Wine Merchants and whiskey bonders Mitchell & Son have a long history in the spirits industry. Primarily known in the whiskey world for introducing the Spot line in 1920. Produced by Irish Distillers at Midleton Distillery, it is one of the few remaining single pot still bonded Irish whiskies. After most of the Spot line fell out of production for many years, the entire line has seen a reintroduction over the past decade. Included in this resurgence has seen finishes with specific wineries for multiple Spots, either for limited release or a broader market offering. The Green Spot Chateau Léoville Barton was aged for 5-7 years and then finished in ex-Burgundy barriques for approximately 18 months. The vineyards are located near Saint-Julien, on the left bank of Garonne estuary in southwestern France.
Stranahan’s Sherry Cask
Stranahan’s Distillery was one of the first American single malts on the market in early 2000s, with their first bottle being released in 2006. One of the things American whiskies like bourbon were long not allowed to do because of regulation and tradition was something scotch had begun pioneering in the early 1980s, wood finishing. Not bound by the regulations of bourbons or ryes, American single malts like Stranahan’s are able to push the boundaries in creative ways their whiskey relatives were unable to for many years (though this has recently begun changing). The Stranahan’s Sherry Cask is a single malt aged for four years in virgin white American oak barrels and then finished in 500-liter ex-Oloroso sherry casks from the Andalusia region in Spain.
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.