Desert Dessert Whiskey Del Bac Arizona Single Malt
The Sophistication of Smoke
Named “BEST AMERICAN SINGLE MALT” at the Fall 2022 John Barleycorn Awards!
Smoked whiskies can be among the most elegant spirits. That’s certainly true for the mesquite-smoked whiskies made by Whiskey Del Bac in Southern Arizona. So when we went to Tucson, we wanted to shine a light on the elegance and sophistication of mesquite, a distinctly Southwestern take on the worldwide tradition of peated whiskies. Whiskey Del Bac harvests local mesquite wood and burns it in a custom smoker that pumps mesquite smoke through their barley during the malting process. This infuses their barley with the rich flavors of mesquite.
We collaborated closely with the Whiskey Del Bac team to create this unique release, designed to amplify the richer, sweeter notes inherent in mesquited whiskey. All of the whiskey in this release was made with Whiskey Del Bac’s classic mesquite-smoked mashbill–40% mesquite-smoked malted barley, 60% unsmoked. A portion of that whiskey was also finished in casks that previously held Sauternes, the famous French dessert wine, and Pineau des Charentes, the richly sweet French aperitif. These rare finishes bring rich depth and golden fruit flavors, resulting in a whiskey that is smoky, nuanced, and elegant. It has notes of roasted orange, apricot, sweet nectarine, and golden raisin. And we believe it has the elegance and depth to match the most complex peated single malts.
Proof: 113.8
Age: 1 year
Quantity produced: 450 bottles
Format: 750mL
Details: Cask strength; Non-chill filtered; no color added
Cask Details
- Mashbill — 60% Unsmoked Malted Barley – 40% Mesquited Malted Barley
- Barrel Entry Proof: 120
- Finishing Barrel Info — N/A
- Length of Secondary Maturation/Finishing — N/A
- Maturation Barrel Info
- Cask 1 – 15 gallon barrels from the Barrel Mill; char 3; medium plus toast
- Cask 2 – 15 gallon second-use American Oak for 1.5 years → Ex-Sauternes cask for 2 months
- Cask 3 – 15 gallon barrels from the Barrel Mill; char 3; medium plus toast → Ex-Pineau des Charentes cask for 3 months
- Type: Single Distillery
- Pour: Neat, on the rocks, or in a cocktail
- Glass: glencairn or rocks glass
AWARDS & SCORES
We submit a select number of our releases to an even more select group of whiskey competitions. And it’s safe to say the judges have really liked what they’ve tasted. Here are some of the awards we’ve won.
2022 John Barleycorn Awards
Best American Single Malt
About Whiskey Del Bac
Located in one of the hottest cities in the United States, Tucson, Arizona-based Whiskey Del Bac is a truly unique distillery. The distillery’s founder, Stephen Paul, used to make ornate furniture out of mesquite wood. Now, Whiskey Del Bac uses mesquite wood to smoke barley. This is a distinctly Southwestern take on the long worldwide tradition of smoked whiskies. Whiskey Del Bac’s mesquite-smoked whiskies (as well as its unsmoked whiskies) are all aged in the uniquely hot and dry climate of the Sonoran Desert, resulting in one of the country’s most distinctive American single malts.
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