New & Noteworthy Spirits (Winter/Spring 2023)

WONDERBIRD SPIRITS GIN (No. 61)

Description

From their website product description:

“Our flagship product is a uniquely sippable gin with a complex layering of ten botanicals. It has a balanced profile with sweet florals, citrus, and spice being the most prominent nuances. Of the ten botanicals, we harvest the pine needles and red clover directly from the distillery grounds. Our No. 61 gin won two gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits competition in 2020.”

Process

From Oxford Magazine Article: 

“Koji, used in many Japanese foods and liquors, breaks down the rice into simple sugars. The liquid is then pumped into a still where it goes through at least 20 distillations in a single pass. Wonderbird sends it through the still no fewer than three times to refine the final product.

While some distilleries have the neutral spirit shipped in and add the other ingredients, Wonder

Credit: Andrew Cebulkabird has decided to be a true grain-to-glass operation and make its own from scratch. Each botanical flavor is then added one at a time and distilled to call out the precise notes.”

Notes

• MSRP: $48.99
• Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
• Fun Fact: While Alexander did call up some organic chemistry from his undergraduate days, the group also went through formal distilling training. They attended a workshop in Portland led by international gin expert David T. Smith (past podcast guest) and master distiller Todd Buckley.

TEARS OF LLORONA

The Maker

From the Website: 

Germán González Gorrochotegui, one of the most celebrated working tequileros, was born in Mexico City with strong spirits running through his veins. He is the son of prominent tequilero Guillermo González Diaz Lombardo, who created Chinaco, the first ultra-premium tequila imported into the United States. Fascinated by the family business and eager to follow in his father’s footsteps, Germán chose to pursue a hands-

on experience in tequila-making at his family’s distillery.

Germán immersed himself in every element of the tequila-making process, from working the agave fields, to spending time in the laboratory mastering the many intricacies of distillation. Today, Germán is considered to be one of the best living master tequileros by many aficionados and spirit experts.

Name

From the Website:

The story of La Llorona, “The One Who Cries,” is one of faith and faithlessness, passionate love, and shocking loss.

While the tale’s origin has been lost over time and many versions exist across Central and South America, all feature a beautiful young woman scorned to madness by her unfaithful husband. Legend has it that she wanders Mexico’s landscapes crying bitter tears of regret.

It is a story Germán heard many times as a child. And it was Llorona’s passionate tears that inspired Germán’s greatest creation.

From the Website:

Germán then bottles at 43% specific gravity (ABV?) to balance the flavors. This slow, hand-crafted process results in a very high rate of osmotic loss, known as the “angels’ tears”; another reason for the name, Tears of Llorona.

Process

From the Website:

• 100% pure Weber Agave Azul grown in the volcanic slopes of the Mexican highlands, where agaves grow slowly and naturally to achieve a higher starch content. Germán personally inspects each plant before harvesting and then slow-roasts the piñas the traditional way before fermenting using a proprietary yeast.
• Aged for five years in three types of barrels, including scotch, brandy, and Sherry oak barrels, which is two years longer than most traditional extra añejos.

Notes

• Proof: 86 (43% ABV)
• MSRP: $300 on Reserve Bar (1L bottle)

OAK & EDEN WHEAT & HONEY

Story

From the Website:

• “Oak & Eden was birthed out of an ideal for innovation. We believe authority is released when a creator creates, and we believe everyone carries the spirit of creation in them. Because of that, we pioneered a precious technique that would become the lifeblood of Oak & Eden; in-bottle finishing™.”
  
• “We break tradition in the finishing (or double barrel) process, where instead of putting our fully aged whiskey in a second barrel to add more flavor coming naturally from the wood, we place in the bottle a Spire; a spiral-cut piece of oak fashioned from the same species and treatment as barrel oak. This allows our whiskey to “finish” or flavor naturally, producing rich, sweet flavors that could only come from the power of wood.”

Process

From The Website:

• Mash Bill: 51% corn, 45% wheat and 4% malted barley.
• “After bottling our four grain bourbon, we place an American Oak spire in the bottle, which contains hundreds of naturally occurring botanicals, ranging from butterscotch to vanilla to toasted marshmallows. The combination produces a bold, complex, sweet, slightly spicy whiskey.”
• Two lines: “Finished” and “Infused” – finished just has different types of oak spirals, and infused has other ingredients like coffee, honey, etc.
• Also have an “Anthro” line that seems dedicated to minor celebrities who put their own spin on a finish or infusion.

Notes

• Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
• MSRP: $60