Stephen and Elaine Paul founded Hamilton Distillers in 2011 in Tucson, born out of the question if smoke drying barley with mesquite wood could impart something unique to a whiskey. After a lot of experimentation, it turned out that the answer was yes. While the distillery eventually settled on their core line, they were continually experimenting with different ideas, the essence of what got them started in the first place. Some of those early experiments involving mash bill and maturation have started to see the light of day over the last couple of years, including their line of Distiller’s Cuts, which are released thrice a year and named after the seasons. The Distiller’s Cut Summer 2023 was a true mixing of elements. One batch was aged in new American white oak and finished in ex-rhum agricole barrels (rhum agricole is a style of rum made from freshly-squeeze sugar cane instead of molasses, often made in the French West Indies). A mesquited tequila petit eau (water aged in tequila barrels, which does in fact absorb some alcohol from the wood over time) was added and the whole was given a base of the Classic before being blended in stainless steel tanks. Nicknamed “Abbey’s Blend” after Abbey Fife, one of the Hamilton’s distillers (though now in marketing) who was responsible for creating this particular offering.