Taconic distillery was founded in 2013 by Paul Coughlin and Gerald Valenti as Millbrook Distillery until the change to the present name in 2015, located in the Hudson Valley of New York. A farm to bottle operation, the grains and water are all sourced locally and the distillery has a whiskey-central focus. They are also active in the American Distilling Institute, the American Craft Spirits Association and the New York Distillers Guild. The regular Dutchess Private Reserve is a straight bourbon named after the county in New York the distillery is located in and approximately four years old. This particular edition was aged in new oak barrels for 3.5 years before being finished in ex-cognac casks from Remy Martin for a further six months.
Talisker Distillers Edition
Talisker is the oldest distillery on the Isle of Skye and for many years was the only one. Looking out over Loch Harport, the distillery was founded in 1830 by the MacAskill brothers and has been producing whisky for almost the entirety of the past two centuries. Now owned by Diageo, the distillery is able to rely on the resources such a corporate conglomerate is able to provide, like access to a host of casks to use in finishing. The Distillers Edition series is a program run by Diageo where standard offerings of a distillery are then further aged in ex-sherry or ex-wine casks. The Talisker Distillers Edition is a Talisker 10 year aged a further 12 months in ex-amoroso sherry casks. Amoroso is a blend out of Jerez, Spain where bodego workers would add a touch of Pedro Ximenez sherry to their bottles of Oloroso sherry, to make it more loveable, or “amoroso,” for their wives. This is similar to a cream sherry.