(Used to Be) Summer Solstice Whiskey

The whiskey formerly known as Summer Solstice. Oxidative, jammy, dark fruit fruity. Supremely sip-able. And a story. Whiskey, we are learning - in beautiful and painful and sad and wonderful ways - is a keeper of time. A ledger, a story teller, and a bit of a clock. In our basement, we have barrels named appropriate to the time. A song that was on heavy repeat. A news event. A film. A loved one. A new pet. A new kid. An inside joke. Pulling a sample, reading the name on the barrel - it ignites memories in an incredible way. We all know that smell and taste are the senses that light up memory like no other. But - when sampling whiskey. It grows WITH you. This is the part that is surprising. It stays familiar - from the cuts you made on the still to the point you put it in a bottle. It is familiar - it stirs all of the memories from when it was made, but it somehow grows with you.

And so it is so hard to separate what this whiskey was built on from what it objectively is as a spirit. So strange that we call it a spirit…sheesh. But - objectively, this whiskey is lovely. It is rich and generous, with a sweet and very satisfying nose of malt and sherry. Then, on the palate, it lives up to all of that. The oxidative note is nutty, complex, just a tiny touch savory. But - it just really shines in its delightful sweetness. It is end of the night I’ll have a pour for dessert delightful. A whiskey nerd would call it a “Sherry Bomb”, but it isn’t so basic - you sit with it and the layers of dark chocolate and coffee peek out to remind you who distilled it. This is how this whiskey tastes. 

But - it wouldn’t be here without this wild experience we all shared. You see - during COVID, we couldn’t get barrels and we couldn’t get glass bottles. There was a lot that we couldn’t. So, what was supposed to be an annual release sat in the barrel waiting for glass. And, two years later we could get glass. But - then we were trying to catch up, and so it sat for another year. But starting back up with the annual release felt contrived.

We bottled it all.

Now when sampling this whiskey I’m brought back to one of the hardest times, but also most beautiful. Overwhelmingly, people were so kind and patient. It brings me back to frozen pizzas and pints from In Boca al Lupo, wagons of canned hand sanitizer, driving down Egan with no traffic, epic outdoor gatherings, and watching the community community. 

Look - probably a lot of you have noticed I (Brandon) has been around a little less (but now a little more, these days) after COVID. It was hard. I remember going into it with a goal of keeping all of our staff, and keeping them safe. I was stoic - maybe even jovial at times. And I remember telling Maura that when it was done, I knew I would crash. Well. I’m starting to be done with the crash. And ready to start rolling out gems like this. They are wonderful, and so is their history and story. I really hope you enjoy this release, it is incredibly special and Amalga Distillery is wildly proud of it. The label is from our dear friend Eric and printed by our favorite, Valhalla Studios. If you get a bottle, please share it with friends - especially this Summer Solstice.