EmbellishPod

not scotch….

Growing up in Kentucky there’s only one type of whiskey, it has an E(unless your name is Maker’s Mark) and it has a legal definition because it’s Bourbon. All Bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon. And that’s legally the truth now but it wasn’t always. Standards of identity in the United States insure that this particular appellation of whiskey is relatively similar no matter what you buy. It also ensures that bad actors don’t come into play and color some pure grain alcohol, add some flavor and call it bourbon. It would be nice to say that this is new concept that we developed here but that’s not really the case. Maybe we formalized it but the identity of spirits was more of a given than a regulation in the past. Once I got older I learned about Rye, which is could be a sibling to the Bourbon appellation. Then there is Scotch. Scotch is the third cousin twice removed to early American whiskey concepts. It similarly has standards of identity ensuring production methodologies that became formalized in the 80’s then revisited in the mid 2000’s. There are a host of other whiskey versions, some regulated and some not regulated…..yet that are left out there for the rest of us to explore. Today’s episode is going to be an exercise in exploring some of these spirits. Last week we talked about whiskey that wasn’t bourbon and we are going to do that again today. Topics Discussed:New World WhiskyNikkaKavalanStarward

festival season…

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Kentucky Bourbon Festival for 2021. Last Wednesday I kicked off a YouTube Live to recap my experience and thoughts. Maybe it’s helpful to you as you think about attending next year or want to see what this year was all about.

true american

This week…I want to talk about American Single Malt Whiskey. It’s pretty well known that Scotch is probably the biggest single spirit market in the World and the creation of American Single Malt whiskey might seem like an effort to capture that market, but to me it speaks of a want to take the cultures of our European friends and merge it with some more regional influences to create a new segment in the market. http://www.embellishpod.com http://www.americansinglemaltwhiskey.org/ https://www.stranahans.com/ https://cedarridgewhiskey.com/ https://www.whiskeydelbac.com/

be still

For the final planned episode in this series we are going to talk about Stills.Stills can come in many different arrangements or styles. Some styles and shapes are more purpose driven. Some are merely about artistry and others find some common ground between the two lines. You’ll find the more artistic folks waxing philosophical about how even the dents and dings on a still add to the uniqueness of the character of the spirit.Maybe it’s better for us to start with what it exactly is that a still does before we talk about how the different designs impact the final product.Brands/Topics Discussed:Bardstown Bourbon CompanyGolden Beaver DistilleryLeopold Bros Three Chamber Rye291 Distillery"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com

finished

Historical Non-distilling producers had the ability to add compounds to the whiskey or grain distillate to make it taste something like whiskey. Caramel, coloration, tobacco juice and a whole host of other ideas were explored to make sure that supply could meet demand of the time.The problem became that more legitimate and storied brands became reluctant to refer to their products as bourbon because of this effort to speed up the sales cycle. This brought around things like the “Bottled in Bond” act and the “Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906”. Traditional distillers and producers were pushing back against this “short cut” mindset that was running rampant in their market segment.This helped to define not only the product segment within the spirits industry for American Whiskey, but it also helped to build a standard flavor profile of American Whiskey. Given the requirements for the distillation methods, aging requirements and other facets of American distilling we can identify what the taste of the United States is.This seems pretty great, but in a process that is part wizardry and part artistic expression some times the creative person wants to expand beyond that.Topics/Brands Discussed:Finished BourbonThomas Moore/1792/BartonBelle Meade Honey CaskTraverse City Whiskey Company Cherry WhiskyMB Roland Dark Fired Corn Bourbon"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com

wild wild yeast

Over the last few weeks I’ve talked about foundational blocks to the whiskey making process and how they impact the overall outcome of the final product. As you can tell today is about yeast. Yeast is one of those things that gets a highlight at every major distillery you visit. Most distilleries have their own yeast strain that they’ve cared for over the years. There’s even distillers that have captured their yeast from the DNA of a dead yeast strain from a family lineage.Topics/Brands Discussed:Wild YeastAlan Bishop and The Spirits of French LickTodd Leopold and Leopold Bros SpiritsTX Bourbon and Firestone & Robertson Distilling"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com

what wood you do?

There’s tons of lore around how the first bourbon came to be. The idea to char the barrel before putting the distillate in it is something that we’d largely like to claim. The use of new oak containers and the laws around bourbon are likely the only things we can legitimatly lay claim to. But we can rely on American Whiskey companies to continue to push the boundaries of what the landscape of offerings will look like. They will continue to innovate on the simple American oak barrel. They will explore casks that contain exotic woods. They will explore different ways for that distillate to interact with wood. If we keep drinking it they will keep making it and that’s exactly what this is all about. Finding new and unique ways to enhance our enjoyment of what some might already dub a perfect spirit. But how will we know it’s a perfect spirit if we don’t keep making more of these offerings to prove ourselves wrong.Topics/Brands Discussed:Buffalo Trace Single Oak ProjectWoodford Double (Double) OakedMaker’s 46Daviess County French OakBroken Barrel Mizunara Cask"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com

against the grain

In the last episode we spent the better part of 20 minutes talking about estate operations and their attention to detail in regards to stewarding a crop from pre-planning stages and all the way into the barrel. The connection between farming and whiskey, the source of the grain, the care and consideration. It’s all a magnificent part of the development of the United States. This week we’ll pivot to a discussion about what happens after the grain is harvested. The grain being a foundational aspect of the whiskey, and the creation of the mash and how the mash impacts the final product. Topics/Brands Discussed:Jim Beam Rice BourbonKoval Millet WhiskeyDry Fly Triticale Whiskey"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com

distillEstate

Estate distillers are moving to the forefront of craft distilling. It’s a growing sector within the market that is gaining credence. The idea of on farm distilling is turning back the hands of time. To it’s inception the spirits and their true nature. There are a host of challenges and benefits that the estate distiller faces here in the United States and we’ll talk about three different estate brands that navigate these challenges and bring forward innovative products to the marketplace. Topics/Brands Discussed:Far North SpiritsFrey Ranch DistilleryHillrock Estate Distilling"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com

don’t rock the boat

Today we will talk about the brands and bottles that are a result of what many deem to be gimmicky aging techniques. Bourbon godfathers will often say there’s no replacement for time and weather. And largely they are right. These aging techniques in today’s episode aren’t meant to replace time, they are meant to be an experiment to see what happens if you do something different. It doesn’t make anything better, just different. And without folks coloring outside the lines we wouldn’t have single barrel offerings or barrel finished bourbons. We wouldn’t be reaping the benefits of mechanization of bottling operations and a whole host of other options that have been made available to the modern distiller. Topics/Brands Discussed:Jefferson’s Bourbon Aged at SeaIngram River Aged WhiskeyBlackened Whiskey"Grave Robbers With a Degree" - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/grave-robbers-with-a-dregree?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“Pushing The Pianist Down the Stairs” - Andri from Pagefire Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/pushing-the-pianist-down-the-stairs-free-download?in=nerdymetalhead202/sets/nerdys-creative-common-free-to“So Glad I Found You”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com“Oh Lord”Music By The Passion HiFiwww.thepassionhifi.com