Highland Park Thor

A 16 year single malt scotch whisky strong enough to take down a Norse god

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Taking inspiration in the distinctly Nordic heritage and unforgiving climate of the Orkney Islands where the celebrated Highland Park distillery stands, the recently launched Thor single malt scotch whisky is as powerful as the Norse god for which it’s named. As the first release from the much anticipated Valhalla Collection, the 16 year single malt is characterized by a “forceful” nose dominated by “an explosion of aromatic smoke”. Once past these initial notes of gingerbread, cinnamon and vanilla, the dry flavors give way to a sweet body that settles nicely on the palette, making Thor one of the more memorable spirits we’ve sipped recently.

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Bottled at 52.1% abv—nearly 9% stronger than the highly sought-after Highland Park 18—the concentrated Thor is unabashedly flavorful when enjoyed neat and responds well to a splash of water, mellowing the peaty bite to a more mortal level. While some purists may scoff at the idea, Thor has the integrity to withstand a bit of dilution while remaining strong enough to put a bit of hair on your chest.

The truly elemental spirit is an absolutely delicious departure for Highland Park, and with only 1,500 bottles being released Stateside—23,000 worldwide—it’s sure to create quite a stir. Visit Highland Park online to purchase directly for $200 a bottle.


1512 Spirits: Signature Poitín

Heritage Irish potato spirit from a one-man distillery
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Resurrecting a rare Irish spirit in the Bay Area is no easy feat, and distiller Salvatore Cimino isn’t the most likely candidate either. The third-generation distiller is of Sicilian descent, and decided to try creating the potato-based “poitín” (pot-cheen) at the behest of a friend who presented him with a heritage recipe. Having experienced some success with a duo of Prohibition-era rye whiskeys, Cimino created “Signature Poitín” as part of his one-man distilling operation 1512 Spirits. His methods bring a new meaning to the phrase “hand-crafted”, overseeing the entire process in a 700-square-foot space.

A barber by day, Cimino named the distillery 1512 after his shop, working on his spirits during off-hours. Using 95% potatoes, Cimino begins by juicing the spuds and cooking the liquid over a direct flame. He then adds hand-milled barley and cooks his mash, leaving it to ferment for three or four days. The mixture is separated by hand and double-distilled before it is proofed at 104. The process recalls the heritage of Irish farmers who would make this spirit with local materials and resources. While the Signature Poitín is high effort and low yield, Cimino is sticking to his artisanal guns.

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Poitín—Irish Gaelic for “small pot”—isn’t a delicate spirit. The flavor is robust, heavy on potato with floral notes thrown in between. While some will find it too raw and one-dimensional, others will appreciate the honesty of flavor that comes through, which is similar to that of a single-varietal vodka. Fans of the poitín enjoy it in a hot toddy, warm it up to expose the floral flavors or drink it neat alongside oysters. The drink is a true eau de vie—more likely to wake you up after a meal than tuck you in for bed.

The next release from 1512 Spirits will feature a rare wheat whiskey, which has been aged in ex-rye barrels. With batches that are limited to around 85 bottles, the level of craft goes well beyond single-barrel whiskeys. 1512 Spirits’ Signature Poitín can be found at select retailers and online through Cask Spirits.


Reyka Vodka

Iceland’s small-batch spirit distilled over lava rocks
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Only a handful of components are necessary for making Reyka vodka: a grain spirit made from quality wheat and barley, water, geothermal energy, lava rock filtration and a custom-crafted, copper Carter-Head still. The incredibly smooth spirit is the upshot of Iceland’s pristine environment, which affords the distillery an extremely pure brewing process. We recently had the chance to meet with Reyka’s master distiller Kristmar Olafsson in Borgarnes, who shed greater insight on their small-batch production.

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Steam produced by molten rock is funneled in a stainless steel pipe to the distillery, where it heats Olafsson’s beautiful Carter-Head gin still, which was handcrafted in Scotland. One of only six in the world, Reyka’s earns the unique distinction of being the only one used for crafting vodka. This gives Olafsson the advantage of controlling the spirit’s path, manually manipulating the machine throughout the process and capturing only the best part of the spirit for bottling. Traditional vodka stills force the distiller to use the entire spirit from beginning to end, and in order to remove impurities it has to be distilled again.

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“When we start to distill—this is just like when you’re boiling water in the kitchen—the vapors start to rise up when the spirit is close to 100 degrees [celsius], and we keep it inside the tower here in the beginning because when the vapors start to rise up it passes through a lot of copper pipes. Everything is created just to remove impurities from the spirit, and we distillate, or boil it, for about 30-40 minutes and keep it always inside the tower. The lightest ingredients stay in the upper part of the still, and that’s the part we are removing from the spirit. These are the impurities that give it a bad taste and bad smell.”

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Olafsson removes about 30-40 liters of impure liquid in this initial process, which is simply discarded. He knows when the time is up by his expert sense of smell, and the remaining desirable vapor is pushed to another tower in the still, cooled down for a bit and returned to a liquid state. They then distill about 1,200 liters of 96% alcohol for five or six hours, resulting in the spirit that is used for Reyka later on. The last 250 liters is significantly weaker at around 35% alcohol, which they separate and use for flavor-infused vodkas like Opal Red.

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To bring the spirit down to a more drinkable 80 proof, they blend it with water from the nearby Grábrók spring, ideally located on a 4,000-year-old lava field. This is then run through actual lava rocks—which they change about every three months—for the ultimate in natural filtration.

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One taste of Reyka vodka and it’s clear that something is different. It feels silky on the palate, and the clean flavor is easily sipped neat. Currently the eight-person team at Reyka is producing around only 400,000 bottles a year, but Olafsson hopes to increase this over time, slowly but surely. His distribution approach is not unlike that of his distillation process, both the result of extreme patience and well-earned instinct.

You can purchase Reyka at shops throughout the U.S. and U.K. (as well as in Iceland) for around $20 a 750ml bottle.

See more images in the slideshow. Photos by Karen Day


Curated by Culturefix NYC

A fine selection of rare brews and comfort foods from the owners of NYC’s art gallery and pub
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Hidden among the slender streets of NYC’s Lower East Side, Culturefix stands as a haven for beer snobs, foodies, art aficionados and really just anyone looking for a good time. The slightly labyrinthine multipurpose space splits its talents among three floors, starting with an impressive selection of nearly impossible-to-find beers and curious dishes at the bar downstairs. A ramp at the back of the bar leads you to the ground floor, which is home to their event space and gallery. Work your way upstairs from there and you’ll come across the Recession Art at Culturefix storefront, which peddles a discerning range of original works by an array of emerging artists.

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Within moments of exploring the space it’s easy to see owners Cole Schaffer and Ari Stern have a firm grasp on the finer things in life, namely food and drink. To take advantage of their vast knowledge and overall generosity we asked Schaffer to suggest five of his favorite rare beers from Culturefix’s rotating selection of international craft brews. Stern, a “retired chef”, balanced that out with insights into what would be the perfect dish to accompany each ale, all of which we highlight below.

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Professor Fritz Briem’s 13th Century Grut Bier

One of the most interesting beers found at Cutlurefix, Professor Fritz Briem’s Grut is soft, smooth and incredibly delicious. Dating back to the 1500s, before the widespread use of hops, the traditional grut brewing style leaves little more than locally grown flora like bay leaves, ginger, caraway, rosemary for flavoring— remnants of which can be found in each unfiltered bottle.

CS “This sour, gingery and floral beer has found its way into many dishes and our hearts since the very beginning.”

AS “It goes great with our Miso-Mussels, the base for which is made with Korean fermented miso, grut, chili paste, onions and garlic. The slow cooked mussels retain their tenderness while soaking up the delicious liquid.”

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Bayerischer Banhof Berliner Style Weisse

Another ancient beer, the weissbier style originated in the 1600s, leading to a time where an estimated 700 weissbier breweries existed in Berlin alone. The unconventional brewing process renders the beer extremely acidic, which is commonly cut with a syrup mixer.

CS “The Bayrischer Bahnhof interpretation is a slightly softer, more mellow version of the “Berliner Weisse” style with a beautiful balance of tartness, fruitiness, and sweetness. Mellowed only by a mixture of Guava puree and honey—its a great spring and summer refresher. “

AS “Along side our Goat Cheese polenta with tomato braised mushrooms, the Berliner Weisse becomes a relief from the richness of the polenta and the earthiness of the mushrooms, making each bite and sip combination a new treat.”

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Bayerischer Banhof ‘Leipziger’ Gose

Falling out of favor over the last 30 years, the Gose style is extremely difficult to find outside of the two German cities where it originated, Goslar and Leipzig, although it is currently experiencing a small resurgence thanks to three European breweries. One taking it up again is Bayerischer Banhof, which produces a top-fermented wheat beer made only from traditional ingredients—oats, coriander and salt for flavoring.

CS “Salty and Citrusy, the Gose is Ari’s favorite summertime beer. I think of it as hard lemonade for someone who hates hard lemonade. “

AS “This beer goes well with any food, which makes for an easy pairing, we usually will suggest our empanadas with homemade sofrito as a natural choice. The peanuts and raisins in the empanadas are brightened by the citrus notes of the beer, and the crisp dough is lightened by the bitter finish of this southern German classic.”

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Brasserie Die Du Ciel

Earning it’s beautifully rich color and soft, slightly acidic fragrance from the use of hibiscus flowers in the brewing process, the Rosée d’Hibiscus is a humble wheat beer with plenty of body.

CS “On first sight, this beer looked thick and viscous, but it drinks light and refreshing with only a hint of hibiscus sweetness (not to mention the most beautiful color a glass has ever held). Its the perfect thirst quencher on a hot summer day.”

AS “This combination of sweet and sour, goes great with our XO marinated shrimp and kimchi bok choy. The ultra-savoriness of the shrimp and intense spice of the bokchoy and tempered by the weight of this beer. The hibiscus flavor seems to lessen the spice and allow the eater/drinker to do more of both.”

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Fantôme Saison

Founded in 1988, Brasserie Fantôme has gained international attention and somewhat of a cult following among craft beers enthusiasts for its secret combination of herbs, spices and fruits that fall in accordance with the season, allowing each beer to be unique and made only once.

CS “Far and away the best beer we have ever had, always consistent, always incredibly complex and different from year to year. The First year we carried the Fantome summer saison, it was smooth with light hop and berry notes. This year, we are carrying the Hiver, and it is more aggressively hopped and less fruity, as if the brewer knew how MY tastes changed and created a beer for ME. “

AS “Pairing food with such a complex and rich beer can be challenging, and for its size we needed to think of a dish that eats a bit ‘longer’, our enchiladas made with a traditional salsa verde from puebla, roasted chicken and its crispy skin, and queso cotijo was the perfect fit. The richness of the corn tortillas, and the ‘brown’ flavor of the cheese, makes for a great combination with the real ‘King of Beers’.”

Photos by Graham Hiemstra


K&L Faultline Gin

The newest addition to the California wine merchant’s exclusive collection of specially bottled spirits
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When David Driscoll of K&L Wine Merchants happened upon an experimental barrel of gin at Alameda, CA-based distillery St. George, one sip prompted a special request to add it to the Faultline series, a small collection of spirits bottled exclusively for the liquor retailer.

Driscoll teamed up with St. George’s Dave Smith and Lance Winters to bring to K&L the special gin, which is characterized by the addition of a few macerated ingredients and some extra filtering. The collaboration also led to the new Faultine Gin label on the run’s 900 bottles. The imagery on the label is inspired by vintage botanical textbooks drawings and features a layout similar to a vintage certificate or bank note.

Faultline Gin stays with the herbaceous flavor profile of St. George gins, though not as overtly botanical as Botanivore and not as savory as the Mt. Tam. Driscoll notes the gin’s harmonious flavor in a well-mixed martini, giving credit to St. George distiller Dave Smith for this latest iteration of the classic spirit.

“Driscoll has the nasty little habit of skulking around distilleries with a crazy straw,” says Winters. “He’s been a great supporter of what we do at St. George. While we were in the process of developing our St. George gins—Botanivore, Terroir, and Dry Rye Gin—Dave would come by the distillery and sample to see how things were coming along. It was on one of these visits that he fell in love with one of the gins that we made to test out some of the botanicals and asked if there might be away to convince us to bottle it for K&L.”

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The name Faultine evolved from the desire to connect K&L’s northern and the southern California stores. The K&L spirits team carefully selects each spirit to offer their customers the unique opportunity to taste some their rare discoveries.

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The St. George gin comes as the third Faultline limited release by K&L, following a Little Mill 21-year-old single malt found in a warehouse on Islay and a Paul Marie & Fils cognac.

Faultline Gin 750ml is now available exclusively at K&L for $35. Keep an eye out for the next Faultline, a 20-year-old Cragenmore single malt, that will be available soon.


Tap Into Austin Signature Cocktail

PDT’s Jim Meehan mixed the perfect Manhattan

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We recently hosted a series of parties in five U.S. cities to bring the Subpop Showcase at SXSW to those that couldn’t make the trip to Austin. To ensure the highest level of sophistication to the bar, we enlisted our friend Jim Meehan of NYC’s famed speakeasy PDT to mix something special. As a pioneer in the mixology movement and author of The PDT Cocktail Book, Meehan fit the bill to concoct our very own signature cocktail.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, Meehan drew on his classic style and the event at hand for inspiration. With a Kentucky Rye and orange bitters, Meehan just slightly dressed up the classic Manhattan. Meehan describes it as “a Perfect Manhattan—made with both sweet and dry vermouth—that takes cues from MasterCard’s logo in the garnish: an orange disc and brandied cherry.”

Tap Into Austin Signature Cocktail

2 oz. Bulleit Rye Whiskey

1/2 oz. Vya Dry Vermouth

1/2 oz. Vya Sweet Vermouth

2 Dashes of Miracle Mile Bergamot Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe

Pinch an orange twist over the surface of the drink then affix it to a cocktail pick with a brandied cherry.

Photography by Nick Brown


Heineken Design Challenge Winners

The winning design looks to the future while representing Heineken’s 140-year history

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Selected from a pool of six finalists among more than 30,000 entries from 100 countries, design student Rodolfo Kusulas of Monterrey, Mexico and freelance designer Lee Dunford of Sydney took top honors in the Heineken Limited Edition Design Contest, and their winning design will be featured on the brand’s 140th anniversary bottle. The judging panel was comprised of CH’s own Evan Orensten, Mark Dytham of PechaKucha and Heineken’s Head of Design Mark van Iterson.

To commemorate their 140th year, Heineken issued an open call for collaborative bottle designs on Facebook. There, Kusulas and Dunford connected to kick off their collaboration on a clean, energetic bottle design inspired by Heineken’s rich history and incorporating the star logo. By representing the iconic red star as a Pangea-like conglomeration of land masses, Kusulas describes the idea of a shrinking world where “the continents are becoming compressed together. Long distance travel is achievable in shorter and shorter times, and our lives are lived out online. The future sees our planet condensed—just like the red star here.”

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Though launched as a way to honor 140 years of history, Heineken took a decidedly modern approach to the milestone, bringing together perfect strangers like Kusulas and Dunford—not to mention the thousands of other entrants, and fans from across the globe tasked to vote on their favorites—through social media. “Open innovation and crowd-sourcing are hot topics, but there are only a few examples in which it delivered really successful concepts,” says van Iterson. “This is a beautiful case to show that it can be very valuable to open up the opportunity for creative input from consumers all around the world.”

“The standard of all three of the finalist designs was incredibly high—each of them could have been winners,” says Dytham. But Orensten, in particular, was drawn to Kusulas and Dunford’s scheme—”It’s striking if you glance at it,” he notes, “but if you take the time to really look at it to see what’s going on it’s a really considered and impressive design.” The judges also felt Kusulas and Dunford best captured the spirit and heritage of the venerable beer with a design that also looks to the future. In that vein, their work will be featured as part of Heineken’s 140 anniversary bottle pack to be sold worldwide from December 2012.


Plymouth Gin

Design Bridge redesigns the bottle, bringing back a touch of heritage

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Next time you reach for Plymouth Gin, you’ll notice their newly redesigned bottle. A welcomed transformation from the tall, square-shaped vessel with a navy blue and silver color scheme to a rounded antique-style shape and distinctive oval label—the trademark Mayflower stamp remains—the new bottle still houses the same gin made in the same single Victorian copper still since 1793.

When Pernod Ricard asked Design Bridge to redesign the Plymouth Gin bottle, their team delved into the company’s archives for inspiration. The goal: to create a bottle that would not only stand out on the shelf behind a bar, but also tell the story of the spirit in an authentic way. This process led them to focus on Plymouth’s rich heritage and to codify a thematic idea for the project, “Looking Back to Look Forward”.

According to the historical record, the pilgrim fathers spent their last night in the Black Friars Distillery where Plymouth later began production in the 18th century. With this in mind, Design Bridge made the Mayflower more prominent on the new label.

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Below the ship reads the caption, “In 1620 The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth on a journey of hope and discovery,” the additional focus taking the bottle design closer to earlier versions of the logo. Design Bridge spared no detail, creating a copper cap to depict Plymouth’s original 1793 gin still, while the uneven glass bottle shape is meant to look like it fell out of the back pocket of a 19th century sailor.

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Plymouth Gin is available in its new bottle online as well as liquor stores throughout the world for prices starting around $33. Learn more about Plymouth Gin in our video tour of the 214-year-old facility with master distiller Sean Harrison.


Jameson Irish Whiskey Distillery

Behind the scenes at the Jameson Distillery with Master Distiller Barry Crockett
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John Jameson’s Dublin distillery was founded in 1780, guided by the family motto “Sine Metu”, meaning without fear. To this day, those words appear on every bottle of Irish whisky. At the original distillery, located next to Smithfield Market, Jameson used well water, searched for superior strains of barley, sought out high quality casks and believed the whisky should be matured in cool, damp cellars. Eventually, he built larger warehouses that captured rainwater to recreate such conditions, and by 1890 Irish whiskey had become one of the most popular whiskeys in the world.

Later, because of Prohibition in the U.S. and the consequentially insurmountable tariff barriers in England, there was decline in the market which led to the demise of many Irish whiskey companies and, eventually, to the formation of the Irish Distillers Group. In 1971, Jameson’s Bow Street distillery stopped operations and all production was moved to the Midleton Distillery in Cork.

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Back in Dublin, tours of the Bow Street Distillery in Smithfield Village continue today, recounting the legacy and proud heritage of Irish whiskey. Visitors can watch a short documentary film, take the tour and enjoy the tasting room and restaurant. The distillery building is also the setting for special events including the Jameson Global Party on St. Patrick’s Day.

We went behind the scenes of the public tasting tours at the Jameson Experience in Cork to meet the core team. The steps behind the sourcing and repairing of casks was presented inside the coopers’ workshop, revealing a process of connecting flawless pieces of oak cut precisely according to the wood’s rings, that has remained relatively unchanged throughout the years.

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We met the current master distiller Barry Crockett, who apprenticed under his father, master distiller Max Crockett, to learn the age-old trade. During lunch with the junior Crockett in his childhood home, we learned about the triple distillation process Jameson has perfected since 1790, and the five-year aging period for the single-pot still and grain whiskey blends.

Since the beginning, “Jameson has been made using same type of equipment and methods, but the product made today is cleaner more refined and sweeter that would have been possible with the old equipment in the late 1700s,” says Crockett. “With the higher level of control with the modern equipment and controls we can achieve a finer quality of spirit.”

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“Irish whiskey has always been different to Scottish and American whiskeys,” says Crockett. “The fact that makes it different is the production technique, which is part of what we do. The use of high proportions of barley, harvested locally which gives it a very unique flavor and taste to the whiskey. The barley in my view offers a type of apple, pear or peach type aroma. You will find that very much in all of the Irish whiskies. It also gives a smooth even mouthy effect that lends to a more soft and sweet aftertaste.”

There’s a section of the cottage being transformed to better showcase the history of the brand. “Jameson has a strong story in term of its heritage, imagery, and we are advancing that imagery by getting our archives together to display,” says Crockett. “We know when people are coming here. The principal thing is to understand why it is a popular whiskey in the first place.”

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While the company focuses primarily on filling orders, Crockett’s main responsibility lies in developing single-origin pot still expressions. “These certainly show the consumer public that Irish whiskey is not just Jameson, but is also able to present a range of different flavor characteristics,” he explains. “We believe the single-origin pot still range will do for Irish whiskey what the concept of single malt did for Scotland.” Crockett says that their goal is to launch one to two new single pot still whiskeys each year.

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Our tour concluded at the Jameson warehouses, where up to 36,000 barrels are stored upright on rows of palettes. When asked what he’d want to drink if he were stranded on a desert island, Crockett answered, “Jameson 18-year-old, or the Legacy.”


Pemberton Distillery

Organic potato vodka, locally malted whiskey and G&T syrups brewed in British Columbia
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On a recent trip to Whistler, we had the opportunity to sample the vodka from Pemberton Distillery, a fledgling outfit nestled in the Pemberton Valley of British Columbia. Within their unassuming walls, the distillery employs copper stills to create a line of locally sourced, organic liquors.

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Designed as a sipping spirit, Schramm Vodka has a deliciously clean flavor followed by a distinctive finish. Pemberton’s potatoes are free from herbicides, long-life chemicals and fertilizers, earning organic certification from the B.C. Pacific Agricultural Society. The distillery also produces syrups to spice up gin & tonic cocktails and vanilla extract made from the house vodka.

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Schramm Gin is a potato gin created in handcrafted, small-batch runs with only eight botanical flavors added during the distillation process. Pemberton is also adding a whiskey to their line when it matures in 2013, which will be made from organic barley that’s malted in B.C. and then aged in bourbon casks.

Spirits from Pemberton Distillery sell online and from select distributors in B.C.