CAN ANCIENT INGREDIENTS MAKE BETTER SPIRITS TODAY?

Heritage Corn Craft Whiskey’s Final Frontier?
Having tapped the bounty of heirloom grains, distillers are turning to the unexplored diversity of heritage corn to add nuance to their whiskeys.
JUNE 6, 2018 story: KARA NEWMAN

Once upon a time, nobody cared for whiskey being made with Rye, Corn or Wheat...
Now people are into details. What kind of corn?
Just a little over a century ago, hundreds of varieties of corn grew across the fields of the United States.

Today, almost all corn-based whiskey, including bourbon, is sourced from a single type of corn. But some craft distillers are trying to revive those ancient strains, creating spirits with greater nuance by stretching back to the past.

This sort of obsessiveness has become a feature of the craft whiskey movement. But even as producers increase their focus on the sourcing of grainslike ancient strains of rye, and even how they’re malted, corn remains the last frontier.
See, article Souce below for more details ...

That reminds me, that in 2015 I revived the concept of 1870 cognac by producing a cognac 'à la pre-phylloxera way' that is using single grape 'Folle Blanche', single cask, vintage and why not from Bons Bois with a higher proof which is looked down for no real reasons besides commercial reasons. I did not do high proof or cask strength because one as to go with baby steps. All of this was too much at once and it was wise to get a few great and 'good old' concepts first and later we will see!

Meet Comandon Cognac 2012 Single Cask Folle Blanche from Bons Bois 41.3% Alc/Vol.
Only 120 bottles were released in the USA and we sold them all to aficionados who were paying attention.

Source: PUNCH, Comandon

ALL KIND OF DISTILLERIES MAKE ALL KIND OF SPIRITS

 

Japanese Kikori Rice Whisky

There are about 200 distilleries in Scotland to produce Scotch whisky, and 3000 distilleries in the Cognac region to produce cognac, and these numbers are pretty stable for decades. There are now about 1300 distilleries in the USA, a big jump from the 200 distilleries back 10 years ago.

What do they do?

Some make standard spirits in their category, while other try to step out the trenches.
The Whiskey Wash offers a list of what they call 'weird whiskeys', which too me look fine.

1. Koval Distillery in Chicago, Illinois make a whiskey of 51% corn—no surprises there—and then 49% millet, a rarely-used grain that’s actually closely related to corn.
2. Early Times Kentucky Whisky (no “e”) is made just like bourbon in all respects, except for one very important one. Instead of using exclusively new charred oak casks for maturation, about 20% of the aging stock is stored in used oak casks.
3. Kikori Rice Whisky. While most Japanese whisky is made from malted barley, just like Scotch, Kikori Rice Whisky uses a different grain: rice. www.kikoriwhiskey.com
4. Dry Fly Triticale Whiskey is made from wheat or rye aren’t that unusual, but Triticale is a hybrid grain combining wheat’s productivity with rye’s toughness. 
5. White Owl Whisky is made from aged stock that is put through a filtering process that strips all color out of the spirit. A clear whisky!

Source: Whiskey Wash

WASHINGTON STATE LARGEST DISTILLERY OF AMERICAN WHISKEY BOUGHT BY CONGLOMERATE MOET HENNESSY

 

Woodinville Whiskey

Woodinville Whiskey Co., another craft distillery has been bought out but this time by a huge Cognac & Champagne conglomerate, ie, Moët Hennessy.
This is the first time Moët Hennessy are making a move into the craft spirit movement. We know of their ownership of scotch whisky Glenmorangie and Ardberg, but they did not own any small craft spirits.

This follows a trend, last year Pernod bought West Virginia's Smooth Ambler Spirits Co., while Remy Cointreau acquired Westland Distillery also located in the State of Washington.

The sale is a strategic move by the founders Brett Carlile and Orlin Sorensen to help Washington State's largest distillery to grow and expand since establishement in 2010.
Originally, the whiskeys were only available in the State of Washington but one can imagine this will change now.

Source: Woodinville Whiskey Co.

NEW AMERICAN WHISKEY BRAND BY RAPPER DRAKE

 

Drake Virginia Black Whiskey

After George Clooney Tequila Casamigos, which he sold to Diageo for 1 billion dollars singer Drake is getting some ideas.

Diageo is set to pay $700 million initially, with the potential of another $300 million based on the tequila's performance over 10 years, according to CNBC.

Drake the Canadian rapper whose chart-topping hits have won him many Grammy Awards and Billboard Music Awards among other prizes launched in June 2016 Virginia Black Whiskey with ex-banker Brent Hocking and beverage marketing firm Promixo Spirits.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXwCKKHgG6k&w=560&h=315]

Virginia Black is now available in Burundi, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Zanzibar, as well as the UK and Canada, where it first launched.

Source: Virginia Black Whiskey