74: Rye Whiskey Born From Brewers

Bruce Joseph, Master Distiller of Hotaling & Co., joins us to discuss one of the original craft rye whiskies post-Prohibition.  Old Potrero emerged out San Francisco after a few brewers decided to try their hand at distillation in the mid-1990s.  Hotaling & Co. (formerly the Anchor Distilling Company) produces several rye whiskies under the Old Potrero namesake. This unique rye whiskey is made from 100% malted rye grain and distilled using pot stills.  We had the opportunity to try Old Potrero Straight Rye (aged 4.5 years in new charred oak) and 18th Century Rye (aged 2.5 years in toasted oak), each of which bear some similarities but are unique due to the influence of the barrels used in aging.  

About Old Potrero and Hotaling & Co.
Hotaling & Co., formerly Anchor Distilling Company, was established in 1993 by Fritz Maytag, the same beverage visionary who sparked the craft beer movement with his purchase of Anchor Brewing in 1965. After several decades of exclusively producing beer, Maytag and his team saw an opportunity in craft distilling in the early 1990s. The team began experimenting after realizing that there were no copper pot-distilled whiskies or gins still being made legally in America. The Return of Pot-Distilled Whiskey to the United States Old Potrero recreates the original whiskey of America, and marks the return of pot-distilled whiskey in the
United States, with rye being the grain of choice for America’s first distillers. Finding inspiration in the rye whiskies of America’s past and the great single malt whiskies of Scotland, the original distilling team, which included master distiller Bruce Joseph, who now marks his 40th anniversary at Hotaling & Co., began building a distillery. The first whiskey went into barrel in 1994, and the distillery soon began producing three rye whiskies, all pot-distilled from a mash of 100% malted rye at the Hotaling & Co. Distillery on
San Francisco’s Potrero Hill: Old Potrero Straight Rye Whiskey (48.5% ABV); Old Potrero 18th Century Style Rye Whiskey (51.2% ABV), and Old Potrero Single Malt Hotaling’s Whiskey (50% ABV), in addition to limited-edition special finishes. Leading spirits historian David Wondrich has since named Old Potrero the “#6 most influential spirit of the last 25 years.”

A New Chapter as Hotaling & Co.
In 2017, Anchor Brewing Company was sold, and although Anchor Distilling Company was not part of the sale, it relinquished the rights to use the “Anchor” trademark. In early 2018, the new name of “Hotaling & Co.” was announced, a reference to one of Anchor Distilling’s most beloved small batch whiskeys and to the San Francisco legend A.P. Hotaling, who came out West during the Gold Rush and quickly became one of the original and most reputable spirits dealers in the country. Born in 1828, Hotaling moved from New York to California in 1852, where he found his calling in San Francisco as a purveyor of fine whiskeys and proceeded to build the largest liquor wholesaler in the West. In San Francisco drinks culture, Hotaling’s name became immortalized when his whiskey warehouse on Jackson Street survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Today, Hotaling & Co. is a quickly growing distiller and importer representing a curated portfolio of super-premium artisanal spirits like Luxardo Liqueurs, Nikka Whisky, and HINE Cognac, and celebrates 26 years of production.

Learn more at www.HotalingandCo.com

 

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Scott, Michael, & Jake
The Bourbon Lens