The Final Drop Distillers of London continues its quest for curating and creating the world’s rarest and most outstanding spirits with the discharge of its second Signature Mix: Launch No 28: The Final Drop Signature Mix of Kentucky Straight Whiskeys. Created by Sazerac Grasp Blender Drew Mayville, a founding member of The Final Drop Meeting’s panel of spirits trade specialists, this bespoke spirit includes a mix of classic straight bourbon and rye whiskeys. Inconceivable to copy, 1,458 bottles will probably be launched worldwide and accessible within the U.S. as of October 2022 at a instructed retail worth of $3,999 (750ml/121.4 proof).
Since changing into Sazerac’s Grasp Blender in 2004, Drew has cultivated a dream of making an ultra-rare whiskey for essentially the most discerning of connoisseurs. To realize this, he started preserving extraordinarily small portions of his favourite whiskeys at Buffalo Hint Distillery to meet this imaginative and prescient. He was assured that utilizing his lifetime of experience, information and his masterful palate, mixed with the unbelievable liquids accessible to him, he may make a singular and unparalleled mix.
To deliver his imaginative and prescient for The Final Drop to life Drew blended classic whiskeys that he had been saving since he joined the Buffalo Hint Distillery workforce. He tasted greater than 40 totally different classic bourbon and rye whiskeys, creating a number of mixtures of those spirits earlier than arriving on the ultimate masterpiece that bears his signature. Bottled at 121.4 proof, Drew left this high-proof mix uncut and unfiltered to maximise its taste and complexity. The ensuing liquid is a celebration of the artwork of mixing, permitting the person parts to shine whereas creating an impressive entire that’s really outstanding and inconceivable to copy. Drew makes use of the analogy of an orchestra to clarify his intention:
“As a grasp blender, I wholeheartedly consider that one can take particular person parts which can be already distinctive to create an extraordinarily-beautiful finish product,” says Drew. “As with music, a clarinet will be stunning in its personal proper. Nevertheless, if you mix it with different devices in an orchestra you create a symphony – a masterpiece. This mix absolutely epitomizes this notion, and it’s been a dream come true to create this really one-of-a-kind spirit for my buddies at The Final Drop.”
Drew’s Mix follows The Final Drop Distillers first Signature Mix: a 50 Yr Previous Blended Scotch Whisky created by Grasp Blender Colin J.P. Scott. Launched in July 2021, this was the model’s first foray into the creation, in addition to curation, of extraordinary spirits by the gifted members of The Final Drop Meeting.
“It has been a splendidly thrilling expertise to work with my pal, colleague and inspiration, Drew Mayville, to create this phenomenal mix,” says Rebecca Jago, managing director, The Final Drop Distillers. “The creation of The Meeting in 2020 was one among The Final Drop’s proudest achievements: to see the visions of such stellar icons of the trade come to life in a Final Drop bottle is, for me, a dream come true.”
DREW MAYVILLE’S TASTING NOTES:
COLOR: A wealthy, golden amber hue speaks of the wooden, the age and the maturation these whiskeys have been by means of. The excessive proof will be seen within the lengthy legs which linger on the glass.
NOSE: This jogs my memory of strolling into one among Buffalo Hint’s most well-known warehouses, constructed all these years in the past: the environment, the historical past and the provenance – it packs an evocative punch. Deep, darkish fruit, figs, and dates on the nostril, some raisins, and an fragrant spiciness, with citrus zest. There may be some spiciness from the straight rye, and a creamy, vanilla from the bourbons, yielding a fancy and layered taste.
PALATE: To start with, there are darkish fruits, sweet and orange peel upfront. From there, we start a journey by means of a veritable spice service provider’s storeroom, and right into a saddle room stuffed with worn leather-based and wax. The ages of the whiskeys on this mix, and the magnificent affect of the American oak are right here in excellent stability with the person components of the mix. A crescendo of wealthy and uncooked spiciness transitions throughout your palate: that stability is pure magic.
CONCLUSIONS: The spiciness is difficult the darkish fruit, the chocolate notes, and the candy vanilla. That is the stability and class that arises solely hardly ever when the tangy spice of the rye and the creamy chocolate of the bourbon whiskeys – mixed with the elegant affect of the oak – all collide in excellent concord.
Every bottle of The Final Drop Signature Mix of Kentucky Straight Whiskeys is individually numbered and bears Drew’s bodily signature. As with all current Final Drop bottlings, it’s artfully-contained in a bespoke bottle that suspends mid-air in an oak body, held inside in a signature inexperienced leather-based case alongside a 50ml miniature for personal enjoyment, certificates of bottling and pocket-sized tasting ebook.
