Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/961311
{ SOMMjournal.com } 7 THE CAVIAR VODKA $150 (Only 2,500 bottles produced) We rinsed our glasses as we were given a spoonful of Petrossian caviar to pair with, fittingly enough, Boisset's caviar- infused vodka. "We thought the earth was great; let's go in the ocean," he quipped, adding that the spirit was "extremely com - plicated to craft." As they experimented with different ratios, Boisset said the guiding question they referred back to was, "What should caviar smell and taste like?" They focused on the flavor found inside the egg and worked backward, monitoring the amount closely. I'll admit I was skeptical. I had no desire to try a fishy, briny vodka, yet after one inhale, all my doubts melted in a bouquet of verbena and vanilla cupcakes as if someone had opened a pack of lemon Girl Scout Cookies. The creamy, delicate caviar eggs burst with sweet, savory salinity reminiscent of a Brillat-Savarin cheese; alongside the vodka, they were transcendent. "It's preci - sion, it's excitement, and it has that umami feel," Boisset said. THE TRUFFLE VODKA $150 (Only 2,500 bottles produced) Boisset told me that as his team conceptualized which spirits to produce, the JCB Truffle Vodka was one of the first infusions they sought to make. "We thought, what would pair best with these grapes? The obvious is mush - rooms in general," explained Boisset, adding that he's also considering a morel-infused vodka. To produce the Truffle Vodka, Périgord black truffles are infused with the base spirit in a patented process. During the tasting, the truffle was less obvious than I expected— possibly due to the infusion of real truffles verses a syn - thetic flavoring (which is used for most truffle products, like infused olive oil). The subtlety begged for a deeper inhalation, and although the aromas and flavors distinctly emanated truffles, there was still a sense of discovery. The aromas, meanwhile, transported the senses: Damp, black soil and white pepper evolved into a sweet, savory display mingled with hints of rose petals. "You smell the underwoods, you smell the leaves in the autumn, and you smell that incredible soil," Boisset said. DELIVERING "ULTIMATE LUXURY" TO THE SPIRITS SPHERE Although a price tag of $125–$150 for a bottle of vodka or gin makes JCB Spirits an ultra-premium product line, it's also a value consider- ing the extravagant ingredients used. Distillation generally yields only 20–40 percent of the base mash—in this case, Burgundian wine—and multiple distillations will also result in greater evaporation. In that regard, each bottle of finished spirit requires the equivalent of several bottles of wine to produce. Boisset says that while production is extremely limited, the hope is to grow to 1,000 cases of each spirit. "We wanted to bring ultimate luxury to vodka by the ingredients we use, by how we make it, and by the emotion it brings you," he explained, adding that he views the lineup as representative of an imminent trend in the industry—a trend they hope to pioneer, regardless of cost. "Economically, it's our belief that this changes the spectrum of the world of spirits," he reflected.