Sauced

Letterpress Distilling Readies SoDo Facility

The small batch spirit maker will produce limoncello, vodka, and gin to start.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 05, 2012 at 08:59AM 0 Comments

Letterpress spirits soon can be yours. Photo courtesy Lettepress Distilling.

Eric Tognetti, a California native, moved to Walla Walla on his eighteenth birthday, when Washington wine was a nascent enterprise. He’d go on to work in several wineries but grape juice never struck his fancy the way the hard stuff—especially limoncello—did.

Tognetti (he goes by Skip) has dedicated years to perfecting his recipe for the lemon liqueur. Soon you’ll be able to try it when Tognetti opens SoDo-based Letterpress Distilling this spring.

Tognetti and his realtor trudged around to 40 some sites before settling on the space at 85 South Atlantic Street—funnily enough, an erstwhile winery. “We gave one of those silent looks to each other, like Oh my god, this is the one.”

The facility will house a tasting room and production of the limoncello as well as a “subtly complex” vodka and then a gin. Tognetti, who comes from an Italian family, talks of one day doing some Italian liqueurs like amaro or a walnut spirit. (Side note: His blog post about his grandfather’s liquor store in Rome is quite warming.) Eventually he hopes to barrel bourbon.

But in his first year Tognetti will be all about the Washington-centric limoncello, vodka, and gin, between 1,000 and 1,200 cases of which he’ll put out. He “wants to build the brand locally” before going regional, but the fact that Tognetti is producing limoncello bodes well for bigger business—domestic producers of the liqueur are somewhat hard to come by.

The distillery is in the final stages of construction, and there are still permits to acquire and those pesky inspections to pass. Keep tabs on Letterpress via Facebook, and of course check back here for updates.

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Tags: Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Seattle Spirits

Introducing Captive Spirits, Ballard’s New Microdistillery

The trio behind the operation plans to release the “very vibrant” Big Gin in March.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Dec 18, 2011 at 09:52AM 5 Comments

The Captive Spirits label. Photo courtesy the distillery.

Big Gin is the name of the flagship liquor Captive Spirits will produce. It’s a play on Ben Capdevielle’s nickname for his dad, Big Jim, a craft distiller in Wisconsin. Big Jim’s dad also was a distiller, a purveyor of Templeton Rye during Prohibition.

Capdevielle along with Holly Robinson and Todd Leabman—“he’s our brains,” explains Robinson—are carrying on the family tradition with their Ballard-based operation. Even if he wouldn’t have said as much it’s obvious owning and operating a distillery is a lifelong dream of Capdevielle’s—the guy was positively gleeful when he showed me around their spirits lab last week.

Three years ago Capdevielle set the wheels in motion, letting operations evolve organically since. “It’s like starting a restaurant,” says Robinson, a Walla Walla native. You can’t force inspiration or settle for just any space. “We let our strokes of genius come” sporadically, quips Capdevielle, an alum of the Linda Derschang and Tom Douglas empires.

In September Captive Spirits took over the back room of 1518 NW 52nd Street, now tricked out with a 100-gallon Vendome-made still and boxes upon boxes of bottles waiting for their juice. That will come in March, when 1183 dictates spirit makers can commence self distributing.

Big Gin also is a reference to the spirit’s robust flavor. What botanicals Capdevielle uses he won’t reveal, but he says to expect “a very vibrant gin.” Savory and a bit spicy, he compared it to something your grandpa might swill. Junipery? “Oh yeah, big time.” According to Robinson they sampled juniper juice of all stripes to create something “that’s missing from the market.”

The trio wants to keep Captive a small-batch outfit but they do aspire to implement a mail order system and release an aperitif and a whiskey, barrelling for which could start in the summer. Bottling parties are in the cards but a tasting room isn’t. But Big Gin shouldn’t be hard to come by at local watering holes. “The bars around Ballard have been incredibly supportive,” said Capdevielle. “They keep asking, ‘Where is it? Where is it?’”

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Tags: Ballard, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Seattle Spirits, New Ballard Bars

Fremont Mischief Brings a Playful-Yet-Serious Spirit to the Ship Canal Corridor

Are you sick of the puns yet?

Posted by: Brian Colella on Dec 12, 2011 at 12:45PM 0 Comments

Fremont Mischief’s tasting room is a dense collection of liquor, drinking accessories, and miscellany.

All photos: Brian Colella

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The Mischief team has big plans for the distillery. The parking lot has been paved over to use as an event space, complete with stage, that will be blocked off from the street by a tall gate. Just to the right of the gate is an auxiliary building that will be expanded and converted into a bar and rooftop space for partiers and concert-goers. They’ve started their own record label, Bootleg Records, and already have artists lined up for summer events.

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The aesthetic of the distillery and tasting room is a bit eclectic, but all the parts mesh together. Sherlock used to build floating homes and he brought that Arts and Crafts workmanship to the tasting room. Combined with an affinity for steampunk (stemming from Sherlock’s love for Jules Verne), you get the detail-packed room you see here. They also have a thing for flappers: There are four “Mischief Girls” who pose for pinup-style pics. It’s retro, classy, and fun.

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Looking for lapel pins and other trinkets may feel mischievous, but that’s what the Sherlocks want—you’re supposed to dig through their drawers.

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Andrew Carson’s kinetic sculpture on the wall in the distillery adds to the fantastical-industrial complex of the distillery.

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Fremont Mischief’s main still, named Nadia (the stills and tanks all have names) produces an impressive quantity of bottles per month. (Sherlock prefers not to reveal the actual number.)

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The still works are crammed together in a dense web of copper and stainless steel that the kid inside you wants to start climbing.

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Sherlock is big on the Jules Verne, so when regulators told them they needed access to the top of a collection tank, they went overboard with an ornate ladder and platform that form a submarine’s conning tower.

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After bubbling its way through the Willy Wonka–like maze of pipe, distilled spirit bubbles up here where the distillers judge it and sort it into heads, heart, and tails. The heads are high proof and volatile, and tails are low proof and impure. The heart is the stuff you take home and drink.

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Empty bottles waiting to be filled. Sherlock explains that the M in their logo makes both devil’s horns, for mischief; and a heart that represents their love for Fremont, the ways they give back to the community, and that their spirits are all heart (did you read the previous slide?).

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Fremont Mischief Vodka, John Jacob rye whiskey, and Fremont Mischief Whiskey sit in the distillery’s command center. The vodka’s not chill- or carbon-filtered, so if you’ve been avoiding vodka since freshman year of college, this probably won’t cause any flashbacks. The John Jacob whiskey is made with a rye-mash recipe and aged two years, the other whiskey is aged eight years. Sherlock recommends a dirty martini, on the rocks, and a Manhattan, respectively, as the ways to drink them. For their gin coming in February, he suggests a classic gin and tonic.

From our Guide to Washington’s Craft Distilleries: Who Fremont Mischief (132 N Canal St), makers of John Jacob rye whiskey—a family heirloom, Fremont Mischief Whiskey—aged in oak barrels for several years, and 80-proof Fremont Mischief Vodka. The vodka and both whiskeys are available at state liquor stores. Mischief also has plans for gin and rum in 2012. When Stop by the wood-paneled tasting room Wednesday–Saturday 11–6 and Sunday from 11 to 5.

Mike Sherlock gives a rueful laugh when he says that his Fremont Mischief distillery was supposed to be a retirement adventure. While more fun than the Lake Union shipyard he ran for 17 years—“we’re always smiling at work now”—it’s still a full-time job. Walking me around the converted warehouse property on Canal Street, he points out various plans: a stage to host concerts, an auxiliary building to expand into a bar.

If the future outside seems daunting, the history inside is impressive. He tells me it took three years to turn the dusty brick and stone factory into the shiny distillery it is today. And it was all done by a close-knit crew of family and friends.

The Fremont Mischief team is very DIY.

Sherlock designed and laser cut metal pieces that adorn the front of the building or serve as grating for the drains inside. His wife Patti handles the marketing and PR. The graphic design and website were done by their son Jon. It’s not just family: The guys working at the distillery came along from the shipyard where Sherlock built floating homes and on-ship factories (handy skills when cramming a distillery into a small space).

Despite his distillery’s name, Sherlock is hardly irreverent. He evinces passion for Fremont and the community. When a project requires outside help, for example airbrushing pinup-style art, Sherlock calls up UW and hires a student with the necessary skills. Figures of crows perched realistically on the roof came from renowned Seattle artist Andrew Carson, who also created a kinetic spinning-wheel sculpture for the inside. Tucked away here and there in the tiny tasting room I spy boxes of Chukar cherries. Mike wants the distillery and its new tasting room to be a neighborhood destination.

Click through the slideshow for more, including Mike’s recommendations for how best to drink their spirits.

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Tags: Microdistilleries, Slideshow, Distillery Report

Oola Distillery Wins Triple Gold in MicroLiquor Spirit Awards

Oola gin and Dry Fly whiskey win big in California-based spirits competition for small brands.

Posted by: Brian Colella on Nov 18, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Oola’s triple-gold-medal winning gin at their Capitol Hill tasting room.

Capitol Hill newcomer Oola Distillery sent along the news that it won multiple medals in the 2011 MicroLiquor Spirit Awards, the results of which were announced on Tuesday, Novemer 16. Owner Kirby Kallas-Lewis says he entered the inaugural small-brand spirits competition before the facility was even open to the public, just to see how his product measures up “against the best microdistilleries in the world.”

The answer is: pretty well.

Oola’s gin was awarded the triple gold medal, the competition’s highest honor. Spokane’s Dry Fly Distilling also took home a triple gold for its Washington Wheat Whiskey. Both of these spirits, plus Dry Fly’s vodka, also won gold medals in the packaging and design category. Oola’s vodka was among the gold medal winners in the taste category, but also snagged silver for packaging and design.

The distillery’s tasting room, which opened in early October, offers bottles of gin for $33 and vodka for $30—bring a friend, since you can only buy two bottles at a time. You can also peek in on the liquor-making magic while you enjoy your maximum two ounces of samples. Tasting room hours are 2–8 Tuesday through Thursday and 2–10 Friday and Saturday.

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Tags: Awards and Accolades, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report

Woodinville Whiskey Co. Releases Its First Aged Spirits

Set your alarm on November 19 if you want a bottle (or two).

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 11, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Woodinville Whiskey Co.’s microbarreled bourbon will be released November 19.

Here’s some booze news that has nothing to do with a ballot initiative: On November 19, the guys at Woodinville Whiskey Co. will release a pair of limited edition whiskeys, one of which they say is the largest bourbon release in the state since Prohibition.

The bourbon and its counterpart, an American whiskey, are the first of what co-founder Orlin Sorensen says will be an annual harvest time release. The spirits are also Woodinville’s first aged products to hit the market, though the two-year-old company’s vodka and white dog (unaged) whiskey are already hits amongst local drinkers.

The distillery will open at 7am on release day, and don’t be surprised if you see scores of whiskey aficionados lining up early in the morning. Each person can purchase two bottles, which go for $40 apiece. Right now the operation is in the midst of the bottling process; Sorensen says they will have between 3,000 and 5,000 bottles of each style to sell.

Both whiskeys were aged for up to two years in 5- to 8-gallon barrels. These are significantly smaller than the 53-gallon barrels that larger operations use; exposing the whiskey to more barrel surface area helps accelerate aging and deepen the flavor.

You’ll recall that Sorensen and fellow founder Brett Carlile have benefited from some big-name tutelage from David Pickerell, former master distiller for Maker’s Mark Bourbon. Pickerell will be hanging out in the tasting room on release day. It’s not weird at all to ask him to sign your bottles. In fact, it’s encouraged.

Early next year, the distillery will start releasing its core offerings of aged whiskeys, a Mash Bill No. 9 bourbon and a 100 percent rye whiskey.

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Tags: Whiskey, Microdistilleries, Woodinville Whiskey Co.

Sun Liquor Spirits: An Addendum

Will bottles be retailed at the distillery on Pike Street? Definitely maybe.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 03, 2011 at 09:38AM 0 Comments

Hedge Trimmer gin, finally out of the box. Photo courtesy Sun Liquor

Sun Liquor spirits are flowing freely at the label’s two Capitol Hill bars—yay—but, asks reader McLean, Will people be able to purchase bottles of the gin and vodka at the distillery on Pike Street?

Last we checked the answer was maybe, but for a more detailed explanation we turn to Erik Chapman, Sun Liquor manager and a lead distiller. The distillery is also the site of one of the aforementioned bars. This complicates things—the hybrid is a first for Washington. “Being the only one in the state, [the Liquor Control Board] doesn’t quite know what to do with us. We are still trying to, but not sure what will happen.”

Also asked reader McLean: Aren’t only craft distillers allowed to sell on site? And didn’t Sun swap a craft license for a regular one so as to dodge regulations regarding local sourcing?

True, Sun does operate under a regular permit but not for sourcing reasons, says Chapman. (Sixty percent of the ingredients in Hedge Trimmer are from Washington, for example). Two motivators prompted that decision: Again, there’s the uncertainty of whether bottles will be retailed at the distillery—“one of the biggest perks of having a craft license.” Secondly, “We didn’t want a limit of 100k gallons per year. This way we can produce more than just gin and vodka,” adds Chapman, hinting at seasonal small batch releases and forthcoming liqueurs.

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Tags: Gin, Vodka, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Distilling

You Can Now Consume Sun Liquor Gin and Vodka

Try the long-awaited spirits at either of Sun’s Capitol Hill bars.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 01, 2011 at 09:36AM 3 Comments

Sun Liquor’s Hedge Trimmer gin: go forth and try it.

Before she departed for D.C., Sauced mama Jess Voelker snuck a sample of Sun Liquor ‘s gin, Hedge Trimmer. She described it thusly: "A nice floral nose… round-bodied and easy-going on the palate. If you eschew super junipery gins you’ll be happy, the juniper was surprisingly subtle."

Now you, too, can sip the house hooch and its compatriot, Sun Liquor Vodka. Over the weekend the original Sun on Summit Ave and the Pike Street distillery (where both are made) popped bottles of the booze.

Currently those are the only two spots pouring the spirits. Says bartender Chelsea Anderson: “We have not yet received our permit to sell bottles at both bars but that process is in the works. For now you will just have to let us do the mixing.” She added other Seattle bars aren’t yet stocking the Sun Liquor labels “but hopefully they will soon.” Those wishing to buoy their home bar can special order the spirits through Washington State liquor stores using order numbers #975506 (gin) and #975507 (vodka).

“We are producing more every day then selling it to the liquor control board, so once they have it it will be available for bars or anyone else to purchase.”

What’s the best way to taste Trimmer? If you’re at the Summit Sun, try it with a Pink Gin. If you’re on Pike, go with an Alaska. Those are on the bars’ respective new fall/winter menus.

And for the booze nerds: here’s some background on Hedge Trimmer and the tireless tweaking of its master distiller, Erik Chapman.

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Tags: Gin, Vodka, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Distilling

A First Taste of Sun Liquor Gin

The distillery’s signature spirit—Hedge Trimmer—is just about to be bottled.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 27, 2011 at 10:16AM 1 Comments

Photo: Jessica Voelker

The Hedge Trimmer bottle, designed by Michael Klebeck.

Last Friday, I had the chance to do something I’ve been waiting a long time to do: I got to try the Sun Liquor gin.

When the Pike Street distillery and bar opened in February, bar manager Erik Chapman was still working on the recipe for the brand’s flagship spirit, an American gin called Hedge Trimmer.

To label Chapman a perfectionist is to understate the situation. For a year he’s been working all day in the distillery trying to perfect the recipe, then spending his nights managing both Sun Liquor bars (the original is on Summit). “My dog doesn’t know me any more,” says Chapman, laughing.

Finally, however, he is almost ready to bottle the gin, a blend of 10 botanicals—including juniper from Eastern Europe, fresh orange, coriander, and one top-secret ingredient about which Chapman was particularly excited—that’s made with 100 percent organic wheat. The grains come from Eastern Washington, though Sun Liquor is not subject to the pesky 51-percent-of-product-must-come-from-in-state law; Chapman says the operation traded in its craft license for a regular one, paying more in fees in order to free itself up from such regulations.

Photo: Jessica Voelker

Botanicals

Chapman and his boss Michael Klebeck, who designed the bottle, planned to have one final confab before settling on the exact formula. The alcohol will wind up between 42 and 44 percent, and there was conversation over whether or not to include marshmallow root among the botanicals.

To arrive at the near-complete product, Chapman experimented with just about everything you might put in gin including blueberries, which he said left the gin oily. The experiments that proved successful but too far-out for a signature product may wind up in limited-release and seasonal gins.

The major concern with the Hedge Trimmer, though, was that it be balanced. Chapman tested prototypes in cocktail upon cocktail to create a spirit that was versatile. The results (I tried two variations on the almost-complete recipe) had a nice floral nose and were round-bodied and easy-going on the palate. If you eschew super junipery gins you’ll be happy, the juniper was suprisingly subtle in the samples I tried.

Hedge Trimmer will retail for $29.95. It will be available in Washington and Oregon and at Cask in San Francisco. How everything will work inside the Pike Street distillery and bar is still something of a mystery. Sun Liquor is itself a prototype for Washington—the first real distillery/bar hybrid. And the Liquor Control Board will have to figure out just what it can and can’t do on the premises. For instance, the way the law reads now if you went into Sun Liquor during the day and tried samples of gin, it would be illegal for the bar to serve you a cocktail later that night. That’s sort of ridiculous though. So we’ll see.

Chapman says he plans to begin bottling the first week in October.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Gin, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Distilling

Revealed: First Chance to Try Spirits from Mystery-Shrouded Fremont Mischief

The secrecy-loving distillery shares a little info.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 23, 2011 at 09:01AM 1 Comments

Enough with the shushing! Fremont Mischief finally talks.

Photo via this blog

Years in the works, Fremont Mischief Distillery, project of Mike and Patti Sherlock, has been notably hush-hush about plans.

And in true Seattle style, when the distillery finally revealed itself, it did so quietly and nerdily. Last Saturday, the first tours of its luxe-looking HQ at 132 N Canal Street were offered to 750 treasure hunters during a Groundspeak geocaching party, according to Patti.

The distillery and tasting room are “almost ready to open,” but Patti says that the first public opportunity to try the products will be August 31, during the grand opening of the new upscale state liquor store at 4100 SW Alaska Street in West Seattle. (The store is one of the 30 tapped for the pilot program to test spirit sampling in state stores, according to West Seattle Blog.)

“Most of our spirits and a sampling of our products will be there,” Patti revealed yesterday evening in an email. So if you head to the new hooch emporium on the 31st, you can try “Fremont Mischief whiskey, gin, and vodka,” and check out the distillery’s “cocktail kits, vintage leather cases with a dirty martini kit, and more.”

Look for more Mischief info coming soon.

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Tags: Fremont, West Seattle, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report

Update: The Status of Sun Liquor’s Gin

With packaging approved, the product should be for sale soon.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 27, 2011 at 08:31AM 0 Comments

Where the magic happens: Sun Liquor Distillery and Lounge

Photo: Jessica Voelker

When Sun Liquor Distillery and Lounge opened last spring on East Pike Street, it had not yet finalized the recipe on the gin that it planned to sell under the Sun Liquor label.

Since then, however, it has. And, according to Erik Chapman, who manages both the new bar and the original Sun Liquor on Summit Avenue, the state has approved its bottle and label.

“They came out so cool,” says Chapman. (Both he and his boss, owner Michael Klebeck, are total design geeks.) With that tricky step completed, “we should be able to start bottling very soon,” says Chapman. Ultimately, Klebeck and Chapman hope to sell Sun Liquor’s gin in liquor stores around the country as well as at the East Pike Street HQ.

Tastings at the distillery will be heavily regulated, of course—the LCB has serious restrictions on how much you can sample, buy, etc, and a distillery/bar hybrid is a new animal for the regulating body. Should be interesting to watch how it all works out.

Chapman promises to share more details as they become available.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Gin, Microdistilleries

Dry Fly About to Release Washington’s First Bourbon

Production is extremely limited, here’s how to get your hands on it.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 21, 2011 at 01:18PM 9 Comments

Dry Fly’s bourbon looks like this.

Spokane distillery Dry Fly will release 480 bottles of its bourbon, our state’s first legal batch since prohibition [or maybe not—see comments], at the end of this month.

Obviously, that’s not a lot of bottles. To get one, go to the distillery beginning (and probably ending) July 30 or the Interbay liquor store on August 6. Each location will get 240 bottles.

And there is a third option: Dry Fly is doing a charity auction/release party on August 5 at the Mayflower Park Hotel in downtown Seattle. It will auction off a whiskey kit with a bottle, glassware, etc. and 10 people will win the chance to have a bottle set aside for them for purchase. Tickets are $75; reserve by emailing DryFly@evadopr.com.

You may be thinking: But doesn’t bourbon have to be made in Kentucky? The answer is no. That would be Kentucky bourbon. Straight bourbon does have to be made in the USA and the mash has to contain at least 51 percent corn. It can’t be over 160 proof. It also has to age in a barrel for at least two years. I believe any type of barrel is okay, I’m sure if I’m wrong about that someone will let me know. [Sure enough, I was wrong. It has to be new charred oak. See comments.]

Dry Fly’s bourbon was aged for three years in American oak with 100 percent Washington ingredients. It’s made from 60 percent corn, 20 percent malted barley, and 20 percent wheat. According to the distillery it has a “bold palate appeal and strong finish with hints of Madagascar vanilla plus cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and dried orange peel.”

It will retail for $64.95.

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Tags: Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Bourbon

Sidetrack Distillery Opens Saturday

The tasting room will also be pouring on the Fourth.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 30, 2011 at 01:28PM 2 Comments

Freedom juice! Celebrate the fourth with berry liqueurs from Sidetrack Distillery in Kent.

I just got word from part-owner Linda Person that Sidetrack Distillery is finally ready to open its tasting room to the public.

Beginning July 2, you can visit the distillery’s tasting room at Lazy River Farms in Kent to sample and buy berry liqueurs made from the fruit that grows there. The Persons—Linda and her husband Larry—used to run the farm as a u-pick operation, and they encourage distillery visitors to picnic among the berry bushes. There are tables on the premises designed for such purposes.

Person says the tasting room will usually be open weekends only, but an exception is being made for the holiday. So if you’re still looking for something to do on Monday the Fourth of July, well, I think you should bring a picnic to the berry farm where there’s booze.

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Tags: Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Liqueurs