J. Carver Distillery Launches Etiquette Whiskey Distilled From A Single Malt

J. Carver Distillery Launches Etiquette Whiskey Distilled From A Single Malt

After aging more than four years in new and used charred oak barrels, J. Carver Distillery of Waconia is proud to announce the limited release of its first whiskey distilled from a single strain of malted barley - Etiquette Whiskey.

“The overwhelming majority of whiskey produced and consumed in America is based on non-malted grains such as corn, rye and wheat. Bourbon dominates the market, although the rye whiskey category is growing very rapidly and wheat whiskies are just starting to catch fire. The emerging market for craft distilleries in America is single malt whiskey, which is based exclusively on malted barley and produced on-site by a single distillery”, stated Bill Miller, a Founder of J. Carver Distillery. “This single malt whiskey was developed in collaboration with our friends at BSG, a subsidiary of Rahr Malting based in Shakopee, Minnesota”, continued Miller, “is based on a single strain of malted barley, was aged in new and used J. Carver Bourbon barrels, has not been chill-filtered, and has been bottled at cask strength. The combination of these factors assures that this single malt whiskey maximizes the richness and complexity of the malted barley and J. Carver Bourbon barrels, and the uniqueness of our distillation techniques.”

 “We are very excited to be entering the single malt whiskey category”, followed Gina Holman, Founder and Managing Partner of J. Carver Distillery. “Many of our customers have been asking us when we will introduce this product, and although production is limited to fewer than 500 bottles, they will be available to scotch-lovers and whiskey aficionados for the holidays. Etiquette is a distinctive whiskey with flavors of dried fruit, red currant, bright citrus, spices, malted cereal, butterscotch, and nougat. The unique character of this whiskey is heavily influenced by hand-selected oak barrels from our barrel room in Waconia, MN. When drinking with friends, make sure to pour their drink first. It’s proper etiquette understood by connoisseurs throughout the world.”

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Etiquette Whiskey - Distilled From A Single Malt Tasting Notes:

Color: Mahogany

Aroma: Sweet nose, butterscotch, toffee, citrus, and dried fruits.

Mouth-Feel: Smooth and balanced, elegant for a Cask Strength Whiskey.

Flavor: An amazing balance of sweetness and spice. Rich with intriguing flavors of dried fruit, red currant, bright citrus, spices, malted cereal, butterscotch, caramel, and nougat. 

Finish: Long, elegant finish.  

Newly released J. Carver Distillery Etiquette Whiskey - Distilled From A Single Malt is available for wholesale purchase exclusively through St. Paul-based distributor The Wine Company Minnesota. Consumers can search the store finder at www.jcarverdistillery.com for retailers by city or zip code available mid-November including South Lyndale Liquors, Zipps Liquors, Hennepin Lake, Solo Vino Bottle Shop, The Vintage Chanhassen, Shorewood Liquor, Dolce Vita, MGM Waconia, North Loop Wine & Spirits, Wayzata Wine & Spirits, Marshall Liquors, Harbor Wine & Spirits, Lowry Hill Liquors, Lakeside Wine + Spirits, Liquor Hutch, Delano Wine & Spirits, Lake Wine & Spirits, Good Time Liquors, Lunds & Byerlys Wines & Spirits – Woodbury, Northbound and Westbound Liquor Stores in Elk River, Brooklyn Center Liquor Store #1 and other fine spirit shops across the state as well as these fine restaurants including Sockdollager, Volstead House, Whiskey Inferno, Bourbon Butcher, Match Stix Restaurant & Spirits, Nicollet Diner, and Winchester & Rye Whiskey Lounge.

J. Carver Distillery Announces Cask Strength Spirits Availability

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Driven by increased interest from both whiskey lovers and leading mixologists, today J. Carver Distillery is announcing a full line of single barrel, cask strength spirits. Product availability is immediate at select retailers and restaurants across Minnesota.

“Our private barrel customers are increasingly seeking cask strength whiskies, which allow for greater flexibility for mixologists when creating unique craft cocktails”, said Bill Miller, a Founding Partner of J. Carver Distillery, located in Waconia. “With this introduction we are broadening the availability of our cask strength products of almost all J. Carver barreled products to all consumers”.

In addition to Cask Strength Brickyard Straight Bourbon and Runestone Straight Rye, which are already on the shelves at select retailers, Cask Strength J. Carver Bourbon Whiskey, Cask Strength J. Carver Rye Whiskey, Cask Strength J. Carver Wheat Whiskey, Wrath of Khanh Blended Whiskey and Cask Strength J. Carver Barrel Gin are now available. “We are excited to enhance our product line with these carefully-selected single barrel products in demand from our most discriminating customers”, said Gina Holman, a Founding Partner of J. Carver, “...and we are greatly appreciative of the collaborations and encouragement of several customers that have proven the usefulness of cask strength expressions of our unique grain-to-glass products.”

Wrath of Khanh Whiskey Now Available To Everyone!

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Today, J. Carver Distillery is proud to announce “Wrath of Khanh” Cask Strength Whiskey is now available to local whiskey aficionados at select local retail partners, including Solo Vino and Henry & Son.

When passionate, creative minds collaborate, great things happen. With its renowned Chef and Owner Hai Truong, Ngon Vietnamese Bistro is a destination eatery on University Avenue in Saint Paul known for incredible and creative Asian fusion cuisine and unique craft cocktails based on locally-sourced ingredients. J. Carver Distillery, located on Highway 5 in the small lake town of Waconia is known for a broad line of unique, grain-to-glass spirits based on locally-sourced grains, juices and barrels. Both had a healthy appetite for local collaborations with a variety of suppliers to the hospitality industry, so a collaboration made sense.

A couple years ago, Ngon Bistro became J. Carver’s launch customer for its Cask Strength J. Carver Rye Whiskey, which became a staple at Ngon Vietnamese Bistro. While visiting to pick out another private barrel, Hai expressed a desire to develop a completely unique whiskey with a unique label to be his “house” whiskey for its craft cocktails. Hai knew J. Carver was the perfect fit for his prized whiskey to be a reality. After tasting a variety of aging barrels with the J. Carver team after visiting the J. Carver Barrel house, he landed on a unique blend of J. Carver’s “Brickyard” Bourbon and “Runestone” Rye Whiskey. The popularity of the whiskey at the Ngon Bistro Bar has resulted in its retail rollout at select locations in the Twin Cities.

Perhaps disappointing to Star Trek fans everywhere, this whiskey “was created to bear the name Wrath Of Khanh” named after Hai’s now eight-year-old son, Khanh. His bed-head photo, having just arisen after a mid-day nap, graces its label. Not disappointing to those who know Khanh.

Now the collaborations won’t stop there. Some of the whiskey barrels were used to age Wrath of Khanh hot sauce used in several dishes at Ngon Bistro, while others are being used to age a unique Imperial Stout at Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater.

J. Carver Distillery Wrath Of Khanh Whiskey now available:

Wrath Of Khanh Cask Strength Whiskey Tasting Notes:

Color: Mahogany

Aroma: Sweet nose, caramel, toffee, orange blossom honey, and dried fruits

Mouth-Feel: Creamy, elegant for a Cask Strength Whiskey

Flavor: An amazing balance of sweetness and spice. Rich with intriguing flavors of toffee, caramel, cocoa nibs, burnt sugar, Cola, toasted pecans, dried cherries, plums, and dark fruits.

Finish: Long, elegant finish.

Discover J. Carver Distillery's Minnesota Rye Whiskey

Discover J. Carver Distillery's Minnesota Rye Whiskey

Minnesota is a significant producer of rye and our rye whiskies continue to put Minnesota distilleries on the map.  Spicier and more robust than other whiskies, rye whiskey is differentiated by its mash bill which must contain at least 51% rye. Our J. Carver Rye Whiskey has a mash bill of 70% local rye from Clear Lake, Minnesota, and 30% corn selected from local farms close to the distillery. 

J. Carver Distillery - Ringing In The New Year 2016

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Today is a day we gather around and celebrate the dawn of a sparkling New Year. May it bring gifts of joy, good health and time with friends and family gathering around the table celebrating traditions with good food and tasty libations. J. Carver Distillery has much to be thankful for in 2015.

A line up of J. Carver Specialty cocktails: J. Carver Rye Frisco, Mulled Cider and Apple Brandy, a spin on a  J. Carver French 75, Grimm Farm Bees Knees, Lake House Cosmo, and the J. Carver Barrel Gin Old Fashioned

A line up of J. Carver Specialty cocktails: J. Carver Rye Frisco, Mulled Cider and Apple Brandy, a spin on a  J. Carver French 75, Grimm Farm Bees Knees, Lake House Cosmo, and the J. Carver Barrel Gin Old Fashioned

We launched 9 new products this year including gin, grappa, apple brandy, and rye whiskey that were all aged in barrels coopered in Minnesota.  J. Carver Barrel Gin has quickly become the new darling of craft bartenders. We are humbled and grateful to Spoon and Stable, FireLake Grill House and Cocktail Bar at Mall of America, Coalition Restaurant in Excelsior, Lolo American Kitchen in Stillwater, and South Lyndale Liquor, all who purchased hand-selected barrels of J. Carver Barrel Gin this year. These fine restaurants are creating delicious eats and tasty drinks! If you are in their area, you must check them out and see what they are creating with J. Carver Barrel Gin. Bottled at 96 proof, we see enthusiasts enjoying drinking this gin straight and it is perfect in classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned (Check out the last issue of the Spirits of Discovery Blog for the recipe), Manhattan and Bees Knees. You can create these and other tasty cocktails this New Years with the recipes on our website and others listed below.

We are grateful to our distillery friends and fans who have stopped by our cocktail room for a tour and a taste and then went out to their local liquor stores to buy J. Carver products. A huge shout out to our partnering liquor stores and restaurants, without a blink, they brought in our newly released Marquette grappa, Apple Brandy, and Rye Whiskey all created with local fruit and grains. We are grateful for the collaboration with our local wineries in Waconia, local farmers, and Sponsel’s Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard to make these J. Carver products possible. 

Let’s raise a glass to the amazing accomplishments in 2015 and celebrate all that’s possible in 2016. From our J. Carver Distillery family, we thank you for the support and wish you and yours a very Happy New Year!

J. Carver Distillery Recipes:

Lake House Fig Martini

2 oz J. Carver Lake House Vodka

1 oz Fig Simple Syrup* (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 2-3 tablespoons fig preserves)

1 oz freshly squeezed lemon Juice

3 dashes orange bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain in a large coupe

Garnish with an orange wedge

Grimm Farm Bees Knees

2 oz J. Carver Grimm Farm Gin

3/4 oz lavender honey Simple Syrup

1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon Juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain in a martini glass

Garnish with a lemon peel

Rye Frisco

2 oz J. Carver Rye Whiskey

3/4 oz Turbinado Simple Syrup* (1 cup water, 1 cup demerara sugar)

3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon Juice

3 dashes orange bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain in a martini glass

Garnish with a lemon peel

Diamondback

1 1/2 oz J. Carver Rye Whiskey

3/4 oz J. Carver Apple Brandy

3/4 oz Ginger Simple Syrup* (1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons fresh ginger)

dash of orange bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain in a martini glass

Garnish with a lemon peel

Enjoy! And Yes, J. Carver Distillery Cocktail Room will be open during regularly scheduled hours for cocktails and tours and tastings this weekend. Bring in your friends and family to learn about our grain to glass approach to distillation. Looking forward to seeing you! Cheers!

Friday, January 1st: 3-8 pm

Saturday, January 2nd: 12-5 pm