.H. Taylor was not only a popular figure in the Kentucky whiskey industry, he also built his own distillery in the late 1800s that still stands today! Inspired by European architecture, Col. Taylor was a pioneer in whiskey tourism, constructing a fairy tale castle on the grounds, complete with a classical springhouse and sunken garden.

That being said, the distillery had been abandoned for decades when I first started traveling to Kentucky. Back then we would hop the fence and go rummaging through the old buildings, spelunking for remnants of Kentucky Bourbon history.

For example:

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Boxes of old records, bills of lading from the late 1960s! It was all just sitting there for anyone to take.

Around 2012, however, with the Bourbon boom heating up, a group of investors began looking into revamping the ancient distillery. Inspired by the history of the location and the current movements within the industry, they eventually purchased the site in 2014 and—not being able to use the Col. Taylor license owned by Buffalo Trace—renamed it Castle & Key.

After hiring Marianne Eaves from Brown-Forman to become Kentucky’s first-ever female master distiller, distillation began once again at the Old Taylor Distillery, both for Castle & Key’s proprietary labels and for contract purchasing. That’s where my friend Sean Josephs comes in.

Knowing he would eventually need to find a permanent home for his American whiskey label Pinhook, Sean and team reached out to Castle & Key about contracting futures of both Bourbon and rye whiskey. The plan was to eventually transition out of MGP distillate and move the entire line over to C&K.

Having started that transition roughly five years ago, Pinhook is now sitting on numerous barrels of 5+ year old, C&K-distilled, Kentucky Bourbon of a custom recipe, three of which just went into a “true” small batch edition that Sean and I put together a few months ago.

That private three-barrel small batch edition is not only the first ever Castle & Key whiskey we’ve seen here at Mission, it will also be dropping into stock very soon!

Join Sean Josephs and me this coming Monday at 3 PM on Instagram Live to find out more!

-David Driscoll