The World's Peatiest Whisky Returns

Every year, the build-up to the release of Scotland's peatiest single malt whisky gets more and more intense as global demand increases. Distilled at a snail's pace by Bruichladdich on Scotland's island of Islay (the Mecca of peated whisky) and bottled at a whopping 59.2% ABV, the legend of Octomore grows with every new batch, as more and more whisky drinkers become converts to its unbridled intensity.

This year's 13.1 release is peated to an insane 137.3 parts per million, which—to give you some context—is roughly quadruple the amount of peat you'll find in Lagavulin 16. Aged entirely in ex-Bourbon casks and distilled from 100% Scottish barley, the vanilla from the American oak and the creaminess of the malt provide a striking contrast to the salinity and brininess of the whisky, to say nothing of the smoke!

Bruichladdich Octomore 13.1 Single Malt Whisky $219.99

Normally we would impose a one bottle limit for a whisky this coveted, but we were blessed by a larger than usual allocation. If you're looking for the perfect gift for your favorite whisky lover, but would like an extra for yourself, we've got you covered. These won't last long, however.

Scotland's peatiest single malt only has so many bottles to go around.

The Road to Thanksgiving Begins With Sancerre

Now that November is here it's time to start prepping for the #1 wine pairing holiday of the year: Thanksgiving! As with most things in life, getting a head start on your preparation (especially given this year's turkey shortage) is never a bad idea, which is why we're here today to tell you about this incredible Sancerre value: the 2021 Domaine Daulny from esteemed Loire Valley legend Etienne Daulny. Given that most of our favorite Sancerres are now pushing the $30 threshold, the $21.99 bottle price for the Daulny is even more impressive.

2021 Domaine Daulny Sancerre $21.99

Etienne Daulny owns 15 hectares of vines that are divided into about 50 different plots within the Sancerre wine region. Daulny combines diverse plots from varying types of soil, including clay and flint, Portlandian and Kimmeridgian, into his regular cuvée of Sancerre.

But Daulny's standard Sancerre is far from normal.

Grapes from some of the appellation’s most revered vineyards make their way into this cuvée, including old vine plantings at Les Monts Damnés, Les Bois Butteux, and La Perriere. Clos de Chaudenay (the hot spot) is a single vineyard cuvée from a gentle slope just above Verdigny. These southwest facing vines average 40 years of age. The 2021 expression is a classic Sancerre in every way: mineral notes of crushed rocks, hints of citrus and stone fruit, with racy acidity from front to back and a refreshing finish.

If a more perfect Thanksgiving white wine exists, we haven't found it yet. With its classic label, complex profile, and general deliciousness, we're 100% confident your guests will say "WOW!" with every sip. Sauvignon Blanc of this quality is generally much, much more expensive.

Wine Made in LA County...And It's Good!!!

If you want to impress your Angeleno friends at the next dinner party, roll in with a bottle of 2021 Angeleno Gold Line and tell them you brought some something extremely local!

As if the wine wasn't delicious enough, the story is even more interesting. Made by the team of Jasper Dickson and Amy Luftig Vista, along with grower Juan Alonzo, the Angeleno Gold Line already has a cult following in Los Angeles and we're excited to offer the wines here at Mission!

2021 Angeleno Gold Line Skin Fermented White Wine $24.99

First off, this wine is actually made in Los Angeles County!! If you’ve ever been to Vasquez Rocks just east of Valencia (where they filmed Star Trek amongst other sci-fi classics), it’s a hidden spot in the west end of the Antelope Valley.

What's it made of? From a field blend of Treixadura, Godello, Loureiro, and Muscat, all the fruit is sourced from Alonso Family Vineyards in Agua Dulce. Fermented with the skins, this wine is dry, but fleshy, giving it the mouthfeel and texture of a fruity Chardonnay, but without the oak or the butteriness.

Organic and sustainably farmed, the wines are also naturally made and 100% vegan, but they're also clean and without the tartness and often funky flavors that are driving the natural wine movement. It's a perfect crossover for those who love aromatic Riesling or Muscat wines from Europe, but also want to support local farmers and growers. You’re going to love it.

-David Driscoll

Quite A Debut

For the last ten years or so, I’ve spent a lot of time pursuing various whisky books and websites, looking for new distilleries around the world that may be on the verge, and trying to keep up with the growing market. Flipping through the Whisky Bible a few years back, a Swedish distillery named Mackmrya caught my attention with its 95 point score from Jim Murray, who wrote this about the Svensk Ek flagship malt:

Mackmyra has branched out into whisky matured from oak grown in the south of Sweden. Before I tasted this I was rooting for them. Soon I twigged that this is an avenue they must continue along. It’s brilliant!"

If you’re into the global whisky world like I am, then you’re aware of the worldwide explosion of new craft distilleries that has made it almost impossible for professionals like myself to stay current. Alcohol is like TV streaming right now. There’s so much new content and so many new providers that no single person can watch it all. Whisky has become much the same way. No one human has a liver capable of processing all this booze. 

However, when you read about the excitement around a new distillery, you naturally become curious. Hence, I was thrilled when the team from Mackmyra reached out this month and sent over samples of their three core expressions. With the new law that allows for 700ml in America, we’re going to see more and more European distillers coming to market, which is going to be both overwhelming and incredibly intoxicating. This is one I think you’re all going to be very impressed with.

Let’s start with the Svensk Ek.

The first thing to know about Mackmyra is that all their ingredients are sources from within 50 miles of the distillery. Even their peat is local! Swedish Oak as well! In addition, the Svensk Ek uses single malt whiskies matured in American Oak, Ex-Bourbon, and Ex-Oloroso casks, with a marriage that clocks in between 6 - 8 years of age. I sipped on this whisky all weekend and—for the $49.99 price tag—I think you’re all going to really, really enjoy it. Think Aberlour meets Clynelish in terms of style. There’s a lovely sweetness from the Sherry, but the harmony of the flavors is what sells it for me. 

This is a bottle I would continue to buy after draining the previous one. I think it might become a Driscoll house staple.

Then there’s the Bjorksav which is finished in Birch sap wine casks. Yes, they make wine from birch sap, put that wine into Swedish oak barrels, and then finish the whisky in those casks. There’s an added sweetness that’s similar to a Sauternes or Madeira finish. I enjoyed it very much.

If you like a bit of smoky peat, then you should grab the Intelligens, which was blended by a computer AI system and consists of two ex-Bourbon casks, one fresh Oloroso barrel, one virgin American oak and one virgin Swedish oak barrel that held a peated malt. I thought this whisky was fantastic.

Overall, you could make the case that one should buy all three whiskies and do them side-by-side. At the price points, one can certainly afford to! I’d say you have to try the Svensk Ek for sure because that’s the showstopper, but the other two aren’t far behind. 

Quite a debut for these guys. Color me very impressed.

-David Driscoll

WOW......

If I had to describe the new release of Piper Heidsieck Essentiel in one word, it would be: WOW!

Tasting with the team from Piper Heidsieck last week, I was floored by the quality of all the new expressions, but this particular Champagne absolutely blew me away for a number of reasons that I will quickly summarize for you here. First of all, for a big house mark that usually attempts to cater to the broadest possible palate, this wine is clearly directed towards true Champagne aficionados. It's dry as a bone with an electricity you can feel in your fillings, and a minerality that is so saline you'll be wondering if they fermented the wine with fresh oysters in the tank. This is a Champagne for pairing with hard, nutty cheeses like an aged Parmesan, or the saltiest, briniest seafood you can find. Think Fino Sherry meets Champagne, yet with an elegance and restraint.

Made with 45% Pinot Noir and 36% Pinot Meunier, the red fruits add a savoriness and weight that is immediately felt on the palate, but they quickly transition into that 19% of electric Chardonnay that you can sense in every pore of your mouth for a good three minutes after each sip. Aged in bottle since 2017 and with 23% reserve wines, the complexity of this wine is fascinating. But, again, the real shocker for me is the risk taken by one of Champagne's most renowned houses. Bravo to the team at Piper Heidsieck for shifting both the momentum and the conversation back to the brand labels. The new Essentiel is easily in my top 10 wines of 2022. I bought six bottles for myself straight away and I’m not sure I’ll stop there.

-David Driscoll

New Shipping & Pick Up Options

As you may have noticed, we’ve added a new inventory location to our website listed under each product: Warehouse. Up until last month, Mission’s main warehouse was part of the Pasadena store and those inventories were reflected under the Pasadena location, but today we’re up and running in our new commercial warehouse space just a few miles down the road.

Because most new arrivals will arrive to the warehouse first, before being transferred to one or more of the five Mission storefront locations, we wanted to make sure online customers were able to place warehouse orders in a number of different ways, depending on their desire. If you’d like a video tutorial on how to use these new options, you can click on the video above or continue reading for a detailed breakdown.

One of the biggest limitations of our pick up and shipping options was that all the items needed to be in your location of choice in order to place an order. If the bottles were scattered between locations, or sitting in our new warehouse, there wasn’t an option to pick-up. With our new Ship-to-Store option, you can now send any available bottles to any Mission location by clicking on the store of choice under the shipway. NOTE: Ship-to-Store options are listed under the shipping tab, not the pick up tab. Simply select your Mission location of choice and check out as usual. We’ll send you an email once your bottles have been consolidated and are ready for pick-up.

For those customers who are not local and prefer to consolidate orders into easier-to-manage or less expensive shipping options, we’re also added the Hold at Warehouse option.

Yes, it’s a bit ironic that our new Ship-to-Store pick up options are listed under shipping, while our new Hold for Future Shipping option is listed under pick-up. But given the nature of how these orders are organized within our system, it’s an easier adjustment for our platform. If there’s a bottle in the warehouse you’re interested in, but you don’t want to ship it right away, then Hold at Warehouse is the option for you. NOTE: We do not currently allow for pick ups at the warehouse. This option is solely for customers who plan on shipping their bottles at a future date, or are unsure where they would like their bottles sent at the time of order.

-David Driscoll

What Do You Want Out Of This?

When it comes to a bottle of Bourbon, I know what I want:

• I want it to taste good, even great if possible

• Generally, I like it somewhere between 46% - 54% ABV

• I don’t want to pay more than $50

• It would be nice if the company that made it is the company I’m buying it from, rather than paying extra for a brokered whiskey

When it comes to New Riff Distillery in Newport, Kentucky (a stone’s throw from downtown Cincinnati), I get exactly what I want from every single bottle of whiskey they make. It’s a big part of what draws me to the brand and makes me such an avid supporter: a complete commitment to pure drinkability. Granted, you could say that most bottles of Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam and Four Roses meet the same qualifications, but the key point for me is this: not all of them do.

What motivates people to spend more than $100 on Bourbon today? It depends on what they want out of the bottle. Some people just want to fit in with the collective mindset of today’s passionate Bourbon aficionados. Others want to appear rich or affect good taste. Some want the affirmation of other hobbyists on social media. Others take comfort in the authority of a big brand name, no different than buying a shirt that says Gucci on it because it says Gucci.

All cynicism aside, New Riff speaks to me as both a whiskey drinker and a marketing professional because, as a company, it almost completely eschews the tenants driving today’s whiskey consumerism. As a brand, it’s forcing customers to make a qualitative evaluation completely on their own, without age statements, high price tags, or the pervasive and often forced collectability that makes consumers foam at the mouth. Almost all of their whiskies are between 4-5 years old, and there’s nothing over $49.99 at Mission.

So how do you know if it’s good? You taste it. That’s it. The rest is up to you.

That’s what Vic and I did last month when we visited New Riff and selected a private barrel for ourselves. If you missed the post from our trip this past August, we selected this cask only six weeks ago and it’s already bottled and in our possession! At four and a half years of age, this little workhorse Bourbon has the most wonderful aromas. I can’t stop nosing and nosing it, over and over again. Sweet caramel, cola, toasted oak, hazelnuts, fruit, baking spices, fresh sawdust, and more are waiting for you each time you bring the glass up to your face.

While the nose is pure elegance, the palate is a punchy little number, bringing the spice at 107 proof and fleshing out the finish with stone fruits and brown sugar galore. It might as well be a white peach dusted with C&H!! It’s like licking the batter as a kid.

New Riff Mission Exclusive Single Barrel #9514 107.3 Proof Cask Strength Kentucky Bourbon $49.99

I can’t promise you’ll like this single barrel of New Riff as much as I do, but I’m fairly confident most Bourbon fans will find something to sing about. Again, however, it depends on what they want out of their bottle. The only thing you can brag about here is the fact that you got a delicious Bourbon for a great price. That’s not always enough for some folks.

We’ve also got new batches of the standard New Riff BIB Bourbon and Rye back in stock, along with new non-exclusive single barrels at various proofs. You can see the full selection here.

-David Driscoll

Single Barrel Wheater

Most of you likely know the story of Greg Metze and Old Elk. Greg was the master distiller for MGP Distillery in Indiana for 38 years, dating back to the old Seagrams days, and was the company contemporary of the great Jim Rutledge. Before moving over to Colorado’s Old Elk, he made sure there was enough MGP Bourbon to get them through the early years and that brings us to today’s single barrel. 

We picked out this 6 year old wheated Bourbon almost a year ago and it’s finally here! MGP’s wheated Bourbon recipe uses 51% corn and a shockingly high 45% wheat component in its mash bill, so it’s a fun side-by-side taste experience with some of your other favorite wheaters. The nose of this whiskey is charred oak with fruit tea, the vanilla bringing up the rear. At 112.8 proof, you would expect a nice little punch, but the initial experience is sweet and mellow, just like a wheated whiskey should taste. The heat makes itself known on the finish as the richness fades and the grainier components of the Bourbon come to light. All in all, it’s a nice alternative to cask strength Maker’s Mark, especially since Maker’s doesn’t do a straight single barrel release. Having just tasted it again while writing this, I can still taste the baking spices and the fruitiness of the whiskey minutes later. It really does taste like a spiced fruit tea!

-David Driscoll