n TASTE
From left: Yvette Rincon, Charmaine Magale,
Christy Decelle and Hola Motuapuaka toast
with a drink of Legado Whiskey at Revival at
The Sawyer in Sacramento.
onsite. Though the new law has no effect
on rents or the permit process, Magale is
hopeful.
“Gov. Brown said he was hoping to
open things up for craft distilleries, so it
may get easier over time,” she says. Gov.
Gavin Newsom has not made any public
statements regarding distilleries, but he
may have a soft spot for the spirits indus-
try; his multimillion-dollar fortune grew
out of a wine and spirits shop he opened
in San Francisco in 1992.
For now, Legado sources rye whiskey
at barrel proof — a fiery 60 percent alco-
hol by volume — and finishes it at Loch
& Union, a distillery in Napa Valley that
makes its own malt whiskey and bottles
outside brands. Loch & Union adds water
to the whiskey to bring it to a palatable
strength and pours it into Legado’s sig-
nature sleek bottles, which come from a
glass manufacturer in Fairfield.
Legado is available in about 40 lo-
cations, including Raley’s, Select Wine
and Spirits and Taylor’s Market, and
Motuapuaka is pushing to enter mar-
kets in Nevada and the Bay Area, as well
in Asia and the Middle East. The owners
34
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have run demos in Hong Kong, Taiwan
and the Philippines, and their whiskey
will be for sale at the World Expo 2020 in
Dubai this October, she says.
Even as they gain a following in far-
away markets, the owners of Legado
have not lost their hometown loyalty.
Since their launch, they have run tast-
ing events at locations such as the Mix
Downtown and de Vere’s Irish Pub and
gained coveted shelf space at a dozen
bars and restaurants in the Sacramento
area. “Our goal is to become a staple in
our hometown,” Motuapuaka says.
The Legado owners also intend to fol-
low through on their goal to distill their
whiskey in Sacramento using locally
grown ingredients. They’re learning as
much as they can from local distillers,
including Baughman, who gave the Le-
gado team a tour of his distillery in June.
Though Baughman is wary of the diffi-
culties that might face a distillery in the
city of Sacramento, he didn’t discourage
the owners from taking that route. “I rec-
ommended that they go with whatever is
comfortable for them,” he says.
In the meantime, the four owners
are keeping their day jobs while build-
ing the Legado brand.
“This is still a passion project,” says
Magale, who feels equally passionate
about her chiropractic office and has no
plans to step away from it. “We want to
send a message to other people that you
can find the time to do what you want.”n
Jennifer Fergesen is a freelance writer who
covers food and the stories behind it. Born
in New Jersey, she has written for publica-
tions around the world, including in Ice-
land and the United Kingdom. Read more
at jcfrgsn.journoportfolio.com.
Have you turned a passion
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