Month: August 2011

Hey all,

Got a pretty limited new release from High West Distillery today. It’s a nod to the newly revived trend of barrel aging cocktails. They use a classic Manhattan recipe combining two parts rye, one part sweet vermouth and two dashes bitters. They then barrel age it for 90 days helping to integrate the ingredients and giving it a great texture. Only got one case of this so get it while you can.

Nate

Hey all,

Got a pretty epic release in the shop today, Buffalo Trace’s Single Oak Project. The concept behind the Single Oak Project is as extravagant as they come. It’s Buffalo Trace’s attempt at figuring out once and for all what conditions and variations result in the best bourbon. Their essentially trying to figure out how to make the perfect bourbon by adjusting all the possible variables. The project started almost ten years ago when Buffalo Trace hand selected 96 individual American oak trees. The trees were selected for their varying pore sizes: fine, average and course. The trees were then cut into two sections, a top and bottom section, and a barrel was made from each, resulting in 192 barrels. The barrels were then allowed to air dry or cure as it’s called, some for 6 months and others for 12 months. The barrels were then filled with two different recipe bourbons, one with rye as the small grain and one with wheat. They even varied the barrel entry proofs, filling some with 105 proof bourbon and others with 125 proof bourbon. The final variation in the experiment was the use of both cement and wooden floor warehouses during the aging.

It’s a pretty inspiring project that allows us the consumers to get on their website and vote for our favorite barrels.  You can do that here: http://www.singleoakproject.com/

You want these!

Nate

Hey guys,

So just got a few bottles of Old Potrero Straight Rye and 18th Century. Because of a distribution change these have become even harder to get. It sounds like the production will increase with the spirits division taking over the old wine facility across the street from Anchor Brewery, however it probably won’t increase the supply of these whiskies for 2 or 3 years. We will continue to fight for every bottle we can, in the hopes that one day we can have it on the shelves more regularly. Cheers!

Nate