Dave Phinney, known for his success with the Prisoner Wine Company and Orin Swift Cellars, has shifted his focus from wine to spirits with the establishment of Savage & Cooke Distillery on Mare Island near San Francisco. He sources and utilizes unique components-- like high-mineral-content water and heirloom grains grown on his properties-- to make his whiskeys and his efforts have borne fruit (well, grain!). This particular whiskey was distilled from a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley. Aged for a minimum of four years in new charred American oak barrels, the whiskey then was uniquely finished in wine barrels from Dave's Napa Valley Cabernet projects.
Double Gold at the 2024 SFWSC
Tasting Notes
Nose: Brown sugar, caramel, butterscotch and toasty oak. black currant, vanilla, and oak.
Palate: Vanilla bean, baking spices, white pepper, maple, baked apples, blackberry, fig, honey.
Finish: Black licorice (more like a jellybean than a traditional licorice piece), and then softens down into a nice vanilla cream.