Foreign

Jersey Spirits Wildwoods Applewood Smoked

Jersey Spirits was founded in 2013 by John, Sue and Betty Granata and began production in 2015. A true family affair, John and Sue’s daughter Noël has grown up with the distillery and now serves as operations manager and lead distiller. The distillery is a grain-to-glass operation and is in now rush to grow just for growth’s sake. They are invested in their community, the tasting room serving as a frequent local gathering spot, and are not afraid to serve their spirits either on their own or mixed into a cocktail. For a micro-distillery, Jersey Spirits offers a wide offering of gins, vodkas, rums, moonshines and bourbons. The Wildwood series is named after a resort city in New Jersey and is the banner all their single malts appear under. The Wildwoods Applewood Smoked is made from barley sourced from Rabbit Hill Farms in South Jersey and then smoked over an applewood fire. Other single malts are the Cherrywood Smoked and Celtic Riviera.

By Adam | July 5, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |

Swift is a small single malt-focused distillery founded in 2012 by Amanda and Nick Swift, both Texas natives. Having traveled the world to learn about the art, science and business of whiskey-making, the Swifts clearly took a page from the homelands of whiskies and import all their Two-Row barley from Scotland before making the wort with water purposefully mimicking those from Northern Ireland and the Speyside region of Scotland. Even the yeast is a single malt-specific variety from Speyside! After distilling in two copper pot stills from Portugal, they take the narrow cuts and put them into barrels from either Kentucky or Portugal. Being a true micro-distillery, almost all the work is done by Amanda and Nick themselves, bucket by bucket, drop by drop, barrel by barrel. Their flagship offering, the Swift Single Malt, is a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Their hard work appears to be paying off, however, as Swift bottles have expanded beyond Texas onto shelves across the country.

By Adam | June 20, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |

Mark and Andrew Morrison began distilling in 2016 in a building that used to house the Minglewood Coal and Ice Company, a company that lasted nearly a century providing ice and coal to Wayne County until its closure in the 1950s. Located in Wayne Country, Ohio, the distillery has been seeking to make a name in the region, banking on word-of-mouth to fuel their growth instead of overextending and sacrificing quality. Their portfolio has white spirits like vodka and gin but they have a much larger variety of whiskies, ranging from bottled-in-bond bourbon and rye to a few flavored whiskies. The Minglewood Winter Rye is distilled from local winter rye, the plant being especially useful by lasting through the winters so it would grow rapidly after the snows left for early spring foraging.

By Adam | May 20, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |