LONERIDER SPIRITS FOUNDER’S CLUB SMASHES ESTIMATED DEMAND FOR BOURBON,
NEW WHEATED BOURBON MASH BILL OFFERED TO PROSPECTIVE FOUNDERS

Lonerider Spirits Founder’s Club surpasses $100,000 in commitments in 11 days,
will begin distilling their own bourbon three months early and
will offer a wheated bourbon mash bill to new founders. 

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (August 27, 2019) – Lonerider Spirits is proud to announce that with the overwhelming support of their initial supporters of The Founders Club the company will initiate distilling specifically for the Founders Club in Sep 2019 rather than the projected date of 2020. Over $100,000 was committed by founders from across the United States in just eleven days to accelerate the distillery’s timetable to distill the initial batch of bourbon.

“The Founders Club” is a program where individuals can create bourbon with Lonerider Spirits and then finish their spirit in French/Spanish Wine casks, Ex-Port casks, Ex-Sherry casks, Olorosso casks, Ex-Pedro Ximinez casks and/or Ex-Bourbon Lonerider beer casks. More details can be found here: https://loneriderspirits.com/founders-club/

Due to the demand for the program Lonerider Spirits is also offering a wheated mash bourbon mash bill in addition to the high rye bourbon mash bill currently offered. “I’m a big fan of Weller bourbon and I rarely can find it in the liquor store, so I thought we should offer a mash bill that was similar as an option to our founders,” said Chris Mielke, president of Lonerider Spirits. “The wheated bourbon mash bill will be made with all North Carolina grain – corn, soft red winter wheat and barley.”

“We’re incredibly thankful to our founders and continue to take orders to get to our initial Founders Club membership of 500 casks,” says Mielke. “Investing in bourbon that will actually pay you a return in this uncertain economic climate seems to be a motivating factor for some founders – others just want to give their family and friends a cool gift!”

This year, Lonerider Spirits won a gold medal from the ADI, gold and bronze medals from the SFWSC, a bronze medal from the ACSA, bronze and silver medals from the NYISC, silver medals from the SIP Awards as well as being named “NC Bourbon Distillery of the Year” in 2019.

For information on Lonerider Spirits, please visit www.loneriderspirits.com, follow on Twitter (@loneriderspirit), Instagram (@loneriderspirits), and Facebook (/loneriderspirits) to join the conversation #LoneriderSpirits.

FLAVIAR AND WHISTLEPIG RYE WHISKEY TEAM UP WITH TOP CHEFS TO RELEASE AN EXCLUSIVE CHEF’S BLEND 

Flaviar & WhistlePig Rye Whiskey have joined forces with four top chefs to release WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 to be sold exclusively via Flaviar.com.

The four chefs who helped create WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 are Michael Gulotta of MOPHO/Maypop fame in New Orleans; Jamie Malone from Minneapolis’ stunning Grand Café; David Posey – one half of the dream team at Elske, Chicago; and Justin Woodward of Castagna in Portland.

The four James Beard Award-nominated chefs worked together at the WhistlePig Farm in Shoreham, Vermont to create WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 back in June this year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this was a blend created by chefs at WhistlePig, it is comprised entirely of wine casks. WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 is made up of 40% Madeira, 30% Sherry, 20% Port and 10% Sauternes – all drinks traditionally accompanied with food. The result is a complex, unique whiskey offering.

Each of the chefs will host a special food pairing dinner in their respective restaurants for Flaviar members in September 2019 before WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 is released in October 2019 exclusively via Flaviar.com.

Pete Lynch, Master Blender at WhistlePig, comments: “Madeira, Port and Sauternes are the magic trio in our WhistlePig 12, and the chefs’ decision to add Sherry Cask Finished Rye so prominently to the WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 takes that trio to a place we’ve never before seen. The blend showcases a rich complexity with subtle nuances, adding a great Sherry derived spice and nuttiness, and tremendously deepening the flavor profile. This is definitely a whiskey you don’t want to miss out on.

Grisa Soba, co-founder of Flaviar.com adds: “The process of blending a whiskey has much in common with the creative process of creating a menu and so we thought it would be an interesting experiment to take four incredible chefs, who are real bastions of flavor, and have them play around with the blend of a new whiskey expression. The collaboration is another way for us to challenge our members to try more new things, more often and to offer Flaviar members amazingly memorable food pairing dinners with some of the most respected chefs of the moment.”

Talking about why she got involved with the Chef’s Blend project, Jamie Malone, owner and head chef at Grand Café, said: “It was nearly an impossible thing to say no to this project when asked. It’s a dream come true”. David Posey, Executive Chef & owner at Elske, agrees,“They asked me if I would like to participate with some other amazing chefs to help blend whiskey from one of my favorite distillers, so I couldn’t say no.”

Referring to the most challenging aspect of the blending process, Michael Gulotta, Chef Proprietor of MOPHO/Maypop, comments: “The realization that a small percentage change in the base spirits can drastically alter the final taste and finish of the whiskey made the blending an exceptionally difficult task.” Malone, adds: “I was incredibly surprised to learn and taste and smell how the different barrel finishes interacted with each other. In many ways to results were very unexpected, not exactly the sum of their parts, but much more complex.”

The most challenging element for Justin Woodward, Executive Chef of Castagna, was “Just deciding which one I enjoyed most. Starting with such great bases makes blending easy,” he explains, “but choosing a final blend was the most difficult aspect.”

All the chefs will host a special dinner in their respective restaurants exclusively for Flaviar members in September 2019 and each have their own top tips for creating whiskey food pairings: Gulotta advises: “to build dishes that accentuate and draw out the sometimes muted flavors in the whisky, like vanilla, caramel, winter spices, and dried fruit.”

Malone counsels: “When pairing, you need to remember to pair with things that have a similar weight, or loudness so neither gets lost. Both simple flavors, like cream, and complex flavors like shellfish stock pair beautifully with whiskey, because they all speak in the same ‘volume’ – loudly”. 

Posey suggests: “Whiskey is a tougher pairing than wine, beer, or cider just because of the alcohol, so it needs food that can stand up to that and help cut through. Fat and acid work best with food against straight whiskey, much like using acid or sugar (instead of fat) in a cocktail. Pairing with whiskey is the time to use heavier proteins and stronger, more forward sauces”. For Woodward, it all boils down to one thing ‘Balance”.

Pete’s tasting note for WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019:

“On the nose, plums, cherries and vanilla, with gentle cinnamon aromatics. The palate is spicy, with pipe tobacco and honey up front, giving way to dark fruits, and has a wonderful velvety texture. The finish is long and fruity, with a fantastic burst of Rye spice.”

WhistlePig X Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019 key facts:

ABV:                                       43%

Volume:                                  750 ml

Style:                                      Rye Whiskey

Blend:                                     95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley

Age:                                       12yr

Cask finishing:                        40% Madeira, 30% Sherry, 20% Port and 10% Sauternes

No of bottles:                         1,000

Website:                                 flaviar.com          

The dinners: 

September 6, 2019, David Posey, Elske Restaurant, Chicago

September 9, 2019, Michael Gulotta, Maypop, New Orleans

September 17, 2019, Jamie Malone, Grand Café, Minneapolis

September 19, 2019, Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland 

David Posey, Executive chef & owner, Elske Restaurant, Chicago 

David Posey is one half of Chicago’s culinary power couples, David and Anna Posey opened Elske in 2017, where David serves as executive chef and Anna as pastry chef. Both David and Anna previously worked for One Off Hospitality. David was the Chef de Cuisine at Blackbird, where he was a James Beard Award Finalist for Rising Star Chef in 2013 and 2014. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, David eventually worked at Grant Achatz’ Michelin-Starred Alinea, before working his way up the ranks at Blackbird. Meaning the Danish word for “love,” Elske has now earned two Michelin stars and was the 2018 James Beard Finalist for Best Chef in the Great Lakes category. 

Michael Gulotta, Chef proprietor, MOPHO, Maypop

Born and raised in New Orleans, Michael Gulotta began cooking in local restaurants at a young age. After graduating from the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, he joined the newly opened Restaurant August. Gulotta then took leave to train in the Italian Riviera and Germany’s Black Forest. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Michael returned home to help rebuild and assist with August’s re-opening.

He opened his first restaurant, MOPHO located in New Orleans’ Mid City, in January of 2014 with his brother, Jeffrey Gulotta, and high-school friend, Jeffrey Bybee. His team recently opened its second full service restaurant, Maypop, in the Central Business District of New Orleans. Maypop has been named a Top 5 Best New Restaurant by The Times Picayune, A Best New Restaurant by New Orleans Magazine, a New Orleans top 20 restaurant by Condé Nast Traveler, and most recently made New Orleans’ Top Ten Restaurants for 2019, by Brett Anderson of the Times Picayune.

Jamie Malone, Chef and owner of Grand Café, Minnesota 

Jamie Malone has always had a life that revolves around food. She grew up cooking and baking bread with her dad in St. Paul, Minnesota. Before receiving her culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu, Chef Malone traveled and studied extensively in Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, and Europe, immersing herself in each region’s cuisine.

Malone began her cooking career in hospitality in 2006 working for Chef Tim McKee at the highly lauded restaurant La Belle Vie, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She moved on to be a part of the opening team of several Minneapolis restaurants early in her career, including Georges Chambers Kitchen, Porter and Frye, and Sea Change.

In 2011 she took the position of Chef at Sea Change. There, Malone gained national attention and earned a place as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award Foundation’s “Rising Star Chef” for 2013 and “Best Chef Midwest” for 2014, 2015 and 2018.  In 2013, Malone was named one of Food and Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs”.

In 2017 Jamie opened her first restaurant Grand Café, in 2018 it was a Semi Finalist for the James Beard Award Foundations “Best New Restaurant, and was also named Food and Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs”. 

Justin Woodward, Executive Chef, Castagna, Portland

Known for continually pushing the boundaries of fine dining in Portland, Justin Woodward joined Castagna in 2009 and took on the role of executive chef in 2011. He brings with him a wide range of culinary experience, having worked for some of the world’s most esteemed restaurants, including Chef Rene Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, San Diego’s L’Auberge Del Mar, and Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz’s famed modernist establishment Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain. Before arriving at Castagna, Woodward worked under renowned pastry chef Alex Stupak at New York’s WD-50.

Woodward is passionate about combining ancient and modern culinary techniques, drawing inspiration from the seasons and Oregon’s bounty of locally grown and foraged ingredients. He was nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year award in 2013, and was a finalist for the Best Chef Northwest award in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. He is also a winner of the 2018 StarChefs Portland Rising Stars Award.  

ABOUT WHISTLEPIG:

Founded in 2008, WhistlePig is the premier aged rye whiskey, featuring the bold and often untapped flavor of rye. WhistlePig is leading a surge of innovation in the emerging field of North American whiskey. As the most decorated rye whiskey – having received the coveted ‘Best in Show Whiskey’ title from the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, WhistlePig is widely viewed as the world’s finest Rye. With the opening of its distillery on its 500-acre Vermont farm in the fall of 2015, WhistlePig has also become one of the leading farm-to-bottle rye whiskeys in the world. www.whistlepigrye.com

ABOUT FLAVIAR:

Founded in 2012, Flaviar is the world’s largest premium spirits club, with operations in the US and Europe. Flaviar offers a better way to experience fine spirits.

Flaviar members enjoy a full suite of benefits including quarterly tasting boxes and full-size bottles sent directly to their home, invitations to exclusive spirits events, access to rare and original spirits available only to members, free shipping, over 200K member reviews and more.

Flaviar is here to help more people try more new things more often.

Flaviar membership is $300 per year, or $95 a quarter.

For more information visit www.flaviar.com

You’ve got to try this!

SCOTCH GALORE WHISKIES IS A BRAND NEW WAY FOR YOU TO BUY AND SELL WHISKY!

No fee’s – No reserve, No Sellers commission! Simply bring it in send it in or we could even arrange collection, fix a price you want for each and every bottle and that’s that! Flip your Whisky with total piece of Mind.

We then put it to our Global audience and when it sells you get 100% of the price you put on that bottle. What’s more your bottle or bottles go online straight away that means you could bring your bottle in the morning it could be online and sold in the afternoon and the money in your account that evening!

No more waiting about for an auction to start then finish and Gambling on it selling for a good price then paying commission and fee’s even if it doesn’t sell then waiting 3 weeks for your payment to be made.

Scotch Galore Whiskies an alternative way for you to sell your Whisky.

#DONTGAMBLEYOURBOTTLE

HOW DO I BUY?

www.scotchgalore.com

Buying Whisky is very straight forward here at Scotch Galore Whiskies simply chose the bottle you would like click the buy button and follow the instructions you only pay the onscreen price. You can then choose to either pick up in shop or we can arrange delivery.

SCOTCH GALORE WHISKIES IS A BRAND NEW WAY FOR YOU TO BUY AND SELL WHISKY!

Johnnie Walker Blue “Ghost and Rare – Brora Edition” Blended Scotch Whisky (750ml) $249.99 View

Welcome to this weeks episode of the show in which I’ll be reviewing some old releases from the independent bottling company Single Malts of Scotland.

https://youtu.be/iu7Tbq4jk_Y

Isle of Arran Distillers unveil fresh redesign which captures the spirit of the island

The Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd. have launched a new look across their range of Arran Single Malt whiskies, including a new logo and packaging for their core range.

The campaign, which incorporates an entirely new visual identity for the brand, is titled ‘A Breath of Fresh Arran’ and aims to showcase the natural elements and authenticity of the island malts by focusing on the unique provenance of their home village, Lochranza, where their first distillery was opened in 1995.

The contemporary new bottle design reflects the journey of the water source for the Arran Single Malts, which cascades through a series of six mountain waterfalls, each one purifying the water further. The ripples on the new glass bottles illustrate this and emphasise the pure nature of the spirit.

An updated icon, which will appear on the new bottles in copper foil, is in the shape of the island itself and features a pair of eagles, which have always been an important part of the Lochranza Distillery story. Their nesting season prompted a break in construction back in 1994 when the distillery was being built and they have remained in residence for the past 25 years.

Natural materials and colour tones are used across all brand touch points, as well as tactile emboss and delicate foiling with clean lines in order to maintain a consistent look and feel that keeps simplicity at the core.

Crucially, the liquid inside remains unchanged and fans of the distillers can continue to enjoy the authentic Arran Single Malts.

Alongside the new branding, there are also two new expressions joining the core range. Firstly, ‘Barrel Reserve’, which has a light, flexible and fruity character and the cask strength ‘The Bodega’, a Sherry Cask matured spirit that partners the award-winning Quarter Cask ‘The Bothy’.

The first four expressions in the new pack will be released this month, with bottles available to purchase from arranwhisky.com from Monday 16th September.

Newly packaged 18-year-old and 21-year-old age statement Single Malts will also join the core range in October 2019.

The opening of the company’s Lagg Distillery, their second distillery on the island which opened earlier this year, has partly prompted the re-packaging as the company now becomes the owners of two very different sites with different brand identities.

Master Blender at Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd., James MacTaggart, said: “As a company, we have grown immensely since I joined the team over 12 years ago.

“We were one of the first wave of new distillers back in the early 1990s and in June this year, we started a new chapter in our story with the opening of our second distillery at Lagg. It felt like the right time to make the clear distinction between the unique and very different spirits produced at each of our island homes.

“We’ve taken inspiration from the elements that make Lochranza so special to produce a unique and beautiful new pack, which does justice to the liquid it contains. We are very excited about the future of our original Arran Single Malt.”

The new Arran Single Malt branding has been created by London based drinks packaging design experts Stranger & Stranger.

Notes:

Accolades for Isle of Arran Distillery include Winner for:
Best New Exporter (2004), Queen’s Award for International Trade (2005), Scottish Distiller of the Year (2007) and Scottish Drinks Producer of the Year (2007) Scottish Field Visitor Experience of the Year 2014 & 2015. Drinks Business Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism (2017). Best Brewery/Distillery Tour – Scottish Outdoor Leisure Awards (2017). Best Visitor Experience – Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (2018)

Product Awards include:
Arran 10 year-old: Gold Medal ‘Best Single Malt 12 Years & Under, World Whiskies Awards (2019) San Francisco World Spirits Competition Double Gold Medal (2018). International Wine & Spirits Competition Gold Medal (2018). Category Winner and Gold Medal ‘Best Scotch Under 12 Years’ Islands Non-Islay at the World Whiskies Awards (2018). International Spirits Challenge Silver Medal (2018). Ultimate Spirits Challenge 91 points (2018). Ultimate Spirits Challenge Cocktail Commendation for the Rob Roy (2018). Double Gold Medal China Wine & Spirits Best Value Awards (2014)
Arran 18 year-old: Gold Medal ‘Best Single Malt 13 – 20 Years, World Whiskies Awards (2019) International Wine & Spirits Competition Gold Medal (2018) Category Winner & Gold Medal ‘Best Scotch 13-20 Years – Islands (Non- Islay) World Whiskies Awards (2018). International Spirits Challenge Silver Medal (2018) Scottish Field Whisky Challenge – Gold Award for Best Whisky £50-100 (2018)
Quarter Cask ‘The Bothy’: Best Scotch Island Single Malt, World Whiskies Awards (2019) Category Winner & Gold Medal ‘No Age Statement Single Malt’ for The Bothy Batch 3 World Whiskies Awards (2018). International Wine & Spirits Competition Silver Outstanding Medal (2018). International Spirits Challenge Silver Medal (2018)
Arran Lochranza Reserve: International Wine & Spirits Competition Silver Outstanding Medal (2018), International Spirits Challenge Silver Medal (2018)

WHAT’S YOUR SERVE?

Graham Eunson on industry change and how to try whisky in new ways

After eight years at Tomatin Distillery, Graham Eunson has been sampling both exquisite single malts and high-quality blends for years. In this time, he’s led tasting events, spoken at whisky festivals, as well as ran production for the entire distillery.

Following his recent promotion to Distillery Operations Director, Graham has taken the time to look back over a career that spans almost three decades in the whisky industry.

Over the years, Graham has noticed a huge surge in the appeal of whisky, as well as the increasing knowledge of the ever-emerging whisky consumer:

Mr Eunson said, “Back when I started in the industry, it was seen that middle aged, working class men drank whisky in the pub, and upper class men drank single malts at home. I think over the years it’s become more accepted that actually, whisky is something that appeals to younger people and women in equal measure. Just look at the whisky festivals, there’s such a huge diversity of age, culture and gender and that’s fantastic.” 

“I think one of the biggest changes to the industry is that the level of consumer knowledge is much, much greater than it was. People know more about individual brands, they’ve learnt facts about individual distillery history, and they have an incredible wealth of knowledge when it comes to whisky tasting. It makes hosting a tasting session so much more enjoyable.”

Tomatin Highland Single Malt is committed to reflecting this diversity of taste in its Core Range of whiskies. The range features a variety of expressions, ranging from £30, up to £600. It includes a light and fruity introductory whisky (Legacy), a cask strength bottling, as well as several premium releases (30 Year Old and 36 Year Old).

When asked if he had a favourite whisky, Graham Said: “It’s like trying to choose your favourite child, I have a favourite son and a favourite daughter because I’ve only got one of each. With the range at Tomatin, I like them all but it depends on the season, it depends on the occasion. In terms of Tomatin’s Core Range, The Legacy is your best starting point – it’s quite sweet and less of an acquired taste. What’s more, the Legacy cocktail pairings are some of the most fun and refreshing ways to try the whisky.”

Tomatin is one of the few whisky brands that creates bespoke cocktails for their entry level spirits. Graham believes that it’s a key part of the brand, and something that keeps the distillery innovative.

Graham said: “Over the last few decades, we’ve been missing out on opportunities with cocktails. Because of the quality, especially single malts, everyone says that you shouldn’t mask some of the subtle flavours and that’s true. But, if that’s not how you prefer to drink your whisky, who am I to tell you how to drink your whisky. What is the correct way to drink a single malt? There is only one way, and that’s how you as an individual prefer it. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a highball, with soda water, neat, with coke or lemonade or ginger ale. It doesn’t matter. I would always encourage people to try it in different ways, because it may actually surprise you.

Notes

Tomatin Distillery has been producing and blending malt Scotch whisky since 1897. Over the last 50 years, the distillery has borne witness to vast change. At its peak in the 1970s, Tomatin was the largest distillery in the world operating 23 stills and producing 12 million litres of alcohol every year. Over the last decade, significant time has been invested in rediscovering the distillery, people and values, and in refining the business model to move away from the formerly lucrative bulk commodity market to now focus on Tomatin’s core range of single malts.

Tomatin is located in the Scottish Highlands (near Inverness) and is famous for its portfolio of soft and mellow whiskies, including a core range, a limited-edition range and a premium archive range (prices range from £30 – £10,000). Tomatin is one of the fastest growing whisky brands in the UK and recently announced that it is officially the fastest growing top ten single malt whisky in the USA. Tomatin recently reported its turnover increased by almost 25% during the company’s most recent financial year (Dec 2016 – Dec 2017). Tomatin won Distiller of the Year 2016 and Brand Innovator of the Year 2017 at the Icons of Whisky Scotland Awards.

Tomatin Legacy Cocktail Pairings

CHERRY & BLACK PEPPER SOUR

TOMATIN LEGACY WITH CHERRY SYRUP & BLACK PEPPER MAKES FOR A SUMPTUOUS TAKE ON THE CLASSIC WHISKY SOUR.

50 ml / 2 oz Tomatin Legacy

50 ml / 2 oz Lemon Juice

25 ml / 1 oz Cherry Syrup

¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper

1 Egg White

Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake hard. Strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass and garnish with black cherries and black peppercorns.

TOMA’TIN & TONIC

TOMATIN (MEANING THE HILL OF THE JUNIPER BUSH) LEGACY MAKES FOR A REFRESHING TWIST ON THE CLASSIC G & T.

35ml Tomatin Legacy

Squeeze of a lemon wedge

Indian tonic water

Add Tomatin Legacy over ice in a stem-less wine glass before squeezing in the juice of a lemon wedge. Drop in some juniper berries then top with sparkling Indian tonic water. Garnish with a wedge of fresh lemon.

ICED T.E.A.

A COMBINATION OF TOMATIN LEGACY, CHILLED EARL GREY TEA AND CLEAR APPLE JUICE GIVES BIRTH TO A LONG COOLING DRINK.

50ml/2oz Tomatin Legacy

50ml/2oz Chilled Earl Grey tea

50ml/2oz Clear apple juice

Dash peach bitters

Pour Tomatin Legacy over ice in a Highball glass. Place 2 lemon wheels into the glass and then build with chilled Earl Grey tea, clear apple juice and a dash of peach bitters. Stir and garnish with a sprig of mint and fresh peach wedge.

LASTING LEGACY

THE CITRUSY TROPICAL NOTES OF TOMATIN LEGACY LENDS WELL IN THIS PUNCH STYLE COCKTAIL.

50ml/2oz Tomatin Legacy

25ml/1oz Elderflower liqueur

25ml/1oz Lemon juice

50ml/2oz Pineapple juice

Dash Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake hard. Strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a dehydrated orange wheel & pineapple leaves.

CHERRY BLOSSOM

A BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED COCKTAIL DESIGNED TO REFLECT THE MAGICAL JAPANESE CHERRY BLOSSOM SEASON.

50ml/2oz Tomatin Legacy

Barspoon cherry jam

50ml/2oz Coconut water

2ml/.1oz Orange blossom water

Stir down a barspoon of cherry jam with Tomatin Legacy before adding coconut water and a small amount of orange blossom water. Shake vigorously and then double strain into a chilled Sours glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

MIZUWARI MAC

A HYBRID SCOTTISH-JAPANESE COCKTAIL SEES THE HUMBLE WHISKY MAC SERVE COMBINED WITH THE ELEGANT AND STYLISH MIZUWARI.

50ml/2oz Tomatin Legacy

37.5ml/1.5oz Plum wine

Still mineral water

Fill half a large chilled Highball glass with cubed ice and then add the Tomatin 12 Year Old. Stir several times before adding the further ingredients with more ice, and stir once again. Garnish with a slice of fresh ginger.

For a zingy alternative swap the plum for ginger wine!

Roll out the barrel: a brief history of casks

Barrels at Jack Daniel’s

We take casks for granted. In fact, we take all waterproof containers for granted. I think it’s fair to say that in all of human history it’s never been so easy to transport liquids, from the soon-to-be-less-ubiquitous plastic water bottles and coffee cups to IV bags and fuel tankers.

Yet despite all these inventions the cask is still special, and it’s been special ever since people smashed their amphorae with joy at the realisation they’d found something leak-proof that was easier to stack. So when did the cask, to which booze owes so much, come into use, and who invented it?

In the beginning…

…there was pottery. The earliest recorded booze humanity has thus far found was scraped off a piece of pottery that dated to around 7000 BC, and as anyone who’s seen one of those wibbly-wobbly Greco-Roman vases can attest, pottery was a preferred option for thousands of years.

Amphorae under the Roman arena in Pula, Croatia. Image copyright: Caroline Roddis

There were two main types of pottery used. Alcohol was fermented and aged in large earthenware jars called dolia, while the smaller amphorae were used to store it. Their ability to be tightly sealed meant they could keep wine in good condition for years, and they are a key factor in the evolution of the wine cellar in the classical era. These vessels weren’t unique to ye olde swords and sandals times, either: similarly-shaped Georgian kvevri date back to at least 6000 BC, and amphorae crop up in China around 4800 BC too.

Yet pottery wasn’t the only option. Three-thousand-year-old tightly-lidded bronze vessels have been found in China, both in Anyang and the Yellow River Basin, containing wines made from rice and millet that had been flavoured with various herbs and flowers. And of course there was always the biblical favourite, the wineskin, ideal for smaller amounts and personal use – or maybe some kind of soggy hemp version if you were vegan.

Basket, vulture, cloth, basket

Or something…

Historians haven’t yet pinned down who exactly invented the cask, not least due to the unhelpful fact that wood degrades and old stuff repeatedly gets smashed up and / or used for other things over time.

The earliest traces that have thus far been found are from the burial place of Third Dynasty surgeon Hesy-Ra, which features carvings depicting barrel-like storage containers full of grain, dating them back to at least the 2600s BC. Wall paintings from 700 years later, found in the archaeological site of Beni Hassan, also depict similar tubs of raisins, albeit white-coopered ones – those with straight sides rather than the curves we normally associate with casks.

At this point, however, there’s no evidence of liquid involved – unless those raisins are an elaborate Egyptian metaphor for heavily-sherried whisky?

The oars of Babylon

Things get a bit easier to trace when we get past 500 BC, when writers get involved. (Writers, obviously, being the best of all people.) Herodotus, famed Greek historian and unexpected protagonist in the Assassins Creed game I’m currently playing, visited Babylon around 450 BC and described watching wine casks made of date palm wood be ferried down the river on row-boats.

It’s not clear, however, whether or not the Mesopotamians used hoops to secure these barrels, and given that they waterproofed their leather-and-willow row-boat hulls with pitch, it’s possible they did the same to their barrels. If anyone can correct me on this conjecture I’d love to hear from you.

Ale, Caesar!

I stole this joke from the lovely Twice Brewed Inn brewpub in Northumberland

Just after BC turns to AC, we find a number of classical writers passing comment on the Celts and their wooden casks. Strabo, the Greek historian known for writing the Geographica, mentions the ‘wooden Pithoi’ of the Celts being larger than houses, coopered to an excellent standard, and sealed with pitch. Rome’s Pliny the Elder, meanwhile, states that ‘In the vicinity of the Alps, they put their wines in wooden vessels circled with hoops’.

It seems that, over the next hundred or so years, the Greek and Roman world adopted the wooden cask and in particular the hooped oak version they discovered from the Celts, for whom the art coopering was often a family or tribal secret, something that perhaps explains why they took some time to be adopted elsewhere.

It’s not hard to see why the switch from clay to cask was made: casks are less likely to break in transit, can be easily (ish) moved by rolling, and are easier to clean and reuse than pottery vessels. Like clay, wood also allows for the exchange of oxygen, and we can only assume the added influence of oak character on the booze inside was found to be an extra benefit.

Quo cadis?

Today it’s impossible to imagine a wide variety of drinks without the influence and benefits that casks bring to them. It would seem, however, that identifying the original creator of the cask is, at present, impossible – although during my research I’ve encountered some wonderfully inventive theories, including the idea that the first casks were made of bamboo. (Based solely on the idea that they’re hollow, waterproof and therefore most of the way there anyway.)

Yet what we can do, for now, is identify the people who should really be singled out for praise in all this: the coopers, who for millennia have been building and improving on this marvellously simple yet complex invention – one to which we, and our drinks, owe so much.