Our Favorite Sips From The Independent Spirits Expo
By Jason Baldacci in Food on Oct 5, 2012 7:00PM
It is Craft Spirits Week here in our fair city, and we were very excited to attend the main event on Wednesday night, the Independent Spirits Expo. Both master distillers and burgeoning aficionados alike gathered in the West Loop at Carmichael's Warehouse for the evening to taste and enjoy small batch spirits from all over the world.
Here were some of our favorites for the evening:
Letherbee Autumnal Gin and Barrel-Aged Absinthe.
Letherbee took the opportunity to introduce us to their new Autumnal Gin. The simple way to describe it is to say that it's the regular Letherbee that's been distilled one more time with the addition of clove, allspice, and nutmeg. These spices add an extra layer of warm complexity to an already stellar gin. All three are present, and none are overwhelming. They're balanced against the normal botanicals in a lovely way, and we can see this gin being a key component in some really awesome fall cocktails. If we have one complaint, it's that the good people at Letherbee only made 552 bottles of this stuff. They get bonus points for also launching their Barrel Aged Absinthe, which is exactly what it sounds like, and packs a delicious punch.
New Holland Beer Barrel Bourbon
Being both a brewery and a distillery, New Holland likes to find ways to bring its own creations together whenever possible, and their newly released Beer Barrel Bourbon is a fine example of this practice. The brewery side uses bourbon barrels to age their fabled Dragon's Milk Stout, and after those barrels have had bourbon AND beer aged in them, the distillery side takes them and ages more bourbon in them to create the Beer Barrel Bourbon. The final product is surprisingly dry, and a very nice expression of the grain. We didn't get anything on the palate that shouted to us that this had been aged in barrels that once held beer, save for some nice roasty tones that were a little different than your usual bourbon barrel char, but it's a very tasty new whiskey from New Holland, and we look forward to seeing it in a take on an old fashioned.
Death's Door "Remember the Griffin" Cocktail and Cheese Pairing
Death's Door didn't have any new spirits exactly, just their solid trio of Gin, Vodka, and White Whiskey. What they did have, however, was a cocktail called 'Remember the Griffin' that paired fantastically with a piece of sharp, Wisconsin Cheddar. Fortunately for all of us, Death's Door Representative Meg Bell shared her recipe with Chicagoist:
2 oz Death's Door White Whiskey
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1/2 oz Carpano Antica
2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters.
It's similar to a Manhattan, but the White Whiskey doesn't come with the spice, bite, or toasty notes that bourbon or rye would lend. This is definitely one to try at home.
Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch Finished in Sassicaia Wine Casks
Satisfying our love for all things Scotch, Benromach overachieved for the evening with a very special treat. This limited edition Speyside Single Malt is only 7 years old, but it spent the last 28 months before bottling in Sassicaia Wine Casks from Tuscany, Italy. It's lush on the palate, and amazingly smooth with a touch of sweet perfume from the barrels and only a very little hint of peat. It's rich, yet delicate. Strong, yet subtle. It might just be the sexiest Scotch Whiskey we've tasted all year, but unfortunately, it's one that we'll have to search hard for to find again. There were only 300 bottles imported into the entire country.
If you find yourself looking for something to do on Saturday, several of the local distilleries are hosting open houses to close off Craft Spirits Week.