INSPIRED BY OUTLANDER
BLOGGER’S TRAVEL TRIP
Full confession. I have become quite taken with the Starz series, Outlander … the writing, the locations, the sets, the costumes, the actors, the music, the fan-art collective. Some of you may know that I’ve been drawing and painting this year to help me cope with the loss of my mother who passed on Christmas Eve, and this show inspires me to draw and even enter contests!
My drawing for an Outlander/NYCC recent contest. The characters are Jamie and Claire, played by Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe.
Outlander is historical fiction dessert and I so enjoy the sweet binge. Whisky has a role in the show’s narrative and whisky and Scotland have held center stage for centuries. This isn’t the first time I’ve published a post where whisky was a huge part of my writing (Cutty Sark: Whisky, Witches, and Tea), but this time my focus is definitely on the booze … and the tour experience.
Calling out THe Sassenach Whisky
I’m a beer, wine, champagne, the occasional tequila, and organic vodka drinker. I haven’t touched gin since my first year of college and never will again. I drank rum and Cokes back then, too, but I no longer drink soda, so rum sort of retired at the same time. I know you’re wondering how Outlander figures into all of this? The truth is that I’ve been inspired to learn more about whisky by one of Outlander’s stars, Sam Heughan, a fine actor, philanthropist, exercise format creator and entrepreneur whose human spirit speaks to my own heart. He’s just announced his own brand of eponymous whisky he calls, The Sassenach. So what Sam does, Heather does. But I am a whisky novice. So Mr. Sam Heughan, consider this an official wish-list invitation to join me here in Los Angeles on this particular whisky tour. Perhaps it may spark some ideas for your brand and you might share your whisky insight one-on-one with me? Oh yes, this gal can dream as big as you do!
Where does a whisky novice begin?
With the Spelling of Course
Some research was necessary. The first thing I wondered was why there were two spellings of whisky - whisky and whiskey. I learned that the Scots use the spelling whisky (as so with Canadians and Japanese whiskies) and the Irish use the spelling whiskey. Whiskey is also used when referring to American whiskeys. Note the plurals of each. Controversy over spelling still exists and I don’t want to draw a hard line here, but for the purposes of this post, what I want to clarify is the whisky I’m talking about in this post begins as an un-aged or early malt in Scotland and is finished here in Los Angeles. Thus, the Scottish spelling of the term.
The next thing I researched was how I might actually taste different whiskies/whiskeys to find out if I’d even enjoy them. I mean, sucking down a whiskey sour years ago is not the same thing as truly finding nuances in the warm liquid rolling over my tongue and slipping down my throat without anything masking its essence. What did Sam drink? I found this article in Scotsman Food and Drink and put Oban 14-year single malt on my list.
Lost Spirits Distillery Tour and Tasting
Then I found an article about a distillery in Los Angeles offering a tour and tasting experience of their own whiskies and rums. Of course, I’d read several reviews, some good and some bad, but since none of them dissed the tastings, it was worth the $38.50 per person all in. A perfect gal-pal outing.
Since we were drinking, we decided to take the Metro downtown and then grab a Lyft to the location rather than walk. It was on the other side of Skid Row, so nothing more need be said. We got there a hour early to grab a bite at Urth Caffe just up the block. Our tour was at 1:00PM and strong booze on an empty stomach was a recipe reminiscent of my first-year-in-college-sick all over again. No thank you. Right?
Why is this distillery different?
The group narrating our tour are actually part of the business team. In the early years (2010), the founders Bryan Davis and Joanne Haruta, were known for their malt productions sourced from peat found in Canadian forests and the Florida Everglades. Umami, was the world’s only fermentation in ocean water and Ouruborors the only product sourced from California Island peat. Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible bestowed Lost Spirits with their first Liquid Gold award.
In 2013, Davis dropped whisky and turned to making rum. His efforts became associated with the Tiki Revival Movement.
He wasn’t sleeping during organic chemistry!
What’s interesting about this distillery and Davis is that he invented an incredibly fast process to age spirits resulting in the same chemical signature that tastes like decades-old product. In 2014, a patent for his analytical chemical process was filed and the company understandably grabbed a lot of media attention. Through technology, a bottle of rum that was made in 6 days was chemically identical to one aged in a barrel for 20 years! So this guy had figured out a way to speed up the chemical reactions using intense actinic light and heat against wood chips by a simple observation in his back yard: what sunlight had done to his eroding wooden deck, alcohol also does inside a barrel.
As many do once there’s financial interest, Davis and Haruta closed shop and moved to Silicon Valley to pursue the licensing aspect of their patent. Creatives without a lab, they collaborated with investors in 2016 and originated a unique theme-distillery with tour and tasting components on 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles. In early 2019, a fire forced the team to rebuild. The current 5th Street location has some of the salvaged furnishings and equipment and is now open for business with new energy.
We learned on the tour that they are very close to recreating/chemically signaturing/actinating, whatever the term is, the original rum used in the Mai Tai. The wood used in the making of this rarest of rums is American Chestnut, but that tree is now extinct. They tried sourcing wood from old furniture, but were unsuccessful. Only 4 collectors have bottles of this rare spirit and one agreed to work with them. It will be interesting to sample this rum once they’ve finished it.
I learned that Davis bought back the white papers sold to licensees so he could keep Lost Spirits contained and made in America. So if you want these whiskies and rums, you’ve got to get them from Lost Spirits here in Los Angeles. More made in America industry - YES PLEASE!
2019 Awards
"Best World Whisky" by the Wizards of Whisky UK
"Best Distillery Tour In the World" by Drinks International Magazine UK
"Liquid Gold Award" - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible
The Tour Begins
Abomination: The Sayers of the Law
A huge copper door was the only real marker of the Lost Spirits Distillery on the street. The corner location was surrounded by a solid metal industrial fence with bamboo stalks peaking out over the top. We learned later that the door was fashioned from a fermentor that had survived a devastating fire at their previous location.
Lost Spirits Distillery Window
Lost Spirits Distillery Window
Once you push open the door, you’re plunged into darkness except for 2 large stained glass windows portraying likenesses of a playing card King …
… and Queen.
After our eyes adjust, we’re directed to one of several tablet registration/waiver stations. Good move. We’re given a black playing card to later exchange for the first tasting.
Groups max at 12 and we joined a large party of birthday-girl revelers in ours. Cards in hand, we were escorted to a lush library lounge that was actually outside.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for Adults
What followed, I will leave to the video I’ve made below. The tour is 2 hours in multiple locations - The Loophole that allows them to pour over the 1-ounce restriction/location during a tasting. Four pours in … I hope you enjoy the video. Run time is just about 9 minutes. Whoops … I almost typed RUM TIME!
The Whisky Verdict
Uisge Beatha
Water of Life
The tour was so unique and it moved, literally and figuratively. So that part was just fun … icing on the cake. But what of the cake?
The odor of smoke was strong in the glass. All of the pours lingered with this smell. At the end of the tour, my empty glass had a film inside that smelled of smoke. Can this be healthy, I wondered? Is this true of traditional lengthy barrel-aged whiskies? I know whisky was historically used for medicinal purposes … legally imported into the USA during Prohibition because it was considered medicine … used as a digestif … a weight loss aid … for cancer and stroke prevention … to treat a cold and sore throat … heck it was used as an antiseptic directly on wounds or bites when none was available. So what about the taste of Lost Spirits’ whiskies?
We sampled whisky, brandy, and rum, so my words now are about the taste of the whisky, not the rum or the brandy.
I found I did not convulse on the taste, even though that strong smoke/antiseptic smell convinced me that it was going to taste like that. To my surprise, it was actually easy to sip and to finish. I let it linger. I did that inhaling thing while it was on my tongue and the exhaling after it flowed down. It was warm and I liked it enough to buy a bottle of Abomination: The Sayers of the Law. (Back-ordered by 2-3 months, I should get it just in time for Christmas and a memorial our family is holding for my mother. The circled connection of everything in this post does not escape me.)
What was also unusual was that I simply calmed down and enjoyed myself. After 4 pours, I was not drunk, tipsy, or light-headed at the end of the tour. So whisky or at least the booze on this tour did not go to my head or make me feel unsteady like a couple of beers or wines might do. I was completely coherent and walking normally. What I did observe was that as soon as I got home I was hungry for comfort food, and after I ate I feel asleep and sort of stayed in the I want to continue sleeping mode for the rest of the evening.
~Slàinte Mhath
