It’s arduous to imagine that California’s St. George Spirits has been producing booze for 40 years, however right here we’re. To mark the event, the corporate has launched a fortieth Anniversary Version of its iconic St. George Single Malt Whiskey, restricted to 1982 bottles (get it?) which ” carry collectively many years of workmanship and our ever-growing assortment of distinctive and diverse ending casks to create a singular spirit that may be a true collector’s merchandise for connoisseurs of American single malt.”
What’s within the bottle? It’s a mix of single malts drawn from samplings of 600+ casks, solely 14 of which had been chosen for inclusion.
The mash invoice for the fortieth Anniversary single malt is identical one we now have used since we began laying down barrels in 1997: 100% two-row barley at 5 exact roast ranges: pale malt, crystal malt, chocolate malt, black patent malt, and alder/beechwood-smoked malt that we get from Bamburg, Germany. What units this whiskey aside from our annual Lot sequence releases is the particular high quality of the casks we used to make it. For extra on that, learn on.
The hallmark of our single malt cooperage has all the time been ex-bourbon barrels, which we prize for his or her means to showcase the fragile flavors we coax off the nonetheless. Whereas we use some French oak as properly, the signature of our getting older is the way in which it stays out of the way in which—befitting a distillery that started as an eau de vie home. That stated, we love what ending can do to a whiskey, and for this fortieth Anniversary launch, we’ve amplified the fruit notes which have all the time been a part of our whiskey with Cognac, apple brandy, and umeshu barrels. Port and sherry casks add much more fruit notes, together with depth and richness, whereas the California Sauternes-style casks that we started utilizing with our thirty fifth Anniversary launch pull the various flavors along with a weighty, unctuous high quality that delivers an extended end.
That is the primary time we’ve used umeshu casks in our Lot sequence, and it was an vital choice. Based on head distiller/blender Dave Smith, “We had been impressed to complete a portion of our anniversary single malt in umeshu cask as we found that our Lot Collection mash invoice married completely with the stone fruit tones of umeshu and introduced stability to the wealthy weight of Lance’s house-made tawny port casks.”
Let’s delve into this difficult rarity.
In the event you’re aware of St. George single malts (or have learn the above), you understand you’re in for one thing uncommon right here, and the nostril backs that up. Hefty wooden aromas don’t instantly connote oak, however fairly nod towards cedar planks and almond wooden, then shifting into notes of peppered bacon, raisins, and a grassy, burly hop high quality. The palate mixes all of those components right into a slurry, taking that bitter, earthy hop-like high quality and filtering it by way of a surprisingly deep and complicated quantity of fruit. The sweet-and-sour umeshu plum notes are simply evident, backed up by notes of cherry cola, currants, figs, and — later — a mixture of chocolate and licorice. The end takes on an virtually candylike character, which is sort of a shift from the brooding, earthy introduction.
It’s fairly a fancy animal that calls for — and rewards — time spent in evaluation. And at this costs, you’ll undoubtedly need to plan to spend a while attending to know the stuff.
86 proof.
B+ / $500 / stgeorgespirits.com
St. George Single Malt Whiskey fortieth Anniversary
$500
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