Corsair Wildfire
Since its founding in 2008, Corsair has been making creative spirits on the cutting edge of American craft distilling. In the early years, like many young distilleries, Corsair had to outsource part of the process. Introduced in 2015, the Corsair Wildfire is their first “grain to glass” offering, meaning the distillery handles every part of the production process. The barley is grown on a farm in Tennessee owned by the distillery and is smoked with hickory, a wood often associated with southern BBQ.
Talisker Dark Storm
Released in 2013 as a travel retail exclusive, the Talisker Dark Storm is a direct sibling to the Talisker Storm. The difference here, besides a larger bottle size, is that the casks used to age the whisky are heavily charred. The differences between the regular Storm and this one lead us to wonder if there are any age differences between the two or other factors besides the charring. Because Talisker is operated by Diageo, who are can be very opaque with product details, not many details of any kind are known about the whisky.
Whiskey Del Bac Dorado
Whiskey Del Bac began production in 2013 in Tuscon, AZ. Founded by Stephen Paul and his daughter Amanda, the distillery is perhaps best known for their mesquite usage. Asking the very valid question of why barley couldn’t be smoked with the American Southwest’s native mesquite tree much like peat is used in Scotland and Ireland, Whiskey Del Bac has found resounding success since releasing their lineup, both in sales and industry awards. They are also a grain-to-glass distillery, using as many native elements in their production as possible. Named after the local Mission San Xavier del Bac, Del Bac Dorado represents everything we love about American craft whiskey, from the local sourcing to the experimentation to the crafting of a spirit unique to a place and people.