Smoke

Abasolo Ancestral Corn

Abasolo Distillery was built in 2019 in the town of Jilotepec de Abasolo. Why this place, situated at 7,800 feet, for the first whisky distillery in Mexico, a country more popularly known for tequila and mezcal? Because the town is known as the birthplace of corn (also known as maize), and corn is what this whisky is all about. Abasolo uses 100% cacahuazintle, a Mexican heritage corn, through an ancient cooking technique called nixtamalization, which is often used in food preparation for corn in Mexico but has not been used before in the distilling process. The Abasolo Ancestral Corn is the inaugural offering.

By Adam | October 20, 2022 | Foreign | No Comments |

Sweden is a northern country and High Coast Distillery is on the outskirts there too, situated in Sörviken at 63ºN. That latitude served as the inspiration of the High Coast Sixty Three, where every element of the whisky and its making that could be rounded to that number was. It is peated single malt whisky peated to 63ppm, matured in 198 63 liter casks for 63 months (5+years), aged at 63 decimeters – roughly 20 feet – below ground. The first batch of this limited edition was bottled at 63ºF. Heck, the price of the grain in the Swedish currency was 6.3 krona per kilogram. The batch size was a 6300 liter wort and the average fermentation time was 63 hours. Even the cooper who made the barrels was born in 1963.

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

Torabhaig opened in 2017 on the Isle of Skye, perhaps more famous for its first distillery, Talisker. Situated in a farmstead from the 19th century built using stone from a nearby Cnoc Castle, the building has been refurbished with copper stills, washbacks, and all the other needed equipment. Thinking forward, the distillery roof is removable so that when the time comes to upgrade the stills, they can be moved in and out with minimal disturbance of the historical building. The Torabhaig Allt Gleann is the distillery’s inaugural release, so named from the Allt Gleann, one of the burns near the distillery that provides the water along with the Allt Breacach. Made with Concerto malted barley, Pinnacle MG+ yeast, and peated to 16ppm.

By Adam | August 30, 2022 | Island | No Comments |