The Latest Rum Review on About.com
http://cocktails.about.com/od/whiskeynews/a/ballastpoint.htm
Three Sheets rum from Ballast
Point Distilling
Rum made in the bourbon style
By Lance Mayhew, About.com Contributing Writer
Apr 2 2010
While San Diego's Ballast
Point may be more famous for their award-winning beers, they also
run a small boutique distillery that produces an outstanding Old Grove
gin, Three Sheets rum and in the near future, a few styles of whiskey. I
was lucky enough to visit the distillery recently, and Yuseff Cherney,
the head brewer and head distiller gave me complete access to their
facilities.
While I was at Ballast Point to learn more about their whiskies (a
subject for another time, I'll just say that I'm very excited about
what they are doing), I had the opportunity to taste their Three Sheets rum. While I enjoy rum, its
rare that I taste a rum that really interests me. However, Three
Sheets rum floored me, it was that good. When I asked Yuseff why his
rum was so unique, he smiled and let me in on his secret. Three Sheets
rum is made from turbinado sugar, as are many rums (rum being a product
of either sugar or molasses), but what gives Three Sheets its
complexity and flavor is that it is aged in new American oak charred
barrels. Aged in the barrels for 18 months, Three Sheets develops a
harmonious vanilla, oak, caramel profile similar to many bourbons. The
new oak also adds a bit of an elusive creosote flavor on the palate,
something not seen in most rums. So why is this flavor and the new oak
barrel so unique? It has a lot to do with how the bourbon industry in
America is regulated. Bourbon
has to be aged a minimum of two years in new American oak barrels by
law. The barrels are used once, then sold off to manufacturers of other
spirits, particularly scotch and rum. Used barrels do contribute some
flavor to distillates, but a newly charred barrel offers far more
vanilla and oak notes and has a much more pronounced effect overall on
the outcome of the spirit. By aging in new American oak barrels,
Ballast Point's rum is drawing those flavors out and into their rum.
Even more interesting, from what I can tell, Ballast Point may be the
only rum distiller in the world to use new American oak barrels for
their product. The result is a rum that will appeal to both rum
connoisseurs and whiskey aficionados alike. Simply put, this is a high
quality, unique spirit that belongs in any serious collectors liquor
cabinet.
Unfortunately, Ballast Point's Three Sheets rum initial release is
relatively small. Look for this rum to hit shelves by April 15th. My
suggestion is to search out retailers in the San Diego/Los Angeles area
to locate a bottle. Drink this neat, or try it in a Three Sheets Bijou
cocktail; equal parts Three Sheets rum, green chartreuse, sweet
vermouth and a couple of dashes of orange bitters. Either way, Three
Sheets rum gets my Top Recommendation.
Lance Mayhew
Cocktails Contributing Writer
Our Old Grove Gin will release this month (August 2009)
Check us out on San Diego's FM 94.9
http://www.fm949sd.com/morning/story.aspx?ID=1122710
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
10051 Old Grove Road suite B & B1
San Diego, CA 92131
ph. (858) 695-2739 fax (858) 695-2734
devilsshare@yahoo.com
Read the article in Edible San Diego Magazine online at
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/sandiego/pages/articles/summer09/notableEdibles.pdf
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Ballast Point's Old Grove Gin Released from SoCal's First Brewer Turned Distiller
Thursday, Sep. 3 2009 @ 5:00PM
It's been more than a year since Ballast Point Brewing's head brewer Yuseff Cherney began tinkering around
on the new distilling equipment in the corner of the San Diego
brewery's warehouse. A few weeks ago, Cherney released the brewery's
fist spirit, Old Grove,
a dry London-style gin. A handful of Los Angeles bars and liquor stores
have already received a few bottles (the list is after the jump).
Cherney shared the trials and tribulations of ethanol alchemy with Squid Ink.
 |
| Ballast Point Spirits |
| Yuseff Cherney's Gin & Ale |
Squid Ink: How did you develop Old Grove's flavor profile?
Yuseff Cherney: After tasting a lot of gins, it was
distinct flavors like the rose petal in some that I really liked. But
some of the rose you find in gin is more like a potpourri that has been
around a little too long, not something that you want to drink. So I
had to go back and figure out how to get those flavors individually.
 |
| Ballast Point Spirits |
SI: What was that process?
YC: After a few batches, I realized I needed to break down
the individual components of the gin like the way a chef makes a sauce.
You can't dump ten ingredients into a dish, not know what each tastes
like on its own, and then go back and figure out how to fix it. So I
distilled each ingredient in a gallon size. It made me aware of things
I liked, but also those I didn't, like orris root. When distilled on its own, orris root tastes like fresh carrot juice, which didn't fit in with the gin profile I wanted.
SI: Once you settled on the dozen or so ingredients, what next?
YC: There's no aging with gin, so its whole essence comes
from the botanicals. Many distillers use a compounding technique and
distill each flavor separately, then combine them to make this kind of
Frankenstein gin. That's basically just a guy sitting in a lab and
combining flavors. I didn't want to do that.
SI: So how do you make your gin?
YC: I vapor distill, which is much more like making a
perfume. You literally collect the pure essence of the flavors from the
vapors. I like the whole art form of grinding my fresh coriander and
mixing it in with the rose petals and putting it in the top of the
still. The blending of flavors happens as the ethanol vaporizes. You
get a much more subtle, complex flavor, not one of those gins that's
smacking you around with one dominant flavor.
Ballast Point Spirits: 10051 Old Grove Road, Suite B, San Diego, (858) 695-2739. Cherney has shipped a few bottles of Old Grove to Blue Palms Brewhouse in Hollywood and Verdugo Bar in Glassell Park. Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa and Beverage Warehouse
in West Los Angeles also received limited quantities. Cherney
recommends heckling your local bartender or liquor store if they don't
carry Old Grove yet (the tipsy version of supply and demand works quite
well here), and check back for updates on the Ballast Point retail website.
See the article online at:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/spirits/ballast-point-spirits-gin-dist/
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Foodie news
Brewer gets into the spirits biz, event celebrates Mexican booze and Restaurant Week is upon us
By
Candice Woo
Ballast
Point Brewing Company’s got craft beer locked down, so now it’s out to
conquer the artisan-spirits world. The recently launched Ballast Point
Spirits, San Diego’s first licensed distillery since prohibition, has
just released its handmade Old Grove gin, and there are plans to do a
rum and a whiskey. The gin, which has subtle hints of coriander and
rose, is now on the shelves at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido and the
College area’s Keg & Bottle and is being poured at local bars,
including Downtown Johnny Brown’s and Alchemy in South Park. Alchemy is
using the gin in a cocktail called the Old Grove Melonade, made with
variegated pink lemons and French Chanterais melons. The drink is
already on the restaurant’s menu and will also be available during
Hamilton’s Tavern’s Second Saturday event on Sept. 12, which will
feature Ballast Point beer—so you can stop in and have a cocktail
before getting some pints. Or is it beer before liquor?
See the article online at:
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/foodie_news/8439/
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Check out this awesome article on the rebirth of gin in the LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/food/la-fo-gincocktails2apr02,1,532764.story
