Guest post! It’s been a couple of years since our last guest blog by Shane Kinloch, but we have another opportunity. Bill Feher, longtime friend of Scotchology, recently traveled to Tuscon, AZ and had a chance to visit Hamilton Distillers, makers of Whiskey Del Bac. He was so enthused upon his return that it felt almost mean for us not to offer a platform to voice his experience. Bill currently resides in Pittsburgh where, beyond sipping whiskey, writing and hiking, he is also an accomplished woodworker. But in the meantime, let’s check out what he thought about his Tuscon odyssey and if he found anything to bring back with him!
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The Arizona Desert is an unforgiving place, and if all the old westerns that were made in Old Tuscon can be believed, it’s also not the place where you might expect to find quality whiskey. The folks at Hamilton Distillers will prove all of your expectations wrong.
Whiskey Del Bac, named after La Mission San Xavier Del Bac, brings a dram of forgiveness back to the desert, and when you taste it, you will walk away with some newfound respect for Tucson and Hamilton Distillers.
I was lucky enough to be visiting the area this past spring for a wedding and, of course, Saturday is the only day the folks at Hamilton were giving tastings. If you never ask, the answer is “no”, so I called them up and left a message. Sure enough, owner/founder Stephen Paul called me back and we set up a time to come in. This was off to a great start, and if we got lucky, maybe there would be something fun to taste.
And taste we did. The Del Bac Classic, the Dorado, The Distiller’s Cut, and the Old Pueblo were on the bar, and Stephen took us through them all. To say that all are worth sipping is an understatement – all four offer a unique expression of American whiskey, flavored with the Southwest’s own special mesquite. Yes, Hamilton Distillers smokes their own malt, and they do it using mesquite timber. From the beginning to the end, they do all of the process, making their single malt in the Scottish style, with American flair.
Of those we tasted, the one I purchased is the one featured in Scotchology’s Tour of the US, Whiskey Del Bac’s “Dorado”.
Nose: sweet caramel giving way to smoky amber, a very dusty, woody aroma, with hints of leather and as advertised, even a little tobacco.
Palate: a little burn, cooled quickly by the taste of smoke. Holy crap, this tastes like a campfire in my mouth!! (I LOVE camping!!!)
Finish: mouth-watering, all of my nasal passages are filled, and I’m in heaven. That wonderful smoky aroma remains, with a hint of a touch on the tongue, letting you know you’ve had something special.
After several samples over a period of a couple months: nothing has changed here. Even with the inevitable oxidation that sometimes ruins good flavors, this whiskey remains true to itself, and to the city of Tucson.
My take: for the price range of about $58, you can find many different things, but not many that are better examples of American whiskey. If good scotch can be described as an “angel in a kilt giving you a hug,” (and yes, I’ve heard that term used 🙂 ) then this is that angel’s cowboy friend and they are playing a game of “one-upmanship.” And the angel is losing. This is as near as I have come to American whiskey perfection, blending everything you love about bourbon with everything you love about scotch.
And that, my friends, is just the beginning of what Hamilton Distilleries offers. The rest of the Whiskey Del Bac line – particularly the Old Pueblo – are wonderful examples of craft distilling. I can’t wait to have their product in stores near me.
A special thanks to Stephen Paul and the crew at Hamilton Distillers, and especially to the dogs that played around us the entire time!! PLEASE – keep doing what you’re doing!!!!!
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Thanks Bill! If you’d like to check out a little more of what Bill writes in his spare time, head over here (hint: a lot of poetry!). If you can think of a decent reason to write up guest post, or if you’d like to have any of us as guests on your platform, please reach out.
