Ingredients & Formulations

Aquatic Botanicals

Many renowned spirits attach their pedigree to their water source, from Jack Daniel’s using Cave Spring Hollow’s limestone-filtered water to contrasts between whiskeys: Speyside distilleries in the Spey River watershed and the Lakes Distillery distilling the River Derwent having...

Gin, in the Australian Style

In the Summer 2016 issue of Distiller, the concept of Australian Gin, or Bush Gin, as a style in its own right was discussed. Since then, the research has been ongoing and has included a tasting of a wide...

Eye Candy

Color can become identity in the eye of the beholder. We look at a bottle, and the color registers more as a feeling than a thought. We instantly recognize an old friend on the shelf by the label and,...

Book Reviews

Shots of Knowledge: The Science of Whiskey Rob Arnold and Eric Simanek Fort Worth: TCU Press, 2016 160 pages ISBN: 9780875656540 $35.00 Rob Arnold and Eric Simanek are the authors of Shots of Knowledge: The Science of Whiskey. Arnold was born in Louisville and is...

Spice up your rum

Spiced rum is the beach in a bottle, a dash of pirate in a cocktail, or a sophisticated and eminently palatable spirit to sip. With this wealth of guises it is no surprise that spiced rum is increasingly popular....

Apple Brandy

Various ‘testimonials’ could be gathered showing that George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Fox and other personages either made, drank, or sold apple brandy or did all three or express themselves upon the merits of it, but it...

Bring Back the Medicine

As imbibers, we saunter up to a bar and ask for our medicine with a sagacious smirk. The bartender knows what we mean. Libations have been affectionately referred to as “medicine” for as long as they have existed. From...

Four Book Reviews from Winter 2016 Distiller

The Cocktail Chronicles: Navigating the Cocktail Renaissance with Jigger, Shaker & Glass Paul Clark Nashville: Spring House Press, 2015 200 pages ISBN 9781940611174 $24.95 Paul Clarke is Executive Editor of Imbibe magazine, author of the drinks blog The Cocktail Chronicles, and writer of numerous articles...

Fall 2016 Book Reviews

Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari: 500 Bitters, 50 Amari, 123 Recipes for Cocktails, Food and Homemade Bitters Mark Bitterman Andrew McMeel Publishing, 2015 216 pages ISBN 9781449470692 $25.00 Mark Bitterman is the author of Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari: 500 Bitters,...

Clairin

In the world of distillation, there are a number of spirits that have a reputation for being rustic, unrefined and raw. Examples include crude fruit or cane spirits often known generically as aguardiente or aguardente in Spain, Portugal and...