Most of our customers already know about Leopold Bros and their historic Three Chamber Still—the same type of still that Stitzel-Weller, Jack Daniels, and other heralded American whiskey distilleries used over 100 years ago before Prohibition.
Three Chamber American whiskey is to rye and Bourbon what classic American cars are to SoCal’s massive auto scene: a snapshot of craftsmanship from a bygone era, replaced by efficiency and technology, but not necessarily for the betterment of mankind.
Five years ago, we got our first taste of Todd Leopold’s first Three Chamber rye whiskey, made in the pre-Prohibition style from heritage grains and filled in the barrel at 50% ABV. Since that initial release, however, only a few limited editions have been released to the general market.
Over the past few years, the Leopolds have kept the Three Chamber rye under lock and key, patiently waiting for the next iteration to knock our socks off. We found out this week that a new 9 year old cask strength expression is set to hit California at the end of November and we’re giving Mission customers the chance to pre-order now.
There was one huge difference, however: the ABV of the barrel sample we tasted was at 59.2% ABV! The Denver evaporation had finally done its work on the Three Chamber rye!
Because Todd follows historic precedent, proofing down the whiskey to 50% ABV before barreling, the previous expressions didn’t have much time to change in the cask. They were filled at 50 and bottled at 50. Nine years later, however, things have changed tremendously with the ABV elevating way up.
While the final ABV of the small batch 9 year old release is still to be determined, we’ve been told it will be a highly-allocated release of their highest proof and most concentrated barrels. The sample we tasted was simply incredible: sweet grains, lots of fruit, brown sugar, baking spices, peanut shells, and plenty of power. It’s one of the best whiskeys we’ve tasted this year and it was just a barrel sample!