Lost Spirits New Rapid Aged Abomination Whiskeys Come To Market

The first two new whiskeys in a long time from California cult whiskey maker Lost Spirits and its owner Bryan Davis, which we first wrote about this past August, have now begun appearing at retail. Both are the result of a mix of old world spirit and new age technology.

Davis is known, for better or for worse, for the THEA rapid aging technology he developed to quickly move along the development process of young rum and whiskey to give it an equivalent tasting experience of something much older. His journey in recent times with THEA and partners has taken some twists and turns, and nowadays you’ll find him at his rather umm, unique, new distillery he’s built out in Los Angeles.

Now, given my previously stated feelings on the use of rapid aging versus traditional aging, I’ll spare you the soap box speech yet again. Instead, I’m going to describe these new variants of Abomination – dubbed “The Crying of the Puma” and “The Sayers of the Law” – from the news writing perspective.

In the meanwhile we’ve also secured a bottle of each of these and will be reviewing them shortly, comparing them against some more traditionally aged American single malts produced under the Lost Spirits banner back in its older incarnation. In the spirit of fairness I’ve assigned them to one of our more senior reviewers for a fresher perspective.

Abomination “The Crying of the Puma”

• imported peated (55 ppm) new make spirit from Scotland
• enhanced aging from THEA technology
• mingled with late harvest riesling seasoned, toasted oak staves
• 54% ABV
• Official tasting notes:
  • Nose: Opens with seductive marmalade and exotic fruits, antiseptic bandages, and a hint of seaweed, evolving into smoked apricot candy and coffee.
  • Palate: Starts out with sweet, lush, ripe stone fruit, warm buttered and salted stewed apricots, bordering on desert before transitioning to a rich peaty, but not smoky, iodine.
  • Finish: Releases a puff of smoke on the way down with a long lingering semi-sweet finish of smoked apricots.  Leaves a lasting memory similar to a femme fatale from film noir, if that description could be used for a whisky.

Abomination “The Sayers of the Law”

• imported, peated (55 ppm) new make spirit from Scotland
• enhanced aging from THEA technology
• mingled with late harvest riesling seasoned, charred oak staves
• 54% ABV
• Official tasting notes:
  • Nose: Opens with smouldering embers and cola, pipe tobacco smoke, and a hint of flan and  apricot.
  • Palate: Classic Islay, sweet band aids, and campfire punctuated by caramel and a curious fruity note enveloped in smoke.
  • Finish: Sweet and long with apricots, dates, chocolate cherries vanilla custard and gobs of pipe tobacco and leather bound books.  Like dessert in a British library.