Category: Spirits, Wine & Cider

Posted on

FWIBF – Paso Distilled

It is not really a trip to Paso Robles without visiting at least one distillery.

First up was CalWise Spirits just down Ramada Drive from Firestone Walker. That is important because they get their wash from them. CalWise does gin, rum, whiskey and liqueurs. I tasted a little bit of everything. Most impressive to me were the gins. Their flagship and their blood orange worked well for me. And I bought a bottle of their Vermut for cocktail use at home. Distiller and tasting tour guide Leo gave a lot of info about the distillery and what they liked and even played the new Ben Folds album was I was sipping.

Second was Bethel Rd. Distilling next to Castoro Cellars and Peachy Canyon. It is a lovely indoor / outdoor space with grapevine views. All of their spirits come from grapes and brandy is their forte. I sample three brandies from neutral to flagship to VSOP. I was quite surprised by the first, expecting a harsh vodka bite but it was delicate. The VSOP was another winner. The gin was great as well, enough for me to buy a bottle.

Posted on

Orangin

Paso Robles is not just wine and Firestone Walker beer. There is a thriving distilling scene as well which leads of course to Ireland. One of the gins that I have taken a shine to in my mini-dive into this spirit is Drumshanbo from Ireland which is made with oriental botanicals and gunpowder tea. But they now have a California connection with a CA citrus-ized version….

They must have put a lot in to turn it that color unless they aged it in wood barrels of some sort. Might be an interesting experiment.

Posted on

Seasonal Magic

Craft beer has seasonal beers, most notably in winter but there are certainly beets for spring, summer and fall too. When obe thinks of gin, you may not think that way but Leopold’s Distilling in Colorado does and their summer gin is out now for 2023.

“This gin draws on the warm climates from which its exceptional ingredients are harvested by hand: Spanish Blood Oranges for a rich sweetness, French Immortal Flowers and Juniper Berries for a cool and clean flavor, and Australian Lemon Myrtle for a fresh, citrus finish. Each ingredient is distilled individually to honor its distinctive flavors.”

Posted on

Beer Palate / Cider Palate

Beer is my main beverage but I dabble in gin and bourbon and also cider. Coming this fall is a new book that reaches over the gap between beer and cider from Beth Demmon.

Demmon should be on your list of beer scribes to follow. You can get a taster of her cider writing style HERE.

Posted on

Dogged Whiskey & Gin

It was a sad day when Portland’s famed Hair of the Dog Brewing closed up shop but that news has been tempered by the fact that a new brewery will take up the space and now CopperWorks Distilling is upcycling used oak barrels from HotD for a cask finished Single Malt Whiskey and a Cask Finished Gin.

There is a Matt and Adam expression of both so you can compare and contrast.

Posted on

Burbank In-Cider

I used to be in Burbank five days a a week.  But now I am WFH so I totally missed that Story Tavern now has The Ciderworks next door.

They have some interesting combos such as cherry/blueberry, pineapple, ginger/lemongrass, strawberry/orange that use fruit fruit from the owner’s home as well. 

If you need a cider break, might be a place to check.

Posted on

Book Review – Whiskey Women

I have been listening to Fred Minnick on the Bourbon Pursuit podcast that he contributes to and then I saw he had a book about women and whiskey and bought it.

Whenever I read a book about women in history, I wonder what the world would be like if weak men weren’t so damn scared of women.  

Whiskey Women brings a few women from whiskey history to the fore and if any of them had as much rope to use as men did, wow, would Bourbon, Scotch and Whiskey be different.

We learn about poitin in Ireland, bootleggers in America and peat in Scotland through names new to me that should be talked about far more than they are now.

To me, the most fascinating tales were of the wives and daughters who inherited distilleries and proceeded to run them very well.  Basically men had to die for a woman to run a distillery.  

Thankfully, this is shifting in the right direction but it is still too slow for my taste.  Minnick shows page after page and woman after woman that we miss out when we don’t allow everyone to rise to their potential.