Two Lands of Bounty Have Come Together
It was once said that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. When I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2003 with a degree in Biology, I had many plans for the future, none of which included my eventual move to Edinburgh, Scotland to pursue a Master of Science degree in Brewing & Distilling from Heriot-Watt University. Fast forward 5 years, and it was an unexpected job opportunity at Edgewood College that led to a chance introduction to Tom Porter the owner of Lake Louie Brewing–an introduction that steered my life's work in a completely new direction. As I reflect on how I ended up at this moment of having just released our first whiskey, an accomplishment 6 years in the making (10+ years if you count my time studying in Scotland), I find myself reflecting on how all my life experiences have contributed to arriving at this place.
When I first moved to Scotland, my plan had been to return to Madison to open a brewery; however, as I began studying the science and art of distillation, I began dreaming about opening my own distillery and making whiskey. Distilling whiskey is an undertaking like few others I have known. It requires foresight, patience, and a steadfast commitment to the process, which is to understand that complex whiskey takes time. It’s this waiting for whiskey to mature that provides a unique lens in which to view the passage of time. When our American Single Malt Whiskey went into barrel, my daughter Chloe was merely 6 months old. She is now 6.5 years old and has an energetic and talkative little sister named Elsie. My wife Deanna and I are approaching our 8 year anniversary, and my dog Shadow, who was a spry pup when the whiskey was laid down, is now an elderly statesman. So much has happened in the past six years, and yet it feels like yesterday that my Production Manager and I were testing different grains for our very first barrels of Single Malt Whiskey.
For our inaugural release, I wanted to combine barley sourced from the Driftless Region of Wisconsin with peated barley imported from Scotland to create a whiskey that celebrates these two important places and times in my life. The result is a beautiful whiskey that features notes of honey, pecans and dried stone fruit on the nose, balanced by subtle peat, toasted marshmallow and tobacco on the finish.
If you haven’t done so already, I hope you consider visiting the cocktail lounge to enjoy a pour of our American Single Malt Whiskey. I find the act of sipping on whiskey is a perfect opportunity to slow down and reflect on where life has taken us, despite our best laid plans.
See you at State Line!
Cheers,
John