Spice

Colkegan Single Malt

Colkegan Single Malt

Santa Fe Spirits was founded in 2010 by Englishman Colin Keegan. An architect by trade, Colin and his family built their home on an old apple orchard in the American Southwest in the early 90s. Colin decided to look at the Recession of 2008/09 as an opportunity and founded Santa Fe Spirits. After a decade and more in production, Santa Fe Spirits offer vodka, gin, apple brandy (from the orchards) and liqueurs. Their flagship product, however, is the Colkegan Single Malt. A portmanteau of the distillery’s founder, the Colkegan line uses local mesquite wood to dry a portion of the barley used in the whiskey, with other versions using various proofage and cask finishes.

Berkshire Mountain 10 Year Oktoberfest

Berkshire Mountain 10 Year Oktoberfest

Berkshire Mountain Distillers (BMD) was founded in 2007 in Massachusetts by Chris Weld. Chris tried making a still in the 8th grade, which feels qualified as a good start. The distillery sits on an old apple farm and a working spring. In the proceeding years, the distillery has made a variety of vodkas, gins, rums, and bourbon, along with corn and single malt whiskies. BMD seems to love experimenting, as they have developed multiple kinds of each spirit by making use of their small batch production. The distillery is also into collaboration with local breweries and farms, as shown by their recent Craft Brewers Whiskey Project. The Berkshire Mountain 10 Year Oktoberfest is another entry in collaboration, as this single malt is aged for ten years and was distilled from an Oktoberfest beer by nearby brewery Berkshire Brewing. 

Clynelish Reserve: Game of Thrones Edition

Clynelish Reserve: Game of Thrones Edition

Founded in 1819, Clynelish has been operating nearly uninterrupted for over two hundred years, even when it was known for a time as Brora distillery. Though it produced single malts early on, almost all the distillery’s output has been a primary highland component to some of current owner Diageo’s Johnnie Walker series. Maybe because new single malts are rarely seen from this distillery, the Clynelish Reserve was seen as a standout when Diageo released a Game of Thrones set in early 2019 to celebrate the hit show’s final season. There is no age statement or anything to stand it apart like cask finishing.