Rhythm and Booze Records Releases Music In A Whisky Bottle
Brand new indie spirits bottler and record label combines whisky and new music, starting with a 13-year-old single cask release featuring a new EP from label co-founders Felipe Schrieberg and Paul Archibald, who play as blues duo The Rhythm and Booze Project.
Tasting whisky while listening to great music is one of life’s great pleasures. Now, a new indie spirits bottler and record label is releasing an experiment that combines the two together.
Rhythm and Booze Records blends new music and specially curated spirits to create unique tasting and listening experiences. On July 6th, the label will release its first whisky, Rhythm and Booze Records #1: The Rhythm and Booze Project 13YO Single Sherry Butt Blended Malt, paired with music from label co-founders Felipe Schrieberg and Paul Archibald, who play as blues duo The Rhythm and Booze Project.
Here’s how it works. The whisky itself is a single cask 13-year old-blended malt matured in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt, bottled at 50% ABV with only 1050 bottles available. The whisky’s front label showcases the band while a QR code on the back label leads to a private link where customers and fans can stream and download the band’s new EP to enjoy as they sip the whisky.
Schrieberg is proud of the label’s debut: “We want each of our releases to be a unique artistic statement for the ears, nose and palate. You won’t find these songs on any streaming site for a very long time after we launch this new bottle.”
Archibald explains how the music and the whisky compliment each other: “We create a pretty gritty, raucous sound, and in our performances we want our audience to be a part of that and enjoy it. We felt that the profile really manages to capture that in alcohol form. It’s quite rich and robust, but also surprisingly easy to drink.”
Schrieberg and Archibald are deeply experienced blending whisky and music together. As The Rhythm and Booze Project, they regularly organise hybrid gig whisky tastings, put on blues and whisky-based theatre shows, perform at distilleries, and they even built the world’s first bass drum out of an entire Scotch whisky cask. Schrieberg is also an award-winning whisky writer and is a Keeper of the Quaich, a society honouring those who have made significant contributions to the Scotch whisky industry.
Rhythm and Booze Records represents the next step for them in their musical and whisky journey. While the label features bands they play in to start, the roster will expand to include other artists they admire by 2024.
Schrieberg comments: “It sounds pretentious, but I really do believe that we’re just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exploring the sensory possibilities from combining top quality spirits and music. We want to take this combination as far as we can, and provide an unforgettable experience to anyone that buys any of our bottles.”
About Rhythm and Booze Records Release #1
Shop link: https://tinyurl.com/RnBRwhisky
Price: £65, 50 cl bottle (UK retail price inc. VAT)
ABV: 50%
Tasting notes:
Body – Rich and fruity
Aromas – There’s no questioning the sherry influence but it’s not overwhelming, or too dark or dry. Sherry’s trademark red fruits and winter spices are certainly present, but are nicely balanced by notes of toffee, coffee, and root beer.
Taste – Raspberries and strawberries lead the way before descending into richer goopy notes – maple syrup and caramel. Riding on the syrupy texture, citrus notes of orange and grapefruit but also dark chocolate provide further depth. After a little more time a hint of leather also emerges to complete this classy and poised palate.
About Rhythm and Booze Records – Website
Rhythm and Booze Records is a record label and indie bottler blending amazing music and specially curated spirits together to create unique tasting and listening experiences.
First, the band finds an independent artist to work with, then chooses a high quality matured spirit – whisky, Cognac or rum – that is a perfect fit for the music they make.
The final step is to put the two together.
For each release, the bottle’s front label showcases the featured band, and on the back label there’s a QR code leading to a private link where the band’s tunes are available to stream, download and to enjoy with the chosen spirit.
Rhythm and Booze Records is co-founded and run by whisky writer and singer/lap steel guitarist Felipe Schrieberg and drummer Paul Archibald, who’ve been playing together for over 14 years across many different bands covering a wide variety of genres.
About The Rhythm and Booze Project – Website
The Rhythm and Booze Project features Felipe and Paul, a duo fusing live music and whisky through gigs, tasting events, and multimedia experiences.
As a musical outfit, the band incorporates roots, folk, and blues music in a uniquely gritty mix of its own, blending hypnotic grooves with raucous energy and irresistible showmanship. For their whisky tasting events, Felipe and Paul merge performance, live music, and multi-sensory experiences.
Past projects include a sold out run performing Two Guys, Three Drams, a show that combined blues music and whisky at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and building the world’s first bass drum made out of an entire Scotch whisky cask from the Lagavulin distillery.
With five professional degrees between them, Felipe and Paul have an academic background to match. Felipe wrote his Masters degree thesis on sustainable distillation on Islay conducting field interviews after Islay’s Feis Ile whisky festival, while Paul has completed a PhD in the history of jazz drumming and the drum kit in New Orleans.
Felipe is also a leading writer about all aspects of whisky for top industry publications including the websites distiller.com and scotchwhisky.com, and also writes about whisky for Forbes.com. He has won the 2022 Icons of Whisky Communicator of the Year award, and is also a Keeper of the Quaich.
