Hotaling & Co. recently announced the re-launch of its whiskey brand Old Potrero Straight Rye.
The new Old Potrero will see new packaging and a bottle design geared towards what’s seen by the brand as the contemporary whiskey drinker, looking for a nod to its iconic heritage with a modern-day appeal.
Originally created by Fritz Maytag, the founder of Hotaling & Co., (formerly Anchor Distilling), Old Potrero Rye Whiskey is seen now an homage to the original artisanal whiskies of America, and a return of pot-distilled whiskey in the United States.
Since 1994, the whiskey has been distilled in small copper pot stills at the San Francisco-based distillery, and in 2010 was passed down to current Master Distiller Bruce Joseph, who has worked alongside Fritz since the first barrels were laid in the early 1990s.
“We are thrilled to usher Old Potrero into a new era,” Joseph said in a prepared statement. “With the same bold liquid within, Old Potrero’s new packaging and bottle embody the boldness of its home-base, San Francisco. A city that’s resilient, creative and richly historic, just like Old Potrero.”
The packaging redesign features a dark wooden top with a natural cork stopper stamped with Old Potrero branding.
The bottle’s perforated edges and ticket-style copy holding devices connect back to the historic cable cars of San Francisco. And the new label features the Golden Gate Bridge and the same copper pot still used at the distillery since its inception. The font, Fog City Gothic, is used throughout the label as a nod to the type used on signage seen throughout San Francisco.
“The bottle’s design was inspired by the juxtaposition of San Francisco’s architecture, between the past and the present,” said Luis Rivas Ball, senior brand lead American whiskeys at Hotaling and Co. “From the perforated edges and ticket-style holding devices that connect back to the cable cars to the copper pot still and Golden Gate Bridge in the logo, Old Potrero is a true representation of San Francisco.”
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The statement from Hotaling & Co. noted that what’s inside the bottles will remain unchanged, the same 100% malted rye whiskey.
Distiller’s notes:
Old Potrero Straight Rye Whiskey 6-Year-Old (retail $64.99) marked the official return of pot distilled rye whiskey to the US. Distilled from a 100% malted rye mash bill in the same copper pot still since the 1990s, the liquid is then matured in new, charred, 24-month air dried, extra-fine grain, American white oak barrels for a minimum of six years. Tasting notes include brown sugar, black cherry, spice, and maple with a nutty finish.
The Old Potrero Single Barrel Rye Whiskey (retail $89.99) is aged in extra fine grain American oak. The wood is air dried for 24 months and the barrels are fully toasted and charred by hand over an oak fire. The mash of 100% malted rye is fermented for four days and then double distilled in traditional copper pot whiskey stills. This expression is slated to debut later in 2022.
For more information, check out www.oldpotrero.com or www.hotalingandco.com.
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