Arizona Distilling Co.

[mosugoji64]

We visited the Arizona Distilling Co. last Saturday afternoon. The distillery was licensed in 2012 and is located in Tempe, AZ near ASU. They’re known locally for their Copper City bourbon, but they’re also making a durum wheat whiskey and a gin. Their products are currently distributed only in AZ, though they hope to have the gin distributed regionally in the near future.

The distillery is primarily a one-man operation with distiller Jason Grossmiller being the only full-time employee. Three other guys also work there part time handling bottling, marketing, and other aspects of the business. One of Jason’s partners, Matt Cummins, conducted the post-tour tasting.

A small industrial park space houses the distillery. They have a small hammer mill, two fermenters, a small still, and a doubler. Jason led us through their process and told us that they use enzymes rather than malted grain to start fermentation. He said they take their distillate off the still at 140 proof and go into the barrel at 120 proof.

Unfortunately, they’re one of the craft distillers using small barrels to jump-start the aging of their spirits. They also use large barrels, but are using the small barrels to get product ready for sale more quickly. When asked if they plan to continue using small barrels or transition to large ones, I was told they plan to continue using small barrels until they can, “get a more permanent aging schedule.â€

The use of small barrels is painfully apparent in their products. The first bottle we sampled during the tasting was the Copper City bourbon. Jason was up-front about the fact that their bourbon is sourced from MGPI. He said they didn’t want to lead off with a clear spirit, so they decided to source a bourbon to get their name out. Given Smooth Ambler’s success doing just that, I have no problem with their decision. I do, however, have a problem with the taste. It tastes like young MGPI bourbon aged in small barrels. It’s so overpowered by that raw wood flavor that there’s not much else. Mrs. Mosugoji said Jason told her they’re distilling their own bourbon now and plan to transition from sourced whiskey when it’s aged. I didn’t hear that conversation so I didn’t get to ask about mashbills or timelines.

I was much more excited about sampling their next product: Desert Durum Wheat Whiskey. The mashbill is 100% locally-sourced durum wheat. I was expecting something similar to Bernheim Wheat Whiskey. Instead, I got a whole lot more of that small barrel, raw wood flavor. Underneath that was something sweet that could have been good but was just too weak to break through for any scrutiny. What a great disappointment.

Next up was their Desert Dry Gin, which was very floral and pleasant. I’m not a gin drinker so I can’t really comment on the quality. If I ever find myself needing a gin and feel like supporting a local business, I would have no problem grabbing a bottle.

Jason told us about a couple of other whiskies they have in the pipeline. One is Park Rye Whiskey, and the other is Humphrey’s Whiskey, a single malt they’ve made in collaboration with the local Four Peaks brewery. I asked if they had samples we could try and was very happy to hear that they did.

The rye, with a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% durum wheat, had me particularly excited but was another victim of the small-barrel scourge with little flavor beyond wood on which to comment. I wasn’t hopeful for the single malt given I’m not a Scotch fan and the fact that their other products were too woody. I was, however, pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the whiskey. It had none of the raw wood notes that dominated the other whiskies so I’m left to assume this stuff only went into the large barrels. I’m afraid I didn’t take any notes at the time and can’t remember specifics, but I was impressed enough that if they had bottles available for purchase, I would have brought one home. I do remember a jam-like flavor on the finish that I enjoyed quite a bit. The mashbill for Humphrey’s Whiskey is 80% barley and 20% rye. The quality and Four Peaks co-branding should help this one gain some traction even if their other products provide little to warrant a repeat purchase.

When Matt asked for our thoughts on their products following the tasting, I responded that I thought the small-barrel aging was detrimental and didn’t allow any of the character of their spirits to show. I pointed out that their wheat whiskey in particular was ruined by the overbearing wood flavor and was a disappointment considering its potential as a cool, unique, local whiskey. Not being a total Negative Nancy, I also said that my hope for them and the other craft distillers is that they are successful enough to stick around and properly age their spirits in order to eventually produce something the big distilleries can’t offer, whether it be a local spin on bourbon or something entirely different. Matt and Jason seemed to appreciate my candor and thanked me for being honest with them.

In a humorous side note, Jason said that when they started they were dipping their bottles in a copper-colored wax. They received a C&D letter from MM and a letter from Rob Samuels that was four nice paragraphs of MM history and one paragraph of, “knock it off or else.†Jason and Matt said that instead of being upset, they were ecstatic about receiving the letters since it meant they had been noticed. They’ve stopped dipping the bottles, but you can dip one at the distillery if you buy a bottle there.

Overall, it was a good visit. Jason and Matt seemed very enthusiastic and genuinely interested in putting out some great local products. I just hope they can make the transition from small to large barrels soon in order to show us the true quality of what they’re making. While I’m hopeful, for the moment they’re another example of why most craft distillers just aren’t quite ready for primetime.

[GaryT]

Awesome notes Brian! Thanks for sharing! I have a bottle of the Copper City Bourbon, which is one I'm going to age further (although in a small barrel, which might turn out to be a mistake!) I wonder if they're also facing the same challenge on barrels (the local distillery in GA said it was taking him MONTHS to get new barrels, so he was having to reuse barrels and add staves).

[mosugoji64]

I wonder if they're also facing the same challenge on barrels

[PaulO]

I think the craft distillers need to get some new charred full size barrels, and age their product at least four years. That's what all the people that make tasty bourbon do. I've never read a good review of anything from a small barrel. I would like to support craft. They need to make something that can win a blind taste test.

[GaryT]

I think the craft distillers need to get some new charred full size barrels, and age their product at least four years. That's what all the people that make tasty bourbon do. I've never read a good review of anything from a small barrel. I would like to support craft. They need to make something that can win a blind taste test.

Lazy Guy Distillery in Kennesaw was waiting for some full-sized barrels, which was a big challenge for them. The few folks that make those weren't taking orders from companies unless they had been doing business for years, etc since demand was outstripping their supply already. He recognized the difference, but was using what he could get (from a cash flow perspective, he couldn't completely shut down for months at a time waiting for barrels). I'm wondering if we'll start to see some "craft cooperage" places popping up to fill the gap (no idea what is all required to start that up). Sounds like some of these folks would pay a premium for the barrels if they could get them when they need them (although similar to the craft distillers vs someone like HH; a new cooperage would have all those fixed/sunk costs to try to recoup so pricing would likely be astronomical).

[PaulO]

This makes sense. Getting good barrels is the bottleneck (no pun intended) of the operation. Still seems odd that the small ones are easier to find. I would have guessed the opposite.

[mosugoji64]

If new, full-sized barrels are unavailable, I would look into used barrels until new barrels are available. That would, of course, eliminate being able to call the whiskey Bourbon, but it would allow the flavor of the whiskey to shine whereas the small barrels overwhelm the whiskey with charred wood flavor. If I were a craft distiller, I would want people to taste my whiskey.

[squire]

That's what I was thinking Brian, lots of barrels being dumped so a supply is there, cheaper than new as well. No, it wouldn't be a straight but would certainly work. Bourbon founding distillers didn't use new barrels exclusively (they weren't even required until 1938) yet managed to make some pretty good stuff.

[GaryT]

Lazy Guy had some full sized barrels that they were recycling, and adding charred staves to help bring it closer to a new barrel (although can't call it bourbon). He could get charred staves easily enough, although a pain in the @#$% to add to the barrel - and not quite the same thing.

[sutton]

I'm curious since so many winemakers use new barrels - but I never hear about them having trouble sourcing them. What about getting some heavily toasted wine barrels - could even open them up and char them?

I know that wine barrels can be re-used but many pride themselves on a high percentage of new oak every vintage, but have never heard of a problem getting what they needed ... but they also don't tie them up for as long as a distiller trying to make a 4+ yr old product.

I also like Brian's idea of using a percentage of used oak - for the same reason. Few of my favorite wines are 100% new oak, most probably no more than 50%.