Suited spirits (web)

RETURN
MIGHTY
BOURBONS
Suited Spirits Issue #423 - Spring 2013
BECOMING A MASTER DISTILLER
EXPLAINING WHISKEY IN RYE
BLENDING $24.99
SCOTCH BLENDS
PIRITS
SUITED
RETURN
MIGHTY
BOURBONS
Suited Spirits Issue #423 - Spring 2013
PIRITS
SUITED

Editors
omment
Since I write a fair amount on wines and spirits,
and especially whiskies, I have amassed a de-
cent library of books on these subjects for refer-
ence. But until I got The World Atlas of Whisky
as a gift from a friend , I had no idea what I
was missing. Bill will be telling us about it at
the back of this issue, where he delves more
into the myths and legends of blending scotch.
Author Dave Broom has already won the coveted
and prestigious Glenfiddich Award for Drinks
Book of the Year – twice – for his earlier works
Drink! and Rum, and he is the editor of Scotch
Whisky Review and editor-in-chief of Whisky
Magazine: Japan. He has been writing on whisky
for a quarter of a century and contributes
regularly to the Daily Telegraph and many other
UK publications. In short, he knows a wee bit
about the water of life.
C

“Bourbons all-american roar”
In depth review of the recent increase in consumption
“The how and why of whiskey in Rye”
Does it come naturally to become a master distiller?
This month’s contest winner and recent trends
in the world of drinks
Blending blends besides Bill
06
18
26
28
Feature article
Interview
New drinks
Article

ALl-AMeric
Bourbon’
“Bourbon is one product America still makes
better than anyone else — and, in at least
one way, it always will be.”
This article discusses the recent popularity
boost of the traditional american beverage,
history and tries to discern how the future
looks like for the golden spirit.

can ROAR
By: Stevie Wonder // articles@sspirited.com
’s
Photos: Ian Holm //photos@sspirited.com
By: C.S. Lewis // csarticles@sspirited.com

The winner was Karla Ramsey, here is her Manhattan recipe:
2 ounces Woodford Reserve Bourbon
1 ounce each of apple brandy & sweet vermouth
2 splashes bitters
1 red apple slice and 1 cinnamon stick
Shake the liquid with ice and strain into a chilled martini
glass. Garnish with the apple slice and the cinnamon stick.
Light the cinnamon on fire!
Sure, the event was as much about marketing
as mixology — but then again, today’s bourbon boom rep-
resents a triumph of salesmanship. At a time when many
American industries are struggling, distillers here are thriving,
hiring and expanding. They are cashing in on an American
renaissance in whiskey-based cocktails, as well as a growing
thirst for bourbon around the world.
Bourbon is one product Americastill makes better
than anyone else — and, in at least one way, it always will
be. That is because Congress decreed in 1964 that “bourbon
whiskey is a distinctive product of the United States.”Three
elements make bourbon unique: American corn, pure lime-
stone water and new, charred oak barrels.
Regardless, people here and abroad are drink-
ing more of it these days. Global supplier sales of bourbon
and Tennes-see whiskey are expected to reach $3.8 billion
this year, versus $3.7 billion in 2010, according to a fore-
cast from Euromonitor International. (Bourbon is a type of
whiskey, so researchers group them together.)
Distillers are expanding their market with
premium small-batch and single-barrel products, along with
flavor infusions like honey, cherry and spice. Among the
whiskey brands likely to be sitting under Christmas trees this
year are the industry’s top five: Jack Daniel’s, from Brown-
Forman; Jim Beam, from Beam Inc.; Evan Williams, from
Heaven Hill Distilleries; Maker’s Mark, also from Beam;
and Early Times, also from Brown-Forman, according to
the 2011 Liquor Handbook.
“Bourbon is growing at a faster rate than the total
spirits category and outperforming most of the other spirit
segments,” declared Danny Brager, vice president of the
beverage alcohol team for Nielsen. Still, in total dollar sales,
bourbon ranks fourth behind vodka, rum and cordials.
Smaller producers must be nimble to stand out
in a crowded and well-financed field. Consider Angel’s
Envy, a new entrant from the Louisville Distilling Company.
With only $1 million to spend on marketing this year, the
company had to be very selective in showcasing its product.
The big whiskey houses use their marketing
might to make sure that their brands are in front of retail-
ers and top of mind among consumers who visit bars and
liquor stores.
It sounds like a taunt here in Bourbon Country:
6 | Suited Spirits 1/2013
As the holiday imbibing season approached,
five bartenders entered a “shake off” this
month at the Kentucky Derby Museum,
to see who could work the most magic with
bourbon, a singularly American spirit that
has recently turned out to be an amazing,
singularly American success story.
“Go ahead, mix

Which brings us back to that shake-off:
Ms. Ramsey, 28, is a bartender at Baxter’s 942 Bar and
Grill here. She will now compete in a national Man-
hattan-making competition in New York, sponsored by
Esquire magazine and by Woodford Reserve, which is also
among the brands owned by Brown-Forman, the hometown
liquor giant here. And according to data released in the 2011
Liquor Handbook, its flagship brand, Jack Daniel’s, spent
nearly $15 million on advertising in 2009-10, double that
spent by Jim Beam and Evan Williams.
‘Jack Daniel’s’ produced in Lynchburg, takes
pride in calling itself Tennessee whiskey. But, just like bour-
bon, it is made mostly from corn and aged in new charred-
oak barrels. The distinctive flavor comes from the “charcoal
mellow” process, which involves dropping the whiskey
through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal. “It imparts a
distinctive smoothness,” Jack Daniel’s says. “Charcoal
mellowing makes Jack Daniel’s what it is — a Tennessee
whiskey, not a bourbon.”
In a 2002 essay for Food & Wine magazine
titled, “Brown Is Beautiful: Learning to Love Bourbon,”
Benjamin Cheever wrote, “I assumed that if you wanted
fine, regional whiskey, you had to cross the pond to Scot-
land.” But then he tried a sample of Maker’s Mark. “And
it was good,” he wrote. “This whiskey looked like clover
honey and it went down without burning. Even the finest
single-malt Scotch is harsh.”
Dennis Withey from Louisville used to be a
big Scotch drinker, but not any more. On Tuesday night,
Mr. Withey and a drinking buddy, Bob Engle, were enjoying
a $3 shot of Very Old Barton, chased by beer at the Silver
Dollar, a new restaurant and bar in Louisville. By 8 p.m.,
every seat at the 42-foot bar, in a renovated 1890s firehouse,
was taken, and Kentucky-made whiskey was flowing freely.
my Manhattan.”
Bourbon’s All-American Roar | 7

“Flavored whiskey is a gateway-type product into
the category,” explained Larry Kass, spokesman
at Woodsford Distilleries, which has honey and
cherry flavors of its Evan Williams brand. The
limited reserve whiskey is an exemplary well
refined and smooth spirit and is well deserved
of its international recognition.

The Barton “was nice and smooth,” said Mr.
Withey, whose allegiance has switched to Kentucky straight
bourbon whiskey.With over 50 choices at the Silver Dollar, he
added,“I’ll be back.”
Interest in American whiskey has pervaded
popular culture in books like “Last Call: The Rise and Fall
of Prohibition,”by Daniel Okrent,as well as in the documentary
film“Prohibition,” by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, and the
HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”
“It is the people’s drink,”said Fred Sarkis,a bartender at
the Sable Kitchen and Bar in Chicago.“It doesn’t get more
American than whiskey.”
Insiders are excited about the new customers
they are attracting beyond older white males. Many con-
sumers are relishing the fruit of industry innovation —
infused flavors like cherry and honey, and new finishes and
charring techniques for the new oak barrels.
“Flavored whiskey is a gateway-type product
into the category,”explained Larry Kass,spokesman at Heaven
Hill Distilleries, which has honey and cherry flavors of its
Evan Williams brand.
According to Nielsen, sales of flavored whiskey
have risen 136 percent so far this year over last and now
represent 3 percent of the $1.4 billion category. In April,
the industry leader, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, rolled
out Tennessee Honey, a 70-proof proprietary honey liqueur
blended with Old No. 7 Jack Daniel’s Whiskey.
Though it was late to the flavored party, Jack
Daniel’s soon had a hit on its hands. In just a few months,
dollar and volume sales for Tennessee Honey exceeded
all of its flavored peers combined.
Michael J. Keyes, president of the North
America region for Brown-Forman, said the company was
initially cautious about Tennessee Honey because it didn’t
want to cannibalize the Jack Daniel’s brand. But, he said,
he was happy to see that the honey flavor was resonating
with African-Americans, Hispanics and women.
“Everybody loves Jack Daniel’sbrand,but Black
Label may not be for them,” he said. “This one seems to be
accessible to a different demographic.”
Jim Beam has found that to be true with its Red
Stag Black Cherry bourbon, introduced in 2009. “What it
has done is what we thought it would do, which is broaden
the audience to bourbon to people who were not bourbon
drinkers,” said Bill Newlands, Beam’s president for North
America.
Whereas sales of traditional bourbon skew
80 percent male to 20 percent female, he said, Red Stag
runs 50-50, and a bit younger. In January, he said, Beam
will add two flavors to the line: Red Stag Spiced and Red
Stag Honey Tea.
Beam has been particularly aggressive with
new products, including Maker’s 46 and Devil’s Cut.
“We’ve been going at it full tilt,” said Frederick
Booker Noe III, the master distiller and a great-grandson
of Jim Beam.
Mr.Noe is a seventh-generationmaster distiller who,
like many the trade, is part scientist, part historian and part
showman. Recently, he answered an unusual call of duty. To
celebrate the brand notching its one-millionth fan on Facebook,
Mr. Noe, 54, agreed to get a tattoo of the Jim Beam logo.
“I’ve done crazier stuff than this, I imagine,” he said.

The company, which spun off from Fortune
Brands in October, also jumped into the fast-growing Irish
whiskey category. This month, Beam agreed to acquire
Cooley, an independent Irish whiskey distillery, for $95
million. Last year, the Irish whiskey category grew 11.5
percent, to 4.86 million cases, according to Impact Databank.
A day later, at the Knob Creek Guest House on the
Jim Beam grounds in Clermont, Ky., Mr. Noe pulled out
some Red Stag Spiced and Red Stag Honey Tea, bottled the
day before, ready to be shipped in January. He set them down
next to Red Stag Black Cherry and Devil’s Cut for a tasting.
“Red Stag was a gamble. I’ll be honest with you,” Mr.
Noe said as he tasted it. “I was the biggest naysayer in the
company.” Would black cherry confuse consumers, he
wondered? “I was wrong,” he said. “Nonbourbon drinkers
try it and say,‘Wow.’ ”
Mr. Noe moved on to Spiced and Honey Tea and
smacked his lips appreciatively with each sip. He said that
the cinnamon flavor in Spiced reminded him of Red Hots
candies but that the bourbon took over. “It’s the real deal,”
he said. “You can taste the bourbon. It’s not like we’re
masking it.”
When it comes to innovation, the whiskey
business is like the auto industry: it has long product cycles
involving trial and error. At any given time, Harlen Wheatley,
master distiller at Buffalo Trace, owned by Sazerac, has more
than 1,500 experimental barrels aging in the warehouse. It
built a micro-distillery within its main distillery just for
experimentation. At Woodford Reserve, introduced in 1996,
research and development for its long-awaited line expansion
whick took about four years. The premium Woodford
Reserve Double Oaked will be available in the spring, said
its distiller, Chris Morris.
At the Brown-Forman headquarters, Mr.
Morris laid out wood staves like those used to make barrels
by hand a few miles away at the company-owned cooperage,
where barrels are assembled, charred and finished. Aging the
distilled spirit in a second barrel is the secret to the new
bourbon, and working with its own cooperage provided a
competitive advantage, he said.
For Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, he
said,“we take a batch of mature Woodford Reserve, reduce
the proof to 110 proof and rebarrel in a second brand-
new barrel.” The barrels are stored in the Versailles, Ky.,
warehouse for a year, batched together and bottled.
He held up a sample and pointed to the rich dark
color. “Now you get honey, butterscotch notes,” Mr. Mor-
ris said, sampling it. “Woodford has nice citrus notes, the
balance of many flavors. This is going to be out of balance
on purpose. At 90.4 proof, it will be even smoother, softer
than Woodford. Woodford is known for being smooth.” He
adds with a whisper,“This is even quieter, even more elegant.”
Heaven Hill Distilleries in Bardstown, Ky.,
meanwhile, has also been working on its marketing mix.
Just in time for the primary season, it will release special
Red State and Blue State bottles of 80-proof straight
bourbon. Red State is Republican red, featuring the
traditional elephant. Blue State is Democratic blue, with
the donkey mascot. Heaven Hill said it would track retail
sales by label to try to infer political preferences among its
bourbon drinkers. (There will be no difference between the
two whiskies.)
But bourbon isn’t just for red and blue states.
Distillers are increasing production and creating vast supply
chains to quench the thirst of whiskey lovers worldwide.
Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey account
for about 70 percent of the $1.1 billion of distilled American
spirits that are exported, according to Frank Coleman of
the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.Total exports
have been on a tear for the last decade and are up as
much as 17 percent this year through October, over the
year-earlier period. Mr. Coleman estimated retail sales in
the United States to be $6 billion.
The council has recently gotten behind new
American craft distilleries, Mr. Coleman said, like the
Louisville Distillery Company, founded by Lincoln Henderson,
the former master distiller at Woodford Reserve, and his
son, Wesley.
10 | Suited SpiritS 1/2013

BourBon’S All-AmericAn roAr | 11

So when the council invited about a dozen small
distillers on a trip to Shanghai in November,Wesley Henderson
jumped at the chance to promote Angel’s Envy.
Introduced in April, Angel’s Envy is a Kentucky
straight bourbon whiskey aged for at least four years and
then transferred into used port barrels for four to six months.
The curvaceous bottle with angel’s wings describes the end
result as Kentucky bourbon with a port barrel finish.
“Bourbon and rye are
now hip among young
American trend-setters
like we’ve never seen
before”
One place the American distillers visited in
Shanghai was M1nt, a private club that caters to young,
diverse and upscale Chinese customers looking for a premium
spirit, Mr. Henderson said. The company’s current presence
in China is tiny, at only a select few bars in Shanghai. Back
home, meanwhile, most of the attention is on the eight
states where Angel’s Envy is being sold. Louisville Distilling
reached out to bartenders like Mr. Sarkis of Sable to help
spread the word to others who were fans of the whiskey
and the company’s independent vibe, said Ms. Seiller, who is
based in Chicago.“The idea of independence is in everything
we do,” she said. That makes lining up bartenders, retailers
and wholesalers easier, she added.“In talking to people, you
want to make them feel, ‘You’re in this with us.’ ”
To be sure, while the industry is booming now, the
economic climate could suddenly deteriorate, or the industry
could be hit with unexpected taxes, warned Ms. Azer, the
Citi analyst, in a recent report.
What’s more, many distillers in Kentucky have
been expanding. In five to 10 years, will their products be in
such high demand? The industry is banking on big growth
in India and China.
“If those markets develop as has been anticipated, no
one will have made enough,” he said. “If they don’t, everyone
will have made too much, and thus brought a crisis on everyone
in this industry” said Charles K. Cowdery, author of “Bourbon,
Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey.”
Consumers’ tastes, meanwhile, can shift with the
wind. “Bourbon and rye are now hip among young American
trend-setters like we’ve never seen before,” Mr. Cowdery said,
“but trends like this can change on a dime.”

“Whiskey, like a beautiful woman, demands appreciation.
You gaze first, then it’s time to drink.”
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
-Haruki Murakami

WHISKEY
IN RYE
THE HOW
AND WHY
OF
Photos: Ian McKellen //photos@sspirited.com
The how and why | 17

I know exactly how I got here. Normally when
I chat with someone for the blog, we’ll meet for
coffee or a beer at some local venue conducive
to having a private conversation. It’s usually the
kind of place intimate enough that you can have
a great first date.
Much like my first dates, when it’s beer rather
than coffee, I am very conscious about how
much I consume. I want to be social and make
people feel comfortable, but definitely don’t
want either of us slurring our words. More
importantly, since I’m usually buying, I try to
avoid putting a hurt on my wallet as well. De-
spite my usual practice, I should have anticipated
that my conversation with a guy called Jake
Whiskey might go a little differently.
I wanted to learn about how Jake went from
being an aspiring music producer to become the
head distiller at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey,
but of course, I got lured into a tasting. Before
I asked my first question, Jake instructed me,
“Just start just by smelling this. The best way
to nose a full strength spirit like this is to part
your lips a little bit and breathe in through your
nose and your mouth at the same time.” What
followed was a tutorial in whiskey making, no
small amount of whiskey drinking, and the story
of an inquisitive person who continues to blaze
his own trail.
What he actually does: Former master distiller, at
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. Creates recipes
and distills whiskey. Designs and crafts the most
shapely and sharp cooking knives.
School: Self-taught in whiskey production and
crafting. Associate’s degree in music and video
production from the Art Institute of Colorado in
Denver. Apprenticeship in knife-making.
Jake is is a jack of several trades;
an aspiring music producer
turned whiskey distiller turned
knife maker.

Q: I read that you got started making spirits at 15 years old. Is
that right? How did that happen?
Jake: Yeah I was like 14 or 15. My dad had a whole homesteading
library, and one day I found an interesting book on the subject.
My parents were kind of hippies, do it yourself people.
Especially when I was young, they told me, if you can do it
yourself, then you should do it.
I was looking through my Dad’s library one day and came across
an article on how to convert a pick-up truck to run on alcohol.
I was like “seriously?” I was in high school and I was starting
to get a little bit more socially aware, starting to realize what’s
going on with the world. I thought, “We can seriously run cars
on something we ferment from any fruit, grain, or vegetable?!”
So that really just captured my imagination. In order to figure
out how to make this, I looked at this article in like Mother
Earth magazine. Either that day or the day after, I designed my
first still [an apparatus for making whiskey] and drew it up.
Q: How did you learn how to do that?
Jake: My dad was always really cool about letting me fool
around with his tools. I don’t think we had regular toys at home
because we were poor. My Dad is a pretty handy person and I
kind of just grew up in a house where if you can’t afford to buy
another a new one, you just fix it. I never had idle hands, so I
have to credit my parents because my Dad gave me a lot of these
boy survival type books from when he was a kid. I was out in
the woods building forts, digging into the side of a mountain.
It was just basic. If you want something, you figure out how to
do it or make it. But I never thought anything would come of it;
whiskey was just this esoteric interest. My first job in college
was as a brewer; I worked in a brewery when I was like 19,
for obvious reasons. I figured, since I can’t buy beer, I’d work
in a brewery. I was at the very first Rock Bottom in Denver and
studying at the Arts Institute of Denver. Fermentation was al-
ways the mysterious spooky part of making spirits for me. Eve-
rything else really seemed mechanical, so I felt I could figure it
out. The job at Rock Bottom helped me nail down fermentation.
What’s below: How a fifteen year old learns about
making whiskey; Why Jake’s personal touch was so
important; Why some people just aren’t made for
desk jobs; and how to turn hobbies into a career.

Q: You came to Denver for the Art Institute. What did you
envision yourself doing?
Jake: I wanted to be Rick Rubin and do everything from
hip hop to metal and country. I never took any advanced
mathematics. I never took any advanced courses at all. I was
one of those kids, that the school said you’ve just got to push
through and turn your head. That is basically the story of
my life. I’m unemployable. I’m incapable of working within
normal constructs so I’ve got to make my own path, that’s all
there is to it. Everything I know, I taught myself.
Jake says he wasn’t the best student in the world, but he de-
signed his first still at 15.
Q: Take me back to when you were 19 working in a brewery.
How did you go from there to Stranahan’s?
Jake: I didn’t go to Stranahan’s right away. I worked in the
brewery until I started a T-shirt company that was taking off
really well doing merchandizing, and silk screening for others.
I was making shirts for my friends’ bands and ended up doing
specialty screening for advertising, which was wildly lucrative.
I’ve considered getting back into that just because the money
was so stupid. After the T-shirt company and merchandising,
I actually think I went and worked at the only desk job I ever
had, at ICG, Intelecom Communications Group, a local long
distance phone carrier.
Q: Wow. I’m pretty shocked; my whole image of you has
changed! How long did that desk job last?
Jake: A little over two years. I hated it. Most of my work
with ICG was trying to decipher the access codes of these
big companies so that we could provide long distance service.
Nobody knew how to do it because it had never been done
before. It was like code breaking for real. I liked getting paid
and I liked the part where I figured everything out.
But after I had settled into management,I got sick of dealing with
lazy people and I wasn’t very pc about it, so they laid me
off. I took my severance, pre-paid my rent for six months
and went on a road trip.
Q: That really seems like a detour. How did the communications
job help you find your way?
Jake: Getting laid-off was the best thing they could have done
for me. I never went back to a desk job. I just couldn’t do
it. After that, I found the joy in the freedom of tending bar.
I started doing liquor promotions; I saw the money flying
around in the liquor business and I wanted some. I put together
events, acquired liquor sponsors, coordinated everything and
then took a profit off the top. It was awesome.
Part of my liquor industry promotion stuff was mostly doing
independent education on spirits. Because I knew every bar
owner, bartender, restaurant owner, manager or whatever, I
would go in and offer to conduct an independent education
for their staff on whiskey or vodka.
I had a much bigger idea for a spirits industry promotional
company, but then Jess and Stranahan’s came along. I
was really well known as “Jake the Whiskey guy” because I
had been doing whiskey educations for a few years. When
Jess was talking to people about his idea for a local distillery,
everyone kept telling him “You’ve got to meet Jake Whiskey.”
Teaching friends, customers and local bartenders about differ-
ent spirits helped Jake make a name for himself.
Q: So how did you win him over?
Jake: Jess came into my bar early on a night when it was really
slow. I was used to regulars that would come in to learn a
new spirit; if they learned about bourbon the last week they
might want to try Irish. I would just sit there and talk them
through whiskeys all night.
Jess and I chatted for a bit and then I grabbed a napkin to
draw the latest incarnation of a still that I had just designed.
It was to be constructed using a keg and some copper pipe.
Looking back on it now, it was pretty raw, but I was pretty confi-
dent in that design.
It was the culmination of years of research and different
experimentation. I drew it on this napkin and then Jess got
this really crazy look on his face. He said “Hey do you want
to come interview to be my distiller?” I didn’t realize it at
the time, but I already had the job.
“Hey do you want to come
interview to be my distiller?”
“I never went back to a deskjob.
I just couldn’t do it.”

Q: I know you can design an apparatus to make whiskey, but
how do you develop a recipe?
Jake: It’s like when you’re cooking anything else; you just
start out with a point of reference. So if I have an idea for a
flavor profile, I just kind of approximate it. Once I identify
an element that interests me like using a certain amount of
a particular grain or something, I make a small batch and
test it. And then you have to know how to adjust it if the
flavor showed up or it didn’t, if it needs more of this or less
of that. It’s just kind of a process of elimination. Making
whiskey usually begins with a grain mash like this one.
Q: Who knows things like that?
Jake: Nerds. It’s the nerdy truth.
Q: How did you dec ide to hand write the labels?
Jake: Whiskey can be aged years or even decades. It’s just an
amazing generational connection.The signature is the distiller’s
signature; on this bottle that’s me.
And for the comments section, I originally thought I was
going to write my tasting notes because that’s what is tradi-
tionally on a cask sample.
Later, I thought I would write what music I’m listening to or
something else that grabs the moment or gives the drinker a way
to relate to me. We had our reservations, but personalizing the
labels in that way ended up being one of the best things we
ever could have done. I’ve watched people look through every
bottle on the shelf until they found a Johnny Cash bottle
because their uncle loved Johnny Cash. It really kind turned
into a thing, and it also became a great way to throw props
to the local bands. It was a pretty cool deal, but I’m glad to
be out of it because all that writing was pretty brutal. After
mastering whiskey distillation, Jake began an apprenticeship
in knife-making.
Q: What did you do after you left Stranahan’s?
Jake: What I am doing right now is forging knives. I’m mak-
ing knives, blacksmithing, leatherworking the stuff I want.
When I quit, I thought,“I’m going to make the knives I can’t

I want hand-forged Damascus steel chef knives that are a
thousand bucks or more a piece. I’m definitely not going to
spend the money on those; I’ll make them.” So I did some
looking around online for knife-makers and tracked down
this cat who just happened to be an hour outside of Denver,
called him up. I said “hey, I’m interested in doing this, I see
you offer lessons, what’s your rate?” I told him that I didn’t
know if I could afford his rate, but he said that he also bar-
tered and asked what I did. I explained, “I’m unemployed
right now, but I’m a whiskey distiller. He said, “It just so
happens that I want to learn how to distill alcohol for fuel.”
The whole thing is that if you extend yourself, things comes
into play.
When I left Stranahan’s, I thought, “What should I do?
I could go to another distillery because that’s what I’ve been
successful at,” but I wasn’t drawn to that right then. I took
a few months off before I started my next project. I kept
launching little businesses that didn’t work right and just
weren’t going anywhere. Stranahan’s hit and it was the right
product at the right time. But there’s no guarantee that the
next thing I pursue is going to be as successful as this one.
Rather than paying lots of money for cooking
and hunting knives, Jake makes them at home!
The whole thing is that if you extend yourself,
things comes into play.

If I had a wife and kids, it would be different. If I owned a house, it
would be different, but I don’t. I’m completely unencumbered and
when I did get my payout, I paid off all my debt so that I could
actually survive on a minimal amount of money. And I didn’t live
extravagantly before. I finally paid off my student loans, paid off
my car, and paid off the meager amount of credit that I had, so
now I am free and clear. After some time off from distilling, I am
now consulting on start up distilleries and have now started a new
distillery with the best guy you could hope to work with, Al Laws.
When I get into something, I apply myself and I get into it. I just
never got into what I was supposed to get into. I never got into
school. But it’s all on me, too. I can’t blame anybody else if some-
thing doesn’t work because I didn’t chose my own path, I forged
my own path. I completely ignored logic and whatever you are
supposed to do. And if I had been sick that day that I met Jesse,
my Stranahan’s partner, who knows, I might be tending bar and
working at UPS.
Even though Jake is finished as a distiller,
he’ll always feel right at home at Stranaghan’s.

Prohibition came, but not to Whiskey Hill.
A man has got to eat; a drunk must have his fill.
Old Abner dug a basement before fall
Beneath the milking barn at night;
Dug down and mortared up a wall;
Bought copper sheets and hammer-fit ‘em tight,
Disguised his vent holes in the stall
By countersinking posts to keep them out of sight.
Set down a trapdoor and a sturdy stair,
Strawed the lot and penned up his old mare.
Whiskey Hillby Ryan Lancaster

In all he did, he didn’t tell his wife a thing;
He reasoned there was money to be made...
More than the crops would ever bring,
More than the eggs the chickens laid,
He’d be enriched by moonshine in the spring.
He learned to ferment mash from an old book,
Soaked down a bag of corn and let it sprout,
Waited twelve full days before he took a look,
Cracked kernels, poured on water, boiling hot,
Then pitched the yeast and left his hidden nook,
And all the while kept his mouth shut;
Seven days and Sunday passing by,
Old Ab could wait no more;
Ate supper quick and told his wife
He’d one more feeding chore...
Stole to the barn and shoo’ed the mare aside,
Pulled up the vent posts from the floor,
Climbed down and lit a fire inside
Beneath the still to let the vapors soar.
A thrill began as drops began to fill the jug;
The fore-shot blended in as Ab forgot
That methanol would poison off the slug,
So when a shot he took, his breathing stopped.
Above, impatient Molly stamped, then paced
Hungrily in her pen, shoved to reach her hay
And dropped the standards in their place,
Plugged tight the vents, above where Abner lay.
When Hildy woke, her husband still was out;
She walked down to the barn, no sign to see;
And thought it odd the horse was out...
The cattle lowing hungrily for feed.
The sheriff came to have a look;
No luck had he,
Old Hildy sold the place and moved away.
Where she went and how remains a mystery.
A cousin bought the place: house and barn and still
His sons, exploring, found old Abner in the spring
Beneath the horse’s paddock where he lay.
Whiskey Hill | 25

PISCOSOUR
BLOOD AND SAND
The Blood and Sand is one of the few Scotch cocktails that is
a true classic. The complete history is somewhat shaky, but it
is accepted that it was inspired by the movie Blood and Sand.
The original film was produced in 1922 (starring Rudolph
Valentino) and was remade in 1941 (starring Tyrone Powers)
and again in 1989 (this time with actress Sharon Stone).
The cocktail is a beautiful one with a touch of sweetness. Cher-
ry Heering is a great option for the brandy and fresh squeezed
orange juice is definitely recommended. Oftenly very popular
addition to a midsummer party, gathering or just a hot after-
noon in the sun. Timeless and tasty.
1.25 oz Corner Creek Bourbon
0.75 oz St. Germain
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
Topped with ginger beer
8 dashes angostura bitters
Build the bourbon, liqueur, and lemon
juice in a collins glass filled with ice.
Garnish with 8 dashes of angostura.
The Dragon’s Heart cocktail was created by New York City
mixologist Ektoras Binikos of Art & Spirit Mixology for Ron
Abuelo Rum. The occasion was the date 12/12/12, the sup-
posedly luckiest day most of us will see in our lifetimes and
because 2012 falls in the Year of the Dragon, Ron Abuelo had
12 mixologists create 12 cocktails using their 12 year old rum.
There is a lot going on in this drink and you have an option
that will decide how deep the flavor actually goes. The choice
is given for you to mix either elderflower cordial or a house-
made mint-citrus sryup, two polar opposites when it comes to
a sweetener. Personally, I like the elderflower option, though
there’s nothing wrong with the syrup. As yet another option,
if you do not have or cannot find an elderflower cordial, St.
Germain liqueur is a fine substitute and a bottle that is very
handy to have at hand anyway.
1 1/2 oz of Ron Abuelo 12 Años Rum
1/2 oz of Domain de Canton ginger liqueur
3/4 oz of mezcal
3/4 oz Elderflower cordial
1 1/2 oz of blood orange juice
3/4 oz scotch whisky
3/4 oz cherry brandy
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz orange juice
Orange slice for garnish
Pour the ingredients into a
cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with an orange slice.
I fell in love with the Pisco Sour in a Peruvian restaurant where
many other pisco drinks adorned the menu. This cocktail is re-
freshing and one of the most popular drinks in Peru and Chile,
where pisco is typically produced.
Pisco is an unaged brandy but it has unique characteristics and
this simple sour drink is a great introduction to it. If drinking
raw egg concerns you feel free to use an egg substitute.
The Dragons Heart
1 1/2 ounce pisco
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup egg white
3 dashes angostura bitters
Pisco Sour
Blood and Sand
Skeleton Key

New drinks | 27
The bartender is undoubtedly the magician
who can transform just an average night
out into an experience you’ll never forget.
Not only crafting the perfect drinks for you
to sip, but also setting the mood in the bar.
The bartender who knows when to strike
up a conversation with you or when to
leave you to the company of your friends
is a rare gem.
Photos and text: Ian McKellen //photos@sspirited.com

This same pursuit of excellence over six
generations lies behind the creation of this
unique and special Scotch Whisky from
Kinloch Anderson.
What could be more natural for a company steeped in
Scottish tradition than to have a bespoke blend of malt
whisky made to its own character and style, and now
we can offer it to our discerning clients.
Only the finest Malt Scotch whisky produced in the
Highlands is used in this rich and elegant blend. The
golden spirit warms and rewards the most discerning
connoisseur with its delicious marriage of complex flavours
and aromas – reminiscent of chocolate and dark fruits,
vanilla and rare spices – to be savoured and appreciated
with cool water or ice.
The finest young spirit, the‘distiller’s cut’ soon begins its
long sleep in small oak casks. Hand-selected, already
aged and mature, the casks steadily impart their colour
and individual character to the adolescent whisky
until, after many years, it emerges, ready to be blended
according to the individual choice of our master.
Our malt whisky starts life in the the traditional
distilleries of the remote Highland region of Scot-
land; a beautiful country with high peaks, cool pure
air, deep green glens and clear burns of tumbling water.
lending
lends
esides
ill
Photos: Ian McKellen //photos@sspirited.com

These distilleries produce the same fine malt spirit as
they have for more than a hundred years.
All malt whiskies have distinct individual characters
according to their origin. Some are soft and sweet, others,
more demanding and complex.
Our master blender applies his art,honed over many years
with confidence and deliberation to bring these characters
together to a harmonious and delightful conclusion.
Married first in old oak casks they mingle and adapt
to each other before their final journey into the bottle.
The finest young spirit, the ‘distiller’s cut’ soon begins
its long sleep in small oak casks.
Hand-selected, already aged and mature, the casks
steadily impart their colour and individual character
to the adolescent whisky until, after many years,
it emerges, ready to be blended according to the
individual choice of our master.
Blending blends | 29

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