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.
Method and Madness Virgin Hungarian Oak
The Method and Madness brand was launched a number of years ago as the experimental lab at Midleton distillery. Mildeton is the starting point for a number of familiar Irish whiskey brands, and this lab is a place where the different masters and apprentices can come together and share knowledge and ideas. The result is an exploration of many variants in Irish whiskey, from single grain to single malt to pot still, but using elements that are rarely seen. It’s a place to push the envelope and take risks to discover something new. Most of these elements, at least so far, are featured as different cask finishes. The Method and Madness Virgin Hungarian Oak is a single pot still whiskey finished for an undisclosed amount of time in virgin Hungarian oak casks.