Summer of Bourbon Road Trip: Lost Lantern Soaring Spice

Lost Lantern Summer of Bourbon Collection launches on July 26th, and we’ve been gearing up with a special virtual road trip. The Summer of Bourbon Collection shows that great bourbon comes from all across the United States, and the road trip has taken us to all the distilleries featured in the Collection. We started at Frey Ranch Distillery in Nevada. And today, we’re bringing things full circle and going back there. Last time, we talked about our Lost Lantern Frey Ranch single cask. Today, we’re returning to Frey Ranch to shine a light on the latest entry in our Single Distillery Series: Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a bourbon that shows the true depth and breadth of Frey Ranch.

Frey Ranch & Single Distillery Series Overview

Located in a uniquely arable valley in the Lake Tahoe watershed in northern Nevada, Frey Ranch is a multi-generation family farm. The Frey family has roots in the area dating back to when Nevada was a territory. One of the only estate distilleries in the country, the Fallon, Nevada-based distillery grows all its grains, for all of its whiskies, onsite. This results in a whiskey that truly reflects the unique climate of northern Nevada. See our post about the Lost Lantern Frey Ranch single cask for even more about Frey Ranch!

The Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series, which first launched earlier this year, is a new way of exploring whiskey from a single distillery (… hence the name!). Each release in the Single Distillery Series is a marriage of multiple casks all sourced from a single distillery. These whiskies allow us to deeply explore what makes a distillery unique and special, often by bringing together flavors in a new way and showing a new perspective on a distillery. The first three releases in the series are American Single Malts. Soaring Spice, our fourth release in the series, is the first bourbon Single Distillery Series release.

Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Bourbon Details

Frey Ranch is increasingly renowned for its rich and earthy style of straight bourbon whiskey. But the Single Distillery Series tries to shine a light on a different side of a distillery, beyond what they’re already famous for. We want to show that great distilleries have both depth and range.

So when we went to Frey Ranch in person in January 2023 to create this unique release, we created a marriage of four barrels that we specifically chose for their rich baking spice flavors. Although it’s made from Frey Ranch’s standard four-grain mashbill, the flavor profile of this release is quite distinct from their core release, showing just how much of an impact natural barrel variation and deliberate blending choices can make.

The big baking spice flavors and rich, balanced oak influence should make this whiskey speak to bourbon lovers of every stripe. We say all the time that distilleries in very different parts of the country should make whiskey that tastes very different than what comes from Kentucky. And that’s certainly true of Frey Ranch. But we blended this particular release to emphasize flavors that show just how versatile Nevada bourbon can be, emphasizing flavor notes that every bourbon lover will be familiar with. It still very much tastes like Frey Ranch, of course: we wouldn’t want it any other way. But it’s a different perspective, a different angle, and a way to explore unexpected flavors.

Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Cocktail Recipe: On The Shores Of Lake Lahontan

The drive to Fallon, Nevada to visit our friends at Frey Ranch is a dusty ride through the high desert. Along the way you can’t help but think about the ghost towns dotting the landscape, which strangely gets me craving a frosty mug of sarsaparilla. Maybe it was growing up going to the cowboy steakhouse in town as a birthday treat. This was the kind of place with peanut shells on the floor. A place where you wore your dad’s least favorite tie, simply so the staff would make a big deal about you breaking the “NO TIES” dress code. A posse would come to your table, creating a spectacle of cutting it off. Each of these special dinners started with an “authentic western” sarsaparilla soda, and so it was naturally the first place my mind went for mixing with Lost Lantern Soaring Spice. 

Our single distillery cocktails take their inspiration from the place where the whiskey was made. In this case we are paying homage to Lake Lahontan, the ancient lakebed that was situated in Fallon eons ago, before the farming community ever earned the nickname “the oasis of Nevada.”

Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Cocktail Instructions: On The Shores of Lake Lahontan

1.5 oz Lost Lantern Soaring Spice 

.5 oz Benedictine 

4 oz Sarsaparilla soda

Pinch of sea salt 

• Fill a frosty mug with ice and add Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Bourbon and Benedictine (this is a spicy herbal liqueur from France with notes of cinnamon, clove and ginger. If you don’t have a little bottle of this stuff behind your home bar don’t fret. What else do you have that tastes like an apple pie back there? Maybe cinnamon schnapps or an amaro of choice that is getting dusty? Have fun experimenting here.) 
• Stir both together and then add sasparilla to the top of the glass and top with a pinch of the good sea salt you’ve got in the kitchen and garnish with a thin peel of lemon.

-California State Manager Drew Record

Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Food Pairing

MAPLE BOURBON MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCES FOR CHARCUTERIE BOARDS 

I love a good charcuterie board. It’s an easy, elegant and delicious appetizer, or if you just want an adult snack plate, who are we to judge! You can use whatever combination of meats and cheeses you prefer. I like to use a mixture of both hard and soft cheeses, and a selection of various meats. Add fruit, nuts, olives, and toasts and you’re almost set. Don’t forget the dipping sauce because who doesn’t love to DIP! We’ve added a Maple Bourbon Mustard Dipping sauce made using Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey. It compliments the bourbon quite nicely! 

MAPLE BOURBON MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE FOR CHARCUTERIE BOARDS 

Yield: ¼ cup
Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Stone Ground Mustard, Dijon Mustard OR honey mustard
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon Lost Lantern Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Directions:
1. In a small bowl whisk together mustard, maple syrup and bourbon.
2. Serve as a dipping sauce on a charcuterie board.

-Marketing and Brand Manager Paula Jones

Lost Lantern Frey Ranch Music Pairing

What road trip, virtual or otherwise, would be complete without a playlist? California state manager Drew Record has curated a unique listening experience for your next trip to Frey Ranch… whether that’s across the Sierra Nevadas from California, across the arid open plains and deserts of Nevada, or just through a glass of whiskey in the comfort of your own home. And yes, unlike the recipe above, this is the same as the one for our single cask. Because the recipe is based on the whiskey, while the playlist is based on the distillery! Enjoy!

Lost Lantern Frey Ranch Virtual Road Trip Playlist [Spotify]

Frey Ranch Area Recommendations

For each of the distilleries in the virtual road trip, we solicited tips from the distillery team for what you should do if you decide to make your road trip not virtual and visit in person. Besides for, of course, visiting the distillery, here are some tips for a trip to Frey Ranch, straight from Ashley Frey:

“Some of our favorite activities while visiting Northern Nevada include lunch at the Slanted Porch (our favorite Farm-to-Table restaurant in Fallon), cocktails at Death & Taxes and a day trip to Lake Tahoe to see the crystal clear waters that flow through the Truckee River and make their way to the Frey Ranch.”

Having visited Frey Ranch three or four times ourselves, we wholeheartedly agree!