The SOMM Journal

April / May 2018

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{ SOMMjournal.com }  95 Audiophilic Aging CALIFORNIA-BASED SPIRIT WORKS DISTILLERY SERENADES ITS BARRELS FOR GOOD VIBRATIONS Timo and Ashby Marshall, the team behind Spirit Works in Sebastopol, California, had heard that there was potential for increasing the interaction between whiskey and wood during the aging process by adjusting factors like temperature, humidity, and movement. They'd even heard that some companies put their barrels on ships during the aging process to somehow capitalize on the rise and fall of the waves. Rather than go the seafaring route, the Marshalls instead decided to experiment with musical vibrations. For each piece or artist they selected, they took two barrels of the same distillate, aging one according to their normal practices while the other spent three years "listening" to that music on a constant loop. Ultimately, Ashby says, the winners were the barrels listening to "The Nutcracker" symphony and a bluegrass band called The Devil Makes Three. "People notice big differences in the music barrels," adds Ashby, who selected "The Nutcracker." "There is variety among barrels themselves, but there are pretty strong differences between the whiskies when tasted side by side." She speculates that the dramatic sifts between high and low tones in the sym - phony had something to do with the quality of the resulting whiskey. Though their experimentally-aged ryes are only available in Spirit Works' tasting room, the Marshalls have no plans to stop the music. They're currently aging spirits in barrels "listening" to the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, Daft Punk, and Led Zeppelin. Ice Ice Baby LUXURY ICE IS THE YEAR'S COLDEST HOTTEST TREND The establishment of "ice programs" at bars and restaurants is nothing new: For years now, venues with upscale cocktail programs have understood that seemingly-minor aesthetics like quality ice, hand-cut blocks, and high-end cubes can set them apart from their competitors. Recently, though, the craft ice trend has evolved even further with the onset of branded cubes. At the NoMad Hotel in New York, for example, bar staff use a weighted copper stamp to emblazon the five-star venue's stylish logo on their cocktails' house-produced cubes. On the West Coast, Southern California–based Ice Bulb is one member of a growing group of luxury producers crafting small-batch ice in a major way. Ice Bulb's facility uses a reverse-osmosis water system to create crystal-clear, machine-cut ice that's shaped, filled with snow, and fused back together before it's shipped to accounts across the country. The company's designer cubes even hit the red carpet in March at the 90th annual Academy Awards, where they filled the drinks of the rich and famous with the likeness of the awards' Oscar statuette. The NoMad Hotel logo is emblazed on the ice inside the Start Me Up cocktail at the hotel's New York establishment. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NOMAD HOTEL Hollywood's favorite statue graced the inside of celebrities' glasses at the 90th annual Academy Awards, thanks to Southern California ice décor company Ice Bulb. PHOTO COURTESY OF ICE BULB. PHOTO COURTESY OF SPIRIT WORKS A barrel "listens" to music in the Spirit Works barrel room.

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