The Release
That went fast.
Two months ago we posted about the work that went in to creating the first ever barrel of Inkwell whiskey—which in September or October will become our first ever red corn bourbon.
But the first ever bottle to be released under the Inkwell label was always going to be our moonshine. Made with the same mash bill as the bourbon, our moonshine was to be the niche introduction to the aesthetics and taste of Inkwell Whiskey.
So Arthur and I did another mash and distillation (which went a lot easier than they did for the bourbon, thankfully). But a funny thing happened on the way to the bottle—we decided to cut the proof to below 50% ABV. Any true lover of moonshine knows that a shine has to be, at minimum, 100 Proof, or 50% ABV. But for our particular recipe it turned out that 95 Proof, or 47.5% ABV, was the sweet spot. It took days of calibrating and taste tests, but this proof was the clear winner.
What’s more, it took so long for us to proof down the spirit that we actually had to have the labels printed before the final decision was made. This might sound catastrophic, but it’s fine. All this means is that I have to hand-write the proof on every single bottle of Inkwell as it’s created. This does, however, give us the latitude to adjust proofs on the fly batch-to-batch, so that’s kinda cool.
Why were we in such a rush to get the labels, though? Well, we wanted to have them ready for Installation/Distillation! That’s right, the art show was the release party for Inkwell Whiskey (and my birthday). Luckily, people really seemed to love the spirit. What’s more, our good friend over at Penquisition made us a bespoke red (corn) pen block with our logo on it to celebrate!
The show and the release of our wheated red corn whiskey were incredibly successful. While I might have been concerned that a white whiskey was too niche to really take off, both that initial release and this weekend at the Hollywood Farmers Market have proven me wrong. People are already clamoring for the release of our Inkwell Red Corn Bourbon, and we have to say we’re probably more excited than they are.
All of this is to say thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. From the farmers who grew the grain, to the artists who helped us refine our aesthetics, to everyone who came out to Installation/Distillation and to the local farmers market. We made Inkwell to help you write your own story, and we’re so proud you’re a part of ours.
