If there is one thing I love as much as making great whiskey it is eating great food.  (To tell a secret, I am a bit of a cook myself.)  I have joined forces with Black Pearl’s Executive Chef Kate Horton to create a special menu showcasing Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey as an ingredient.  Each dish will incorporate one of the elements of Stranahan’s showcasing its diversity in the dish.  These flavor elements include the whiskey itself, the whiskey barrel wood, and even the malted barley used to create the wash.  I enjoyed developing this menu with Chef Kate and will enjoy sharing it with you.

BLACK PEARL PRESENTS: STRANAHAN’S COLORADO WHISKEY DINNER

Monday January 31, 2011
 6:30

Cocktails dinner to follow

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Passed- House made cracked barley crackers, taleggio cheese, whiskey fig jam

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Whiskey barrel smoked quail, shaved fennel water cress salad, currants, almonds

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Roasted butternut apple soup, candied barley crunch

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Pan seared duck breast, candied Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey fruit, wild rice pilaf, collard greens

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Guided whiskey tasting with Stranahan’s Head Distiller Jake Norris

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Chocolate Whiskey Soufflé, SCW Caramel Sauce and advanced tasting of the next Snowflake

Seating is limited and it will go fast, so if you are interested in experiencing this evening of delicious food, great whiskey and conversation, make your reservation now. http://www.blackpearldenver.com/  I look forward to seeing you there!

Jake

Listening to: Townes Van Zandt

I remember trying to fill our first barrel of whiskey ever.  Jess and I had thought through every part of the whiskey making process… except, of course how to get the finished spirit out of the tank and in to the barrel.  We tried to use a hose and a funnel in the barrel and run the pump turned way down, but, of course we sprayed new spirit everywhere.  We were horrified.  All that work, all those resources, literally the first drops of our new whiskey spilling on to the floor.  In frustration I turned to Jess and said “I wish it were like at the gas station, you know, just put the handle in and pull the trigger and when it is full it shuts off.”  In classic Graber fashion, he shrugged and grinned and said “Why not?”.  The next day he called the Husky corporation, manufactures of gas nozzle fillers.  We told them we needed a food grade stainless steel filler nozzle for filling whiskey barrels.  At first they were a little skeptical, but after bribing them with promises of bottles of fine whiskey he came around.  A week or so later a food grade nozzle showed up in the mail and it worked like a charm, and we have used it ever since.  Just today, 7 years later, Grenny Sutcliffe stopped in to see the new distillery.  Grenny is the son of Grenville Sutcliffe Sr. who we had originally talked to back in 2004.  Grenny had enjoyed some of the whiskey we had sent to his father, and he just happened to be in Denver and wanted to stop in and say hello.  I happily showed him around and demonstrated how we used the nozzles.  We ordered replacement nozzles this year.  Grenny told us his R&D dept had torn apart our old worn out nozzles and used them to improve on the new design.  I guess alcohol can corrode some parts and effect the performance.  Later we were talking in the tasting room over a whiskey and he mentioned that his father had been inspired after our conversation years ago and and wondered if there was a market for whiskey barrel fillers.  He called over to Scotland and it turns out that there was.  Husky then designed and built specialized whiskey barrel fillers they named the 10-WN, for whiskey nozzle.  They shipped them to  The Bruichladdich ,  The Macallan and a few others.  The 10-WN is just like a regular filler except the filling tube reaches to the bottom of the barrel so you can fill from the bottom to the top.  I smile a bit knowing my little contribution, and cant help but wonder what the old houses were using up until that point.  It is nice to think that distillers thousands of miles away are using fillers that were inspired by Jess and I fumbling around in a little warehouse getting our feet wet…………. both figuratively and literally.

Listening to: Hank Williams – I’m So lonesome I could Cry

Posted: 09/14/10

Fall is in the air.  The trees are barely starting turn, the nights are cooling off, but the days are still warm.  This is a perfect time to announce the release of the new Triple Wood Snowflake.   The Triple Wood Snowflake will go on sale at the distillery only Wednesday September 15th 12:00 noon for $85.  There are only about 130 bottles of this special whiskey made.  It is strictly first come fisrt serve, and when it is gone it is gone

The Triple Wood Snowflake spent its first 2 years in a heavily charred new american white oak barrel. When the flavor profile was right I transferred it into a used Hungarian white oak cask that had previously housed a Chardonnay form Sonoma California. Over the course of months the tannins form the hungarian white oak went to work in harmony with the white wine that had soaked into the wood and created a massive layer of rich delicate flavors on top of the Stranahan’s foundation. To round out and mellow the new tannins and flavors, I moved the whiskey back into a used Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey cask. The time spent back in the worn american white oak gently rounded the edges of the 2 complimenting oaks creating a complex, rich, harmony of flavors. This one is for savoring.

Tasting Notes:

Full strength:
Nose: Big fruit and spice right off the bat. The woody smell of an apple cider press, bartlett pear, green apple and melon. As the nose blooms, spices manifest in a cinnamon and mineral wisp, light brown sugar, dates, pie crust, Colorado wild flower honey. With ones eyes closed you could easily imagine a forest in autumn, rich musty aromas playing with bright cool notes of turning leaves and the promise of snow.
Palate: The first sip brings rich dark honey, spice, laced with strong floral notes, flavors of green apple and ripe cherry. As the whiskey settles into the palate the spice resonates with heat, white pepper and chilies(?), molasses, marduro tobacco soars in the mouth. These flavors somehow remind me of a cabin in the woods. The finish is extremely long, black grape, spice, wood, coco and coffee. Bright green apple, possibly lychee fruit? Tons of butter, leaves me tasting a biscuit buttered and slathered in pear jam.

Dilute:
Nose: With a drop of water the Chardonnay really shows up. Honey, butter, toasty, coco, floral, mineral. I almost pick up pancakes?
Palate: Cantaloupe, honey, wedding cake frosting. Floral bright notes, mango, lychee, melon, The spice remains- sweet white pepper. Again reminds me of the woods. Banana, chilies, biscuit, wheat bread, tobacco. Lots going on. Finish is stone fruit, mineral, black tea, buttered toast and peppery tobacco. The whiskey maintains a heat throughout the entire experience with out being unpleasant.

As you let the glass sit and open up, the sweetness grows and grows. What a finish, complex and big, wisps of campfire and coffee. Over all this whiskey can’t help but remind me of autumn, the last fleeting days in the forest before winter reclaims what is hers. I think I’ll have another.

Cheers Jake

Listening to: Guy Clark

Remember, this is first come first serve, we will not hold a bottle for you and we can not sell before 12:00pm Wed afternoon.

Posted: 02/09/09

I am often asked about the “distilled on date” on the label of a bottle of Stranhan’s.  When I set out to bottle a batch of whiskey I hand select 12 barrels of whiskey varying in age from 2 years to 5 years old and marry them together.  The cask strength whiskey is then cut down to exactly 94 proof using Eldoroado Springs water.  The date we write on the label will generally be the youngest barrel in the batch.

Cheers Jake

Listening to: Guy Clark

Posted: 10/21/09

Fall has fallen and winter is peeking around the corner.  The mornings are crisp and the evenings a deep  clear mountain cold.  Leaves are falling and I can smell the brats and peppers on the grill and hear the roar of the football game.  Fall in Colorado is wonderful, a drive through the mountains makes you wonder how any one made it past the beauty of the Rocky Mountains on their way west.  Seas of brilliant golden shimmering aspens, the scattered red burst of a scrub oak and endless green spans of Colorado pine as far as the eye can see.  The vista is beautiful patchwork of raging color broken only by the granite mountain sides and the heart wrenching brown of the beetle kill pine.  Down the hill in Denver, (after a surprise weekend of 80 degree weather), the killing frost has taken even the most hardy leaf in the garden.  The canned tomatoes and spicy dill pickles are on the shelf, and the hard squash are hiding in a cool dark place downstairs.  Here at the distillery the dust is settling from the move.  The wash fermenters are bubbling away, the stills never go cold, production is increasing and the barrels are stacking up.  We are making about 10 barrels a week right now, but I have my sights set on 18 a week.  We are bottling a lot gearing up for the end of year rush.  Tours have been busy, so we have established a regular tour schedule of Monday, Wed, Fri, and Saturday at 11, 1, 3, 5.  (If you are interested in going on a tour it is best to make an appointment by emailing tours @ Stranahans .com).  The Rackhouse restaurant next door should be open by the end of the week, and not a moment too soon, I dont think the lads cant stomach another fast food burger.  So as I plunge in to another beautiful Colorado winter, I invite you to stoak the fireplace with another piece of aspen, pour yourself a glass of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey and read a good book.  I am reading “Spice- The History of Temptation” by Jack Turner.