Deb, 8500, Alexander/Sarticious
Our friend Deb was in town two weekends ago, and among other adventures, we visited Alexander Cellars / Sarticious Spirits, located in a charming industrial space in Santa Cruz. This sounds strange until you consider… Santa Cruz. Everything there is charming, basically.
We smelled the distillery running from a block away, and it smelled sweet. The operator, Jeff, was at work on a not-yet-announced spirits project, but I can tell you that I had no trouble identifying it, and appreciating it, at fifty paces. Jeff was kind enough to educate us about what he’d been up to, allow us to sample (really, nose) the new product, and pose for this picture with Punam and Deb. It’s a fair, though not ideal, sample of what the 8500 can do as a camera (click for the full-size version). Note the full-size pot still running in the back, and closer to the foreground, the pilot-sized still, which is one awesome toy.
I’m not big on recommending spirits, simply because I know I haven’t tried many, but Sarticious Gin is an intense, herbal preparation which I enjoy immensely. It’s made with the spirits equivalent of dry-hopping, and consequently, it’s the spirits equivalent of an Anderson Valley beer (where the hops just may have been tweezed out of the bottle five minutes before shipping). So, my first spirits recommendation, and not even for a whisk(e)y!
BDEaston:
I presume then that it is a more traditional gin which admits to it’s herbal heritage rather than a modern gin that strives to be more like a vodka. It doesn’t seem to be available outside of the left coast, so until then I will continue to enjoy Broker’s Gin.
26 July 2006, 7:18 amColin:
It’s very herbal, but it emphasizes citrus and (if I’m not mistaken) coriander as its main notes, rather than its namesake juniper berries. Very tasty!
26 July 2006, 12:27 pm