Copper Cane IslaCalifa 5 Year Cherrywood
Joe Wagner and Kyle Stroud founded Copper Cane Spirits in 2014. Joe Wagner is a fifth-generation winemaker from Nappa Valley, and Copper Cane began by distilling apple brandy before expanding into whiskies. They pay particular attention to the local grains selected for their offerings, wanting to lean into what the state of California has to offer, much like the terroir-driven ethos often found in wine making. The IslaCalifa is a 5 year single malt named after Califa, the ficitional queen of an island found in the popular 16th cenutry novel Las Sergas de Esplandian. When the first Spanish explorers first reached the Baja penninusula of California, they wondered if they’d reached the same paradise and thus named it after the fictional queen. IslaCalifa is grown using Northern California two-row barley that is smoked using cherry wood, and aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels before being finished for 1 month in Forté wine barrels.
Method and Madness Virgin Hungarian Oak
The Method and Madness brand was launched a number of years ago as the experimental lab at Midleton distillery. Mildeton is the starting point for a number of familiar Irish whiskey brands, and this lab is a place where the different masters and apprentices can come together and share knowledge and ideas. The result is an exploration of many variants in Irish whiskey, from single grain to single malt to pot still, but using elements that are rarely seen. It’s a place to push the envelope and take risks to discover something new. Most of these elements, at least so far, are featured as different cask finishes. The Method and Madness Virgin Hungarian Oak is a single pot still whiskey finished for an undisclosed amount of time in virgin Hungarian oak casks.