Category: distilling
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The Dalmore Distillery Visit- A Single Malt Scotch Whisky Distillery Tour
Last week I visited the Isle of Jura, The Dalmore, and Fettercairn distilleries in Scotland. These brands are all owned by White & Mackay. This post is about visiting The Dalmore distillery. (The Dalmore distillery indicated by red dot. Map from Google Maps.) From Jura, we took a boat to the mainland and then drove…
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Jura Distillery Visit- A Single Malt Scotch Whisky Distillery Tour
Last week I visited my 50th distillery/blending house at the Isle of Jura. What made it extra special is that we hit it at 1:30 in the morning. Though the Isle of Jura is closer to mainland Scotland than Islay, to reach it you take either a plane or ferry to Islay then another quick…
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California Rum
Last week I visited the St. George Spirits distillery to sample their new rum, Agua Libre, and watch them distill more of it. The new release was distilled from fresh California-grown sugar cane juice (not molasses) and aged for two and a half years in French oak barrels. From the media contact: After pressing 25…
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A Trip to Guatemala for Zacapa Rum
The other week I went to Guatemala to learn about Zacapa rum at the source. It was great. The sugar cane for Zacapa is sourced from the western part of Guatemala, near the Pacific coast where it is hot and humid. Here they cleaned up the cane field for the demonstration of cutting. In reality…
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Bay Area Distillers Messing with Agave
Hey, it's double-bonus tequila Friday here at Alcademics! I just learned that my Chronicle story on Bay Area distillers and business owners making tequila here or in Mexico went live today. The print story should be out this Sunday, in the newly-merged Food & Wine sections. Read the story here. Highlights Julio Bermejo of Tommy's…
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A day with Charbay
The other week I sat down on the patio behind Swirl on Castro with Marko Karakasevic and Jenni soon-to-be Karakasevic of Charbay and tasted through their line of products. Charbay is a family-run winery and distillery in Napa Valley. And boy do these people like to play with the still- in addition to wine, they…
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Maker’s Mark Distillery Visit
As part of a visit to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, I visited the Jim Beam and Maker's Mark distilleries in September. Today I'll talk about visiting Maker's Mark. The distillery has been around since 1805, but was purchased by Mr. Samuels, founder of Maker's Mark, in the early 1950's. This distillery will receive 70,000 visitors…
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A visit to the Jim Beam distillery
In September I visited the Jim Beam and Maker's Mark distilleries as part of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. For all the distilleries I've been to in 10 different countries, I'd never seen a bourbon distillery. The Claremont Jim Beam distillery is a huge facility, and one of two where the product is distilled. They receive…