This New Organic Single Malt Whiskey Out Of California A Preview Of Great Things To Come

Venus Spirits, in the coastal California city of Santa Cruz, has unveiled its first small batch whiskey aged in an ocean air tempered rick house.
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wayward-maltVenus Spirits is one of those interesting craft distilleries formed on the idea of a single individual with a lot of drive. One Sean Venus, long having an interest in craft brewing and organic foods, moved into distilling in 2012 with the idea to produce a range of organic spirits, including small batch whiskies. Having successfully crowdsourced funds to help build his tasting room, and already having released a gin and blue agave spirit, Venus has now moved into his first batch of whiskey in the form of a single malt.

Wayward Single Malt Whiskey, as it is called, was double distilled on Venus Spirits’ hand-pounded, copper Alembic still imported from Spain from a mash bill of organic two row, organic crystal malt. It was then barrel aged in the distillery’s “ocean air tempered rickhouse in 10 gallon … American charred oak barrels” at its location in Santa Cruz, California before being bottled at 46% ABV.

This first batch of Venus Spirits’ Wayward whiskey should be available in limited supply at least in the San Francisco Bay Area for the moment until it sells out. I know, for example, that the retailer Bitters + Bottles recently had some 750 ml bottles in stock for around $50. Further whiskey releases, including a bourbon and rye, are planned for later this year. I’m predicting great things for the folks over at Venus and look forward to seeing their other craft whiskey unveilings.

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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