Smoke

Sonoma Cherrywood Rye

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.

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Port & Wine

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Port & Wine

The first Laphroaig Cairdeas (“friendship” in Gaelic) came out in 2008 and has been an annual release since then. The 2020 Cairdeas Port & Wine represents a way to introduce wine finishes to a smoky scotch, something that is not always successful given the strong elements of a typical Laphroaig. To solve this, part of the initial maturation was done in ex-bourbon casks and part in second-fill ruby Port barriques. These are then combined to finish in red wine casks. Specifics about the time spent in each process is not available but that is relatively common in No Age Statement whiskies. 

Highland Park 16 Year Twisted Tattoo

Highland Park 16 Year Twisted Tattoo

Since beginning their distillery on Orkney in 1798, Highland Park has been crafting scotch and working with artisans from around the world, continually reinventing itself while also holding true to their history and traditions. A recent rebranding effort has seen them lean more heavily into the Viking influence of that area of Scotland, often seen in evocative names to accompany the usual age statements. The Highland Park 16 Year is called the Twisted Tattoo after Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent of Norse legend. The design and packaging was the result of a partnership with Danish tattoo artist Colin Dale. Highland Park regularly uses ex-sherry casks as part of their standard maturation process but in the Twisted Tattoo, the scotch was finished in ex-Rioja casks.