distillers

Whiskey Meets Tequila: Sagamore Spirit Releases Tequila Finish Rye

April 19, 2021 By Dow Scoggins

BALTIMORE, Maryland — Struggling with that age-old question, “whiskey or tequila”? Sagamore Spirit says why not both? With the calendar counting down to Cinco de Mayo, the award-winning distiller today announced the release of its newest limited-edition rye whiskey that brings the best of both worlds: Sagamore Spirit Distiller’s Select Tequila Finish.

The new offering, available nationwide, finishes Sagamore Spirit Straight Rye Whiskey in Extra Añejo barrels. The result is a full-bodied yet approachable rye that telegraphs tequila in all the right ways, with hints of agave, citrus, spice, warm oak and vanilla on the nose, and even more agave, peppercorn, fig and orange to taste. Marked at a substantial 98-proof, it is a spirit meant to be sipped and savored.

“Melding a full-bodied rye whiskey with tequila may sound like a risky move, but our distilling team welcomes risks that can bring big rewards,” said Brian Treacy, Sagamore Spirit’s president. “Like Maryland-style rye, tequila has a history that’s deeply rooted in a sense of place, so to us, this union made perfect sense. The end result perfectly captures what’s special about each spirit to give fans of both spirits something unexpected, seasonal and full of flavor – just in time for warmer weather.”

Despite tequila’s more than 350-year history, Extra Añejo is a newer sub-category that requires tequila to be aged for at least three years in oak barrels. Akin to rye whiskey’s aging process, Extra Añejo tequila interacts with the barrel staves longer, resulting in some of the most complex and elegant tequilas in the world. When it came time to select barrels for Tequila Finish, Sagamore Spirit’s team of distillers sought out casks that had nurtured tequila in such a way and had aged both Añejo and Extra Añejo tequila for at least seven years.

Tequila Finish is part of the Sagamore Spirit Reserve Series, a collection of limited-edition Maryland-style rye whiskies aged in barrels that formerly aged other spirits, wines, or beers. Past releases include Manhattan Finish, Rye Ale Finish (aged in Sierra Nevada beer barrels) and Calvados Finish.

While Tequila Finish will only be available for a limited time, fans can enjoy Sagamore Spirit year-round with its Signature, Double Oak, and Cask Strength rye whiskies, the distillery’s core offerings that are leading the Maryland-style rye revival across the country.

Sagamore Spirit Distiller’s Select Tequila Finish will be available nationwide beginning March in 750ml bottles at a suggested retail price of $69. To find a bottle near you visit sagamorespirit.com/find-rye.

About Sagamore Spirit
Sagamore Spirit is committed to inspiring a global passion for Maryland Rye Whiskey. Its award-winning five-acre waterfront distillery in Baltimore is reclaiming the city’s rightful place in America’s whiskey history, where storied distillers perfected rye whiskey for more than 150 years before Kentucky was founded.

Maryland Rye Whiskey was known to be full bodied yet notably more approachable than other regional rye styles, and Sagamore Spirit has picked up the torch. Its straight rye whiskies have earned more than 100 awards internationally, including “World’s Best Rye Whiskey” in 2019 at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Sagamore Spirit’s distillation team blends two different rye mash bills – a high rye and a low rye – and then adds pure Maryland limestone-filtered spring water, transported 22 miles from Sagamore Farm, to craft the brand’s Signature 83-proof Maryland-Style Rye Whiskey. To learn more about Sagamore Spirit’s signature expressions, including Cask Strength and Double Oak, as well as limited-time releases, visit www.SagamoreSpirit.com.

Dogfish Head Distilling Launches Ready-to-Drink Canned Cocktails

February 24, 2021 By Dow Scoggins

Milton, Delaware – One of America’s earliest craft distilleries, Dogfish Head Distilling Co. announces the coast-to-coast* launch of its scratch-made, ready-to-drink Canned Cocktails. The distillery’s lineup of Canned Cocktails includes three off-centered recipes –Blueberry Shrub Vodka Soda, Strawberry & Honeyberry Vodka Lemonade and Cherry Bergamot Whiskey Sour. Each recipe was crafted using Dogfish Head Distilling Co.’s house-made spirits combined with all-natural, high-quality culinary ingredients to create a liquid masterpiece that tastes as if it was poured straight from a bartender’s shaker tin. Dogfish Head Distilling Co.’s scratch-made Canned Cocktails begin hitting shelves in 4pk/355ml slim cans this week.

“A lot of folks don’t realize it, but Dogfish Head has been distilling spirits for about two decades, and we actually released our first ready-to-drink bottled cocktail back in 2017,” said Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Founder & Brewer. “Just like our award-winning spirits, our Canned Cocktails were born from blissfully inefficient recipes, the overactive imaginations of our uber talented co-workers, and a distinct distilling process centered around innovation and boundless creativity. While our spirits have been available to those throughout the Mid-Atlantic for some time, our Canned Cocktails are the first opportunity for off-centered people nationwide to drink in and explore the goodness that isDogfish Head Distilling Co.”

Each of Dogfish Head Distilling Co.’s scratch-made Canned Cocktails was artfully crafted and thoughtfully blended for maximum goodness. These flavor-forward, culinary-inspired recipes, compounded by each drink’s unique back story, provide strong points of differentiation in the exploding Canned Cocktail category, which is trending up +46%**.

Blueberry Shrub Vodka Soda (7.0% ABV) – Inspired by the James Beard Award-nominated bar program at Dogfish Head’s geographically-enamored seafood restaurant, Chesapeake & Maine, in Rehoboth, Delaware, this scratch-made Canned Cocktail begins with Dogfish Head Distilling Co.’s vodka distilled with blueberries. It is then macerated with lightly sweetened balsamic and red wine vinegar to create a blueberry shrub vodka and is blended with soda water. The ensuing deep, burgundy-colored libation is juicy and subtly sweet from the blueberries, with a slightly sour and complex fruity character from the vinegar. *L.A. Spirits Awards “Best-In-Show” winner in the ready-to-drink category.*

Strawberry & Honeyberry Vodka Lemonade (7.0% ABV) – Inspired by Sam’s visits to his friend’s honeyberry farm in coastal Maine, this scratch-made Canned Cocktail features Dogfish Head Distilling Co. vodka distilled with honeyberries, macerated with strawberries and blended with a house-made lemonade. Light coral in color with a fresh-squeezed lemonade haze, it exudes the well-balanced tartness of fresh-squeezed lemon combined with a sweet berry taste.

Cherry Bergamot Whiskey Sour (7.0% ABV) – Developed to accentuate the nuances of Dogfish Head Distilling Co.’s malt whiskey, this ready-to-drink Canned Cocktail takes whiskey distilled with tart cherries and highly-fragrant, citrusy bergamot oranges, and blends it with a house-made sour mix. Light amber in color, it is chock full of oak and vanilla whiskey flavors balanced by notes of citrus and dark cherries with a hint of honey, lemon and bergamot.“Dogfish Head Distilling Co. has always been focused on building our recipes around enticing combinations of natural culinary ingredients in their rawest forms; never adding flavorings or bringing in bulk-spirits for re-distillation,” said James Montero, Dogfish Head’s Innovation Manager for Beyond Beer. “This commitment has allowed us to produce a wide array of award-winning vodkas, gins, rums, whiskeys and more, and has helped us build a loyal cadre of spirits drinkers. I’m proud to share that that same level of rigorous care was used when creating the recipes for our ready-to-drink Canned Cocktails.”

With quality and authenticity at the core of its DNA, Dogfish Head Distilling Co. spent hundreds of hours honing its Canned Cocktail recipes, using a number of stringent R&D processes to inform its quest for excellence. From conducting quality control analyses and tasting panels to garnering feedback from guests at Dogfish Head’s coastal Delaware restaurants and taproom, the development of these Canned Cocktails was recognized and rewarded in late 2020. “We knew we weren’t going to officially release these tasty cocktails until early 2021, but we just couldn’t contain our excitement any longer,” said Sam. “So, we submitted a preliminary sample of our Blueberry Shrub Vodka Soda to the L.A. Spirits Awards and it ended up winning “Best-In-Show” in the ready-to-drink category. What an awesome way to kick-off the New Year and celebrate the soon-to-be launch of our latest endeavor!”

For more about Dogfish Head Distilling Co. and its NEW lineup of scratch-made, ready-to-drinkCanned Cocktails, please visit www.dogfish.com/distillery.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery:
Dogfish Head has proudly focused on brewing beers with culinary ingredients outside the Reinheitsgebot since the day it opened as the smallest American craft brewery nearly 25 years ago.Dogfish Head has grown into a top-20 craft brewery and won numerous awards throughout the years, includingWine Enthusiast’s 2015 Brewery of the Year and the James Beard Foundation Award for 2017 Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional. A Delaware-based brand with Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, an off-centered brewpub and distillery, Chesapeake & Maine, a geographically-enamored seafood restaurant, Dogfish Inn, a beer-themed inn on the harbor, and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a production brewery and distillery featuring theTasting Room & Kitchen and Dogfish Head Distilling Co., Dogfish Head is a supporter of the Independent Craft Brewing Seal, the definitive icon for American craft breweries to identify themselves to be independently-owned and carry the torch of transparency, brewing innovation and the freedom of choice originally forged by brewing community pioneers. Dogfish Head currently sells beer in all 50 states and Washington D.C. For more information, visit www.dogfish.com.

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2021 Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition Results

February 9, 2021 By Dow Scoggins

Vancouver, BC – Artisan Distillers Canada (ADC) proudly announces the results of the annual Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition (CASC). CASC is Canada’s only national spirit competition reserved exclusively for artisan distilleries.

The 2021 edition of CASC includes an expanded set of categories, reflecting the growing size and diversity of spirits produced by artisan distillers across the country. Best in Class, Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals were awarded in 19 spirit categories. The competition also includes Terroir honours, recognizing distilleries whose use of local ingredients is reflected in the character of their spirits.

“This year I am pleased to see spirits from across the country represented in our Best in Class awards, with distilleries in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia all taking Best in Class prizes,” says Alex Hamer, ADC’s founder. “It’s also great to see that even in the face of considerable pandemic-related business interruptions, our distillers continue to produce high quality spirits of every kind.”

Canadian Artisan Spirit Of The Year
Each year, CASC awards the Canadian Artisan Spirit of the Year medal to the overall top-scoring overall spirit out of all categories. This year we are very pleased to announce that Ampersand Distilling Company, in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island has taken top honors for its Nocino!, an Italian-style green walnut liqueur made with walnuts handpicked in the Cowichan Valley and sweetened with local honey.

Judges clearly loved this spirit, noting “pronounced aromas of walnut, and medium notes of orange peel, nutmeg, coffee, and burnt sugar … very complex and exceptionally balanced … with a deeply roasted flavor and a pleasing note of bitterness … [a] carefully crafted liqueur.”

Best In Class – Spirits
The following spirits earned the top scores in their respective categories:

Absinthe: Distillerie Fils du Roy (QC) – Courailleuse
Akvavit: Confluence Distilling (AB) – Vinland Aquavit (Best in Class, 2020)
Amaro or Vermouth: The Woods Spirit Co (BC) – Pacific North-West Amaro
Brandy or Eau de Vie: Wynndel Craft Distilleries (BC) – Apple Brandy
Flavoured or Infused Vodka: Arbutus Distillery (BC) – Espresso Vodka
Aged Gin: The Liberty Distillery (BC) – Endeavour Old Tom Gin
Classic Gin: Patent 5 Distillery (MB) – Navy Strength Gin
Contemporary Gin: (tie) Compass Distillers (NS) – Gin Royal; The Dubh Glas Distillery (BC) – Noteworthy Gin – Navy Strength
Flavoured Gin: Raging Crow Distillery (NS) – Spruce Tip Gin
Liqueur: Ampersand Distilling Company (BC) – Nocino!
Fruit Liqueur: La Vallée Bleue (QC) – Cassimix
Alternative Rum: Merridale Cidery & Distillery (BC) – Cowichan Spiced Rhumb
Traditional Rum: Last Straw Distillery (ON) – Blackstrap Rum – Double Barrelled
Classic Vodka: Bandits Distilling Inc. (SK) – Northern Lights Vodka
Contemporary Vodka: Ironworks Distillery (NS) – Ironworks Vodka
Single Grain Whisky: Shelter Point Distillery (BC) – Double Barrel Batch 5
Single Malt Whisky: Odd Society Spirits (BC) – Commodore Single Malt Whisky
Young Whisky: DEVINE Distillery (BC) – Ancient Grains (Best in Class, 2019, 2020)
White Spirit: Silver Fox Distillery (ON) – 4 Peppercorns

Best In Class – Bitters
Distillerie Fils du Roy (QC) – Fils du Roy Bitter

Medals were awarded to distillers and bitters-makers from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Complete Results:
https://artisandistillers.ca/2021-results

About The Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition and Artisan Distillers Canada
Artisan Distillers Canada is a national organization focused on celebrating and highlighting artisan distilleries and spirits across Canada. The annual Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition was founded in 2017 to recognize the best of Canadian artisan distilling. Distilleries must meet our qualifications (https://artisandistillers.ca/artisan-distillery) to participate in the competition.

The first annual Artisan Distillers Canada Conference & Trade Show will be held October 19 – 20, 2021, at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

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Brough Brothers Distillery, the First and Only African American-Owned Distillery in Kentucky Has Opened for Business

January 8, 2021 By Dow Scoggins

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Brough Brothers Distillery, the first and only Black-owned distillery in the state of Kentucky, opened its doors for business earlier this month in Louisville.

The distillery was founded by Victor, Bryson, and Christian Yarbrough, three brothers born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. They wanted to produce quality bourbon whiskey in an industry that has thus far remained largely inaccessible to minority entrepreneurs. They are committed to supporting other local businesses in an effort to revitalize the West End neighborhood in which Brough Brothers is based. Their distillery will provide job opportunities and economic growth for the community of Park Hill, a historically underserved area of Louisville’s West End.

“Brough Brothers has an opportunity to not only provide employment opportunities for our local community, but also design an experience for locals and tourists in the heart of one of Kentucky’s cultural hubs,” Brough Brothers CEO Victor Yarbrough said. “At a time in history when there is much attention on Louisville, we are excited to represent positive change and hope for and on behalf of our city.”

First approved by the distillery-governing body the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in August 2018, Brough Brothers Distillery was recognized by Kentucky’s Senate as the state’s first African American-owned distillery in August 2020. Approved by the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in September, it will continue to make history as it distills and barrels its first barrel of bourbon this winter. Its bourbon shop will be open for business to bourbon enthusiasts by appointment only in spring 2021.

But customers don’t have to wait to enjoy Brough Brothers: its bourbon brand is available on store shelves now and online.

Brough Brothers Bourbon has received glowing customer reviews for being one of the smoothest bourbons on the market. With major and independent retailers selling it in Kentucky, national retailers (Kroger, Total Wine and More, Trader Joes, Walmart) and distributors (RNDC, JB, BBI, SWGS) alike have taken notice of its explosive popularity. Brough Brothers currently has major distribution partnerships in five states, including KY, FL, TN, IN, and CO. It will expand its distribution to another 20 states in early 2021.

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Tennessee Distillers Guild Elects New President & Board of Directors

August 15, 2020 By Dow Scoggins

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The Tennessee Distillers Guild elected Alex Castle, master distiller and senior vice president at Old Dominick Distillery, as its new president. In her role, Castle will lead the charge in continuing to move the Guild and its initiatives forward.

“Alex and Old Dominick Distillery epitomize the Tennessee distilling industry, representing a heritage brand that has been revived for today,” said Tennessee Distillers Guild executive director, Sara Beth Urban. “Alex’s energy and leadership will be a great asset for our Guild, and I’m excited to work with her to increase interest in Tennessee spirits.”

Castle and Old Dominick Distillery joined the Guild in late 2015 and have since been an integral part of its success and evolution.

“Watching this group grow and evolve has been unbelievable,” said Castle. “My predecessor, Kris Tatum, did a phenomenal job leading the Guild and fighting to improve our industry in Tennessee. I’m excited for this opportunity and hope during my time as President, I can help maintain the momentum and continue to grow the Guild and the Trail, both in numbers and awareness.”

Castle has already made her mark for women in the Tennessee whiskey industry as the state’s first female head distiller in 2015. Now, she is making history again as the first female president to lead the Tennessee Distillers Guild since its founding in 2014.

“I can’t imagine being in any other industry,” she said. “I hope that my roles within Old Dominick and the Guild can serve as inspiration to other women. Just because an industry was male-dominated for years doesn’t mean it can’t be welcoming to women, and even promote those women to leadership roles.”

Castle is a Burlington, Kentucky native with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky. She resides in Memphis with her husband and their dog, Whiskey.

Other Tennessee Distillers Guild board appointments include Rod Benkovich of George Dickel Distillery as vice president; Tyler Crowell of Corsair Distillery as secretary; and Kent Merritt of Old Tennessee Distilling Co. as treasurer. Other board members include Heath Clark of H. Clark Distillery, Matt Cunningham of Old Glory Distilling Co., Bruce Boeko of Nashville Craft Distillery, Jeff Arnett of Jack Daniel Distillery, and Greg Eidam of Sugarlands Distilling Co.

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