Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 327: Kilchoman Rum & Port
Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky vlogger, puts two Kilchoman on different cask types next to each other. The first is a rum-finished single cask for Belgium, which goes head-to-head with the Port Cask matured from 2014. Both are bottled at cask strength, but could not be more different, of course.
SPIRIT WORKS DISTILLERY NAMED “2020 DISTILLERY OF THE YEAR”
American Distilling Institute (ADI) Awards Spirit Works distillery with Prestigious Bubble Cap Award for Excellence, Innovation and Community Leadership
(Sebastopol, CA, July 14, 2020) – Spirit Works Distillery has been named “2020 Distillery of the Year” by the American Distilling Institute (ADI), winning its prestigious national Bubble Cap Award.
Established by ADI in 2010, when the industry reached 400 craft distilleries, the annual Bubble Cap Award for “Distillery of the Year” (named for a device utilized in distillation) is given to “the one distillery of the year that represents the very best in the world of artisan distilling: excellence in quality of spirits, innovation, transparency, authenticity of approach, sustained company growth, community involvement, and embodying the ethos of craft.” By ADI’s definition, a craft distillery must produce less than 100,000 proof gallons per year, be independently owned and operated, and must actually distill their own products.
“Timo and I are truly blown away to receive this national award recognizing Spirit Works Distillery as this year’s leader in the growing craft spirits industry,” stated Ashby Marshall, Co-owner, Founding Distiller, Brand Director at Spirit Works. “We strive every day to maintain our principles surrounding environmental stewardship, transparency in our grain-to-glass process, commitment to creating high-quality spirits, fostering local community and industry relationships, and creating a safe and supportive working atmosphere for our incredible team here. This acknowledgment is a fantastic reinforcement from our industry peers that we are on the right path.”
Spirit Works Distillery is highly respected as one of California’s first grain-to-glass craft distilleries, handcrafting an array of high quality spirits in the heart of Sonoma wine country, including Vodka, Gin, Sloe Gin, Barrel Gin, Navy Strength Gin, Straight Wheat and Rye Whiskeys and most recently, a Four Grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey. As the only producers of traditional Sloe Gin in the U.S (a gin-based liqueur traditionally made in the UK using tart sloe berries, a tiny relative of the plum), for which it has garnered two national Good Food Awards since 2018, the team at Spirit Works Distillery consistently leads with diligence, creativity, and intention.
“As a distillery deeply committed to quality and innovation in making and serving the best grain-to-glass spirits in the world, Spirit Works continues to raise the bar,” said Erik Owens, President of the American Distilling Institute. “But the Bubble Cap award isn’t just about great spirits: it’s about celebrating distilleries that contribute to the craft community. In this area, Spirit Works is also a leader: women-lead, family-run, inclusive, diverse, accepting and supportive of everyone in the community. Ashby and Timo’s previous lives were in environmental justice, and they brought that philosophy to their new endeavor. They not only wanted to make spirits, but wanted to make sure everything they did was giving back to the process. Every decision was looked at from multiple angles, and the decisions they made had to reflect their goal of trying to make the world a better place by their participation in it. We acknowledge and celebrate that leadership!”
ABOUT SPIRIT WORKS
Founded in the heart of Sonoma County, California in 2012 by husband and wife team Timo and Ashby Marshall, Spirit Works Distillery is a craft spirits producer which handcrafts Straight Wheat and Rye Whiskeys and a new Four Grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey onsite using the grain-to-glass method of milling, mashing, fermenting and then distilling organic grains onsite. Timo and Ashby bring years of environmental stewardship to every process and remain one of the few female-lead distilling teams in the US.
ABOUT AMERICAN DISTILLING INSTITUTE (ADI) The American Distilling Institute is the oldest and largest organization of small-batch, independently-owned distillers in the United States. Founded in 2003, the organization has grown from a few dozen distillers to more than 1,000 paid members. Each year they support the industry in fostering relationships on their forums, recognizing top spirits with their annual spirits competition, and providing educational conferences.
The national competition for Scotch Whisky is assisting distillers in finalising their entries for the second annual competition which will be assessed by a world class judging panel next month.
Businesses have three weeks to register for the 2nd annual Scottish Whisky Awards and should submit entries in the wide ranging business and taste competition which celebrates the Scotch industry.
Companies must submit at least one written entry to qualify for the blind tasting competition. With the judging panel now confirmed, entries are now being welcomed in the hugely successful new awards programme which last year welcomed over 100 whiskies from 40 distilleries.
The Scottish Whisky Distillery of the Year 2019 was presented to The GlenAllachie Distillery in recognition of an outstanding year of business and after winning five medals in the blind tasting competition.
View the 2019 Scottish Whisky Awards Video
For information and advice on categories, guidelines and how to compose your entry for maximum marks, please contact Pippa.
Registration and entries close on Friday 14th August 2020.
We’ve been celebrating the contribution that the bourbon cask brings to Scotch this month, but thanks to the versatility and the wealth of flavours it gifts us, we’re not done yet! We have special casks to explore, music to share, podcasts to enjoy and much, much more – so let’s say three cheers for the bourbon cask!
The bourbon cask is a staple of all Scotch whisky maturation, but that doesn’t mean that they all taste the same. Explore our huge variety of flavour profiles on offer, all from spirit matured in ex-bourbon wood. You might even find a couple of offerings in there which aren’t whisky.
VIEW ALL NEW WHISKIES VIEW ALL WHISKIES
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ
Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information
This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!
Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video
A rare single cask of Highland Park over 30 years of age. Mr. Murray rates this at the top of the pile at 96.5 points. He says, “Nose: Pretty near perfect HP for its age, and one of the best examples of the distillery of that era I have nosed for a very long time. Slightly above average peat for a HP, which works perfectly in its favour. The usual heather honey has been skewed slightly by the heady mix of tannins and peat. The saltiness is profound, the oak a rich, spicy backbone. The sweetness is subtle and still honeyed, but more now a blend of Manuka and orange blossom. Truly magnificent! Taste: Scotland’s silkiest malt at its most silky. The bold smoke on arrival is caught in the velvet gloves of the lightly oiled barley sugar, a dark liquorice sweetness spreading as the oak makes its mark. The spices are prim, proper and just so, never moving out of their set orbit while the honey starts to make its long-awaited mark, bringing with it the light smoke; a quick surge of exotic fruit underlines the antiquity with aplomb. Finish: Long, increasingly smoky with the spices still teasing and forging a beautiful duet with the molassed sugars… Balance: This is a malt whisky coming to the end of its life, like a star becomes a white dwarf In density is huge and I mean gigantic. The oaks are about to explode, but the cask has been bottled in the nick of time where the balance is still near perfect. Fine margins…for a very fine whisky.” * Liquid Gold Award Winner *
ralfy review 835 Extras – Wee Beastie all sold out !
Vic Cameron chats away about one of his favourite subjects; barley
Barley is not just barley; barley is one of the three raw materials required in the production of single malt whisky – one of the main things we do in this world. Not just use any barley no, bred specifically for the purpose of producing single malt whisky, and there is a very successful barley breeding program in operation in the UK. If you had told me ten years ago there was a breeding programme fer barley I would have thought you had too many drinks.
Says Vic; When I started malting ‘as a boy’ many years ago we were processing Prisma, Puffin and Derkado, moving onto Chariot and Optic in the years that followed. We are now moving away from Concerto to Laureate and there have been many varieties that have come and gone in the meantime. During my career with Diageo I sat on various industry committees that organised and ran the barley test programs, aimed at finding the next big Optic, Concerto or Laureate. The program is known as the ‘Stairway to Heaven’; heaven being the royalties that can be collected by the breeding companies from the sowing of a successful variety. All very apt now for Vic, being a preacher himself with his own church and following. Mind, he is a great guy, a friend, he does not run a “cult”.
He continues; It starts with the breeders looking at thousands of new lines trying to pick the best. These are then micro-malted by the industry; malting in small 500-gram batches to see what gives the best analysis for whisky production. If successful the variety can gain Provisional and then Full Approval from the industry and then it is ‘happy days’ for the breeder, and hopefully for the farmer and the distiller (Paul; And, I might add, for the whisky drinker!). In these trials, yield is king: yield for the farmer in terms of tonnage per acre and yield for the distillery in terms of litres per tonne of malt. Many producers are moving back to heritage varieties and maybe putting more importance back on flavour instead of yield. I myself am involved in a project using bere barley from Orkney and the Western Isles and other varieties with fanciful names from the past. We can sometimes produce problems for ourselves. In my opinion, we may have gone too far with dormancy reduction and introduced another problem for the industry known as pre-germination. But the breeding and the evolution of barley variety will continue in the future. Can we find that next Golden Promise, the variety back in the 1960s (created by gamma rays by the way) that produced that first big step change in terms of spirit yield? Can we find the next Optic, the variety that stayed and stayed for years and years longer than any other variety? What will we find next? Who knows, but it will happen sooner or later.
WHO IS VIC? After 23 years with Diageo, in operations and laboratory management, process support and cereal procurement, Vic left for a ‘’higher’’ calling. Affectionately known as The Whisky Minister, Vic combines his own whisky consultancy, Discerning of Spirits, with running a church. Vic is also a committee member of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky School and Technical Manager for the UK NIR Grain Network. He has taught at a variety of events including the Orkney Science Festival and Holland’s first ever whisky school. Vic is the course lecturer for a Diploma in Single Malt Whisky and has also contributed his vast industry knowledge to the content of other Edinburgh Whisky Academy courses. He is also my good friend and takes whisky schools for us on tour.
10th Street Distillery Releases Distiller’s Cut Peated Single Malt — Find 10th Street’s boldest whisky yet at California retailers
San Jose, CA (July 13, 2020) — San Jose’s 10th Street Distillery announces the release of their Distiller’s Cut, an exceptional peated single malt whisky that has already distinguished itself by winning Gold at the Whiskeys of the World competition.
The first release of 1000 cases is available now throughout California at all Total Wine & More stores; The Whisky Shop in San Francisco; Ledger’s Liquor in Berkeley; Willibee’s in Petaluma; and Southgate Liquors in San Jose among others. Visit retailers’ web sites for hours and availability.
It is double distilled using all copper pot stills, and aged in first-fill bourbon barrels, just like the Distillery’s flagship peated single malt; however, the unique Distiller’s Cuts during distillation create a bolder and smokier, yet smooth single malt, designed to appeal to malt and peat lovers This expertly crafted whisky has hints of citrus and berry with strong woody, earthy, and smoky statements.
An independent review by the Whisk(e)y Apostle says, “If you’re a whiskey geek and looking to try something unique…, I’d definitely look to try this one.”
10th Street Distillery combines old-world tradition and modern ingenuity to make super-premium small-batch whiskies at San Jose’s first craft distillery. In just two years since opening, 10th Street has earned significant industry recognition for its Peated Single Malt, including Best in Class Gold at the 2019 Whiskies of the World and Double Gold at the 2019 N.Y. World Spirits Competition. Its STR Single Malt recently won a Double Gold at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits competition. The award for Distiller’s Cut further establishes 10th Street’s reputation as a top-shelf American maker of exceptional single malts.
As co-founder Virag Saksena explained to the East Bay Express, custom Scottish peat and local microflora interact with water from the Sierra Nevada snowmelt and grains to create “a complex sourdough flavor” that “lends a unique Bay Area terroir.” The hot San Jose weather imparts its own unique aging properties.
DISTILLER’S CUT TASTING NOTES
Nose: Sour nose with bright citrus, vanilla, and peat; heavy mesquite smoke
Color: Golden
Palate: Sweet high notes of blackberry, brown sugar, honey, and molasses; bran cereal, burning chocolate.
Finish: Smooth and lingering on the sides and back of the tongue
ABV: 44%
MSRP: $65
About 10th Street Distillery:
San Jose’s first craft distillery, 10th Street Distillery was founded by two engineers with just one objective – creating world-class whiskies. A grain-to-glass distillery, it reinterprets time-honored traditions using modern techniques and engineering ingenuity to create its award-winning products. Their first product is a Peated Single Malt Whisky, a new American classic that respects tradition, but is not afraid to forge a new path.
An absolute gem in the Perfect Fifth line up. At 96 points it’s close to the legendary Highland Park they’ve also bottled, but for half the price. Jim Murray says, “Anyone who remembers the old Springbank 25-year-olds of the early 1990s will recognise this aroma as a direct descendent – indeed it is near enough identical in both weight and character. The huge, nuggety oak is faultless (this must have come from a cask which had been seasoned in the old – virtually lost – style). Salt dominates but there are dried apricots and spiced pear, too. Meanwhile the vaguest of peaty notes (and I mean the odd atom here and there!) teases away as a barely audible background noise, which automatically becomes louder the moment you spot it…Taste: A malt on the threshold of perhaps dallying too closely with the oak. But that coastal-style bite makes just the right contact with the salty tannins and cocoa laden phenol to make a course for more complex and satisfying port. Just enough oil makes the middle rich and promises a long finale. Finish: Drier, as is to be expected, as the tannins raise their game. Still salty, but a little barley sugar and lemon juice lightens the intensity, though – happily, by not too much; the residual oils ensure the finish is of extraordinary length. Balance: A real return to the past here with Springbank in its most full-bodied, uncompromising and complex style which those of us who discovered the distillery in the 1980s remember with great affection.”
TGIF! The incredible Oban Distillers Edition has been restocked just in time for the weekend- and it’s on sale! We reckon that’s a double whammy of good news. Brimming with coastal notes (think: the smell of salty air on a summer’s day at the seaside) and matured in rich Montilla Fino sherry casks, we can tell why this is a popular dram.
But how long will it be around for? Grab a bottle before it goes!
As always, enjoy free UK delivery on all orders over £25.
Oban Distillers Edition
Was: £79.00
Now: £48.95
