Foreign

Sonoma Cherrywood Rye

Sonoma Distilling was founded in 2010 by Adam Spiegel and was the first located in a region of California more renowned for wine than spirits. As with many other distillers, Sonoma looks to local elements and promotes grain-to-glass production at their facility. Even the grains themselves are from the surrounding states. At least it is now. When the distillery was younger, some of the releases included grain from other locations, including this one with part of the rye content sourced from Canada. The Sonoma Cherrywood Rye is part of the distillery’s portfolio that takes their existing spirit – bourbon and rye so far – and smokes the malted barley that makes up a tenth of the mashbill with cherrywood.

By Adam | January 20, 2023 | Foreign | No Comments |

It is normal for distilleries to have a core range that they produce in quantity and consistency. It sees their whiskies reach the widest audience and lets customers know what to expect each time they open the bottle. Occasionally they may release special offerings like a yearly or seasonal offerings. Mingo Creek Craft Distillers, more commonly known by their brand name Liberty Pole, takes the even rarer step (though they are certainly not the first or only) of releasing a single barrel. This is usually done by distillers when a single barrel has a unique quality all on its own that the distillers want to share with the world. Liberty Pole has released a number of single barrels over the years and this one is named Pecan Pie for the qualities reminiscent of grandma’s classic dessert. This barrel began as one of their standard ryes, (61% rye, 13% red winter wheat, 13% rye malt, and 13% six-row distillers malt) but was aged for a minimum of 36 months and is one of only 104 bottles.

By Adam | December 30, 2022 | Foreign | No Comments |

High Coast Distillery was founded in 2010 in the Swedish hamlet of Sörviken. The location was formerly a box factory and then power station. The High Coast name only came about during an expansion and rebrand in 2018, however. The distillery is situated beside the Ångerman River and also sources water from the nearby Lake Bålsjön. The extremely wide swing in temperature throughout the year, from -30°F in the winter to 70°F in the summer (not accounting for wind chill), mean that the casking process is accelerated more than almost any place on earth. Master distiller Roger Melander has been spending the past decade and more crafting whiskies worthy of the location and the expanded portfolio now includes four core offerings and dozens of limited editions including the earliest batches. The High Coast Hav, Swedish for “sea”, should maybe considered their gateway offering, consisting of a lightly peated whisky with oak influence predominating.

By Adam | December 10, 2022 | Foreign | No Comments |