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Hello Richmond Drammers!
You’re invited to join us for another tasting of rare whiskey and spirits on Wednesday, July 8th at 7pm. A big thank you to Wolf for hosting us again (address: 41 Libbie Ave, Richmond 23226). We’ve assembled a great lineup, a fun mix of Bourbon, Scotch, Japanese and Irish whiskies, and a couple of ready-to-drink cocktails from one of the most experimental distilleries in the world.
Russell's Reserve 13yo 2025. Funny things happen at the end of June, which is the fiscal year-end for some of the distributors and spirits companies out there. Sometimes they suddenly need to get something they've been sitting on off their books, and we're guessing that may have happened here, when out of nowhere we were offered an additional allocation of one of the hottest bourbon bottlings from last year -- the 2025 Russell's Reserve 13yo. We weren't about to turn that down! A nice warm up as we are about to announce the release of this year's Russell's bottling. 61.9% abv.
That Boutique-y Whisky Co. - 21yo Japanese Whisky (Batch 3). One of the more exciting independent bottlers out there, but sadly it left the US market pre-covid. Interestingly the issue was mostly bottle size -- in the rest of the world, they release in predominantly 500ml bottles, a size that until recently was not permitted in the US. Now that the US has just approved this as a bottle size, will they return? We'll see, but we were intrigued at the timing when last week we were offered a stash of these earlier bottlings they did in 375ml size bottles. 47.4% abv.
That Boutique-y Whisky Co. - 15yo Irish Single Malt, Batch 5. Another one that just fell in our lap. We can't say for sure, but likely from Cooley or Bushmills. 46% abv.
Booker's 2026-01 ("Big Easy Batch"). Released in March, this was aged for 7 years, 2 months and 15 days. 77% corn, 13% rye and 10% malted barley. Reportedly a combination of barrels pulled from 5 different production dates/warehouses. 64.55% abv.
Kilchoman - STR Single Cask (Drammers Pick). As we get ready for our upcoming online event with the Kilchoman Distillery, we thought it would be a good time to revisit this single cask our club selected, matured in one of Jim Swan's famous "Shaved, Toasted and Recharred" barrels (or STR). The whisky was bottled about 1 month short of 10 years old, and if you're not familiar with Kilchoman, we'll get into it at the event, but they were the first new distillery on Islay in over 100 years when they were launched just under 20 years ago. Cask #2011/227, 14 month STR finish, 50 PPM / 53.4% abv
Empirical Can #1. Empirical is one of the most creative and unusual spirits companies out there. Trying to categorize the drink is basically impossible, with a core range of releases distilled from obscure oaxacan peppers to the pits of plums. They have released a couple canned drinks -- which amount to essentially ready-made cocktails, and that felt like a good fit for the Summer. CAN 01 is part of their ready-to-drink collection that was born in cooperation with Sasha Wijidessa from Singapore cocktail bar Operation Dagger. CAN 01 is a delicately fizzy drink that's crafted with green gooseberry and flowery oolong tea mingling with toasted birch and pomelo zest notes. Bottled at 20 proof, no sugar has been added and this artisanal cocktail is gluten-free as well as vegan. Great for a summer picnic in nature or just a relaxed night with friends.
Empirical Can #2. To develop CAN 02, Empirical Spirits connected with Sasha Wijidessa from Singapore cocktail bar Operation Dagger. With an ABV of 8%, the spirit base of beet molasses and Belgian saison yeast is then flavored with cold-infused sour cherry juice, sour cherry spirit, keemun black tea cold brew, blackcurrant bud spirit, walnut wood tea, walnut wood spirit, pine cone kombucha and maqaw pepper spirit. No sugar has been added.
Plus one more surprise pour!
That’s our lineup, we hope you can join us! We’ll order in light food which is included in your ticket (likely pizza) and as always we ask that everyone arrange a ride home — after all, we’ll be drinking a bunch of high proof stuff.
Cheers,
Charlie, Wolf, Giao and Drammers Club