TASTE
California Distilled Spirits in Auburn represents a growing wave of distilleries in the Capital Region .
terms of the ethanol content ,” says Chris Johnson , a distiller at J . J . Pfister Distilling Company in Rancho Cordova . “ We typically barrel down around 120 proof , and we ’ ve been noticing when we check on the barrels that we ’ re going slightly up in proof . We think it ’ s concentrating flavors .”
Last March , J . J . Pfister debuted American Single Malt , a cask-strength , certified organic whiskey created in-house with malted barley from Admiral Maltings . They only produced four barrels , so it ’ s exclusive to the tasting room , but Single Malt is the first of many housemade whiskeys to come . “ We have a ton of stuff in barrels ,” Johnson says . “ When we first started , we didn ’ t know what we wanted to make , so we went a little crazy with our mash bills ” — the mix of grains used to make a spirit . Moving forward , J . J . Pfister will focus on making an organic high rye bourbon and a rye whiskey for mass production .
Dram the torpedoes
Dry Diggings Distillery owner and distiller Cris Steller is steeped in the history of the California craft spirits scene , especially since he ’ s one of the primary reasons the scene even exists . After opening in 2012 in El Dorado Hills , following years of licensing struggles , Steller helped form
the California Artisanal Distillers Guild , the trade group representing distillers statewide . “ We worked on getting legislation passed , getting some new licenses implemented , and just generally made it more conducive for somebody starting a distillery ,” Steller says .
Given its relative longevity , it ’ s not surprising that Dry Diggings offers the most extensive portfolio of whiskeys of any Sacramento-area distillery . Offerings include bourbons and ryes under the Engine 49 brand , the double-barrel-aged Rubicon Rye , and Bodie 5 Dog singlemalt whiskey . “ We tend to focus on the floral aspects of single-malt ,” Steller says . “ It ’ s a California expression of what single-malt could be . The fact that the grain is from here , and then the way that Loomis Basin ( Brewing ) helped us do the wash , it brought out a lot of big flavor characteristics of the grain .”
Steller rents part of Dry Diggings ’ building to New Alchemy Distilling , a small-batch business founded by Matt Sweeney and DJ Boyle . Sweeney and Boyle met in a biotech laboratory , and a spirit of experimentation is evident in New Alchemy ’ s spirits . White Devil Whiskey is a rye-heavy clear spirit aged in barrels for only one hour , just long enough to qualify as a whiskey while imparting minimal flavor and color from the wood .
“ I used to hate white whiskey ,” Sweeney says . “ Most of the white whiskeys on the market want to be bourbon . When you ’ re making a white whiskey , you should just be making a white whiskey on purpose .” New Alchemy studied how rum and tequila distilleries would employ different distillation processes for dark and light spirits , and they let that guide their experiments . “ I was surprised how well it sold . I did not think we would be making more than one batch of it , and we ’ re on our seventh or eighth .”
Upcoming New Alchemy whiskeys include Chimera , a cutting-edge spirit created with a proprietary method of drawing out grain aromas , and a whiskey made with unusual grains like red rice , heirloom corn and black rice from the Philippines . “ I think it ’ s important not to be too dogmatic in how you make things , and you should just make the products that you think taste good ,” he says .
Daniel Barnes is a freelance writer , film critic and beer enthusiast . His work has appeared in The Sacramento Bee , Sacramento News & Review , East Bay Express , Philadelphia Weekly , San Antonio Current , and elsewhere .
30 comstocksmag . com | August 2021