Spirits Review

Drink Up New York (drinkupny.com) has always (in my opinion) been a good online store that is always interested in carrying a new quality product. UPS in the northeast US can be problematical- rumor has it one of the top executives who set the no alcohol to consumers policy was a 12 stepper who decided that if he can't have it nobody can.

Got a Master Locksmith I can run this by for you if you like- but either of those sound like they would work. Just make sure the wall on either side of the lock will hold up to a large sawz all to or equivalent.

Sounds like an excellent idea to me! It would be great from an organizational standpoint and would make it much easier to sort out the information and questions.

As a reviewer of such things I've been struggling with that one myself - trying to classify all those different products - by different names into a coherent category where my readers can find them. I've been kind of old school and originally lumped them under "American Whiskey" meaning not Bourbon or Rye - (which have their own categories with admittedly a few spirit in those categories that might be a stretch ) American Whiskey being a geographic catchall for all whiskey that did not qualify for inclusion in Bourbon or Rye because of aging, blending or ingredient ( at least in my opinion). Of course I could have been a smart ass and put it under "Vodka" but thought that wasn't very useful. I'm thinking of starting a new category "White Whiskey (Unaged)" as a new category in my reviews, and if a spirit has a little age it will still go there with an explanation/description/modifier that states the aging. I think an analogy is the whole Silver/White/Plata problem with Mexican spirits such as Sotol,Tequila, and Mezcal , some are not aged (and make a big thing about never touching wood), some are and people use different names . Although I admit it seems the public can usually figure them out because they have been around much longer and old was the exception no the rule - which is the opposite of whiskey ( in the last 100 years or so anyway). Short form: I'm going with White Whiskey because it's reasonably comprehensive and easier to understand. The other terms have a little too much connotation or expectation about proof, quality, possibly too technical .

Wonder if he got the idea from the mobile still on the back ofwww.flickr.com/photos/spiritsreview/536072801/in/set-72157600337854534pickup truck Mr Sutton used to have. I've seen a number of mobile still in France and one in Belgium (but the guy who owned it knocked out the back of a building and then - since he couldn't get a tractor or team of horses in then out the same hole easily because of the size of the building) got a bunch of his friends to haul it in one night. www.flickr.com/photos/spiritsreview/536072801/in/set-72157600337854534 Christian Drouin Calvados also uses a (formerly ) mobile still www.flickr.com/photos/spiritsreview/5036577580/in/set-72157625059998510 obviously of a fairly recent vintage - I seem to remember them saying it was post war - will check my notes on that. As to legality in the US ? Good luck with that !

And yes - friend of mine has a abandoned 12K gallon a day distillery with mostly copper plumbing ( including most of the tanks) BIG headaches with thieves. They have tried to steal anything including the still (parts of it parts the still itself is 5 stories high and would take some time andd a few wrenches) . If they can saw it into small enough pieces they will try to steal anything.

One tip I can offer: If you decide to go with an alarm system don't use the free advertising stickers that the company gives you. It simply gives the thieves the type and specs on the hardware you are using. A generic warning that the building is alarmed ( Oh and add "Armed Response" to the bottom) may dissuade the casual thief but not a more skilled one.

I used to know a person in label approvals. I found sending her flowers from the Lark Street florists in Albany every so often seemed to help. I'm not calling it a bribe or anything but it did make that person a bit less like the DMV

One admittedly exotic method I know to remove solids is a centrifuge. The Boys at Frederic Brewing got one at an industrial auction from a pharmaceutical company fairly cheap (and yes this was a high speed and volume job). You could dial it up or down from absolutely clear to whatever level you liked ( semi turbid for example a wheat beer). They loved that thing and it worked well for them.

Yeah, sorry i forgot it was too late for another workshop. But we certainly could spice up the question and answer period ( assuming they allow one). But personally I very much agree with Liberty, I know exactly what they are going to taste like so why would I bother ? Same reason I shun but others love McDonalds . Most bar serve the same damn stuff. I can walk into a bar and tell you who sells to them by the bar instantly- same tired stuff in the same order of display even. Who wants cookie cutter sameness ? The Vodka Bots and their ilk can stay in those bars I'll go somewhere else. Otherwise what is the point of going out? I think it will shake out somewhat like the craft beer movement- go to the corner watering hole for the same old yellow stuff ("which I wouldn't drink if they ran it throughout the horse twice "to quote my grandfather) or go somewhere where they and their customers care about what they drink. It just is incredible to me that Southern wants all the marbles in some ways, but more incredible from a Public Relations stand point that they would want to try to publicly try to sell this point of view. Makes Microsoft seems almost free market by comparison. They have a bad enough reputation why tarnish it publicly even further?

I don't wish to antagonize Francesco but , at the expense of some global brands ? Please, we can only hope. I suggest a counter workshop where someone outlines the strong arm approach of these same global brands ( 'you want that Avian Fashion Victim Vodka ? Lose those other rum and vodka brands now'. ) or at least we should all arm ourselves with those kinds of questions for the Q & A. I guess they don't want to share (at all) - did they adopt the tag line from Highlander as a corporate strategy and worldview ? Are they that worried that not everyone, everywhere loves and buys their products ? Let a 1000 flowers bloom and let the customers choose the one they like - to mangle a phrase from Chairman Mao i think we need more diversity, and cheers to those who champion the artisan brands ( even if I get banned from Tales for trashing the globals and advocating this)

I know Frederic Brewing (now owned by Flying Dog) used a pharmaceutical centrifuge they bought at a industrial auction so they could really manage how little or how much (wheatbeer) turbidity and clarity they wanted.

A lot of Russian Vodkas proudly say they use either glacial water or deep well water (which has a pronounced hard water/mineral taste. IMHO only the people catering to the fear of flavor crowd use reverse osmosis to dumb down taste or create lack thereof ( at least in most cases). If you use a local water at least you have a chance at distinctiveness or terrior for a vodka (the Russians and others certainly have developed some through distinct, identifiable by taste characteristics). Otherwise you are at risk of joining the oceans of nondescript vodka that is already overloading the market.

I can put you in touch with the owner of the Old Michters Distillery 12,000 plus per 24 hr column still , 5,000 gallon per 24 hr pot still, fermenting tanks etc. on 20 acres of land with 3 wells that can do about 300,00 gallons per day on good limestonbe shelf,hundreds of photos here: http://www.spiritsreview.com/adventures.htm

Metabolic and liver blood work every so often. Although I have learned you have to study for these tests. As a professional spirits judge I once had to do 150 spirits in 3 days and had the blood draw the next day not thinking about it-the results weren't pretty. Luckily my Doctor tore up the test results and told me to come back in 2 weeks - then it was fine.