It sometimes gets confused for bourbon or overshadowed by its top rival, Jack Daniel’s, but George Dickel ranks as the second-largest manufacturer of Tennessee whiskey. Lodged in a rustic corner of Tennessee, 77 miles southeast of Nashville – closer to Chattanooga and nearer still to Jack Daniel’s hometown of Lynchburg – Dickel produces whiskey much […]
Laboratory analyses can’t identify anything special about the water Hangar One Vodka Distillery collects from Bay Area fog to produce its limited edition Fog Point Vodka. But head distiller Caley Shoemaker can. She says it’s the taste of San Francisco. At the height of summer, when inland temperatures soar above 90 degrees, San Francisco is […]
There’s a lot more a lot of us should know about gin in general. Which means there’s definitely plenty we should know about a gin like Bombay Sapphire. The great grandchild of the 1761 gin distillery founded by Thomas Dakin in Warrington, England, Bombay burst onto the scene in the late ‘80s.
What’s on your mind when you sip your favorite Scotch, bourbon, or whiskey? Politics, maybe? Philosophy? A funny Tweet you read on your phone just now? Few of us spend cocktail hour contemplating wood, but it’s impossible to overstate its importance in the production and taste of brown spirits. Dan Szor, CEO and founder of […]
If you find the concept of barrel-aged gin a little perplexing, you’re not alone. Just what is one supposed to do with this amber-colored spirit that has all the botanical flavors of gin, plus whiskey-like notes of wood and vanilla? Treat it like bourbon? Use it in place of traditional gin? Sip it neat? For one, […]
Cider is a broad category. By definition, sour cider is “cider fermented with non-traditional yeast and bacteria, typically lactic and acetic acid, and wild-fermented,” Peter Clausen, production manager of 101 Cider House in Los Angeles, says. Clausen quite literally defined the category, assisting the United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM) in creating the definition […]
When it comes to whiskey, the first place that comes to mind is Kentucky. The Bluegrass State has been producing some of the tastiest whiskeys for centuries — in addition to other American whiskey powerhouses like Tennessee, and even Virginia. Now there’s a new breed of distillers emerging in an unexpected place. Garrison Brothers. Whitmeyer’s. […]
Irish whiskey has been on a tear over the past few years, with sales value increasing by 22 percent in the U.S. and 18.5 percent in all markets over the first half of 2017. But gin is the fastest-growing spirits category in Ireland. There are now 30 Irish brands available, and global exports tripled in […]
Steven Grasse has mastered the art of navigating the boundaries of the booze world. The FDA’s list of acceptable additives “tells you every single ingredient you’re allowed to use in a spirit,” Grasse says. “If it’s not on the list, you can’t use it. Unless… you can make a historical precedent for why you need […]
