The Story of Spicy Bastard
I had been searching for a barrel to launch Subtle Spirits for a while, and was coming up empty handed. One day I got a call from Marko at Charbay. He was distilling whisky the following week and invited me to check out the process. I cleared my schedule and made the journey three hours north to Ukiah, California.
“Run your finger through that and taste it,” Marko said as he pointed to a stream of freshly distilled new make whisky coming off the still. “Taste it now. Okay, taste it again.” Each time I tried it the spirit grew more aromatic than the moment before. Marko paused briefly and then exclaimed, “Yeah, now it’s ready. You can smell it!”
Distillation is an art form. The goal is to isolate the best of what is already there. Whisky is merely a distilled beer. When Marko wanted to start making his own whiskey, he didn’t have the equipment to make the beer. “We don’t brew beer, but a lot of our friends do,” Marko said. So he bought a few thousand gallons of beer and distilled it. He’s been making whisky this way ever since.
We made our way to the back corner of the warehouse. “I’ve got something unique for you!” he exclaimed as he filled the glass with a rubber tube dipped down in the barrel. Immediately the intense aromas filled the air. It smelled like Jamaican allspice, almost rum-like. Whoa! It was beguiling, I had never smelled a whisk(e)y like this—ever. He described how he had filled some California Port wine casks from his family’s winery. We pulled a couple of pours from the barrel and sat down for lunch. A few minutes later, in walks Marko’s father, Miles. He takes a seat at the table and gives me a stern look. “Well, what are you tasting?” I just sat there, waiting for Marko to chime in because truthfully I had no idea what the hell this stuff was. Miles blurts out, “Marko! Is that the Spicy Bastard?!” Marko nodded in confirmation “Yah Man!” Miles continued, “Yah Man! The Spicy Bastard is quite unique, no other barrels we filled that day turned out like that one.” I took another sip, taking in what I had just heard. This is one of the funkiest whiskies I had ever tasted, and I knew I had found something special for our first release.
Now that I had the barrel I wanted to feature artwork that thematically represented the liquid inside the bottle. Monty & Marko both have an unapologetic quality in their work that defines who they are, making them the perfect pairing. I was drawn to the idea of the Spicy Bastard becoming a character, one with a storied past. Immediately I knew Monty Guy was the artist. Monty is a good friend of mine who is known for painting vivid, life-like portraits. When I asked Monty to paint the Spicy Bastard, he asked what he looked like. I told him “A tattooed James Bond, who looks like he just walked off the scene of a high-speed chase but is on his way back to the party.”
And so it was born, the first Subtle Spirits Original Spicy Bastard.
BOTTLE DETAILS
Limited to just 240 bottles, this single barrel malt whisky was distilled from hopped beer sourced from a Sonoma County, California brewery. It was distilled on a traditional Cognac Charentais style potstill before entering into a reused French oak barrel that previously held California Port wine. It was aged for nearly three years before being bottled unfiltered at cask strength, faithfully preserving the contents of this exceptional barrel.
As soon as this hits your glass, you’ll know: this is a Spicy Bastard! Unlike most of Charbay’s whiskies, the hop profile is muted and is a supporting actor in this whisky’s ensemble cast. It is not shy with a bottling proof just under 144°.
TASTING NOTES
This thing is like a bone-in, perfectly marbled cowboy cut of prime beef. For fans of big, bold whisky it is divine—but it is not for the faint of heart. The color pours a beautiful golden hue, darker than you’d expect for a whisky of this age. Immediately it shows aromas of honey, allspice, and malt; while nutmeg, and clove emerge with just a twist of the glass. It punches you in the face and leaves you wanting more. The palate is where that portwood influence begins to shine, and the spice flavors are complemented by sweeter dark caramel and milk chocolate. Baking spices rush back for an encore performance in the finish.