Blinking Owl
Ever since it opened in 2013, this Orange County, Calif., craft outfit has neurotically pursued the goal of offering a 100% state-grown product. Beyond keeping things as local as possible—removing the diesel fuel inherent to long-distance sourcing—Blinking Owl works almost exclusively with organic producers and growers who employ sustainable farming practices. A limited edition Bottled-In-Bond bourbon ($250) is easily among the tastiest American whiskey releases of 2021.
Belgrove Distillery
When you’re thinking of a hearty rye, Tasmania is likely not the place that comes to mind. Yet this estate operation from the far-flung corner of southeastern Australia is fashioning the grain into their eponymous A$155 ($120) Belgrove rye whisky, which is sturdy enough to rival the best that Kentucky or Pennsylvania has to offer. It’s birthed from the world’s first—and only—biodiesel still, fueled by waste from a local fish-and-chip fryer. Owner Peter Bignell grows his own grain and feeds leftover mash to his sheep. He’s even considering using their dung in lieu of peat to smoke future batches.
The Macallan
Opened in 2018, the Macallan’s new $200 million home is a stunning structure with undulating contours meant to evoke the surrounding Scottish countryside—and protect the water of the nearby River Spey, the very heart and soul of Speyside whisky. The entire operation is capped under one of Europe’s largest green roofs, spanning just over 12,000 square meters. It’s planted with a mix of native grasses and herbs, providing food and nesting space for birds and insects and regulating thermal transfer into and out of the facility. A water management system returns cooling water pulled from the Spey to the rolling river in full, absent only a scant amount of evaporation.
Scotch, by law, has to be a minimum of 3 years old, so very shortly we should see some of this sustainably produced liquid working its way into some non-age-statement expressions. In the meantime, every bottle of Edition 6 ($150) funds a charitable partnership between the distillery and the Atlantic Salmon Trust, funding research into protecting the fragile ecosystem of the fish along the waterway.
Tamworth Distillery
The craft darling of central New Hampshire relies exclusively on organic corn to produce its award-winning Old Man of the Mountain Bottled-In-Bond bourbon ($55). But working with sustainable crops results in acidified byproducts just the same. Shortly after opening in 2015, the distillery invested in a centrifugal separator, which efficiently processes and upcycles 250 gallons of spent grain slurry a day. Partnering with nearby Sunnyfield Brick Oven Bakery, close to a half-million pounds of “waste” finds new life in Distiller’s bread: a combination of organic flours, cornmeal, blackstrap molasses, yeast, sea salt, and malted barley.
Maker’s Mark
In Loretto, Ken., one of the world’s biggest bourbon brands had been using its spent grain as an alternative source of fuel for its signature wax-dipped bottles ($30). “Thick slop”—as it is affectionately referred to in the industry—was treated aerobically in a reactor. The result was a high-methane biogas, which was collected and compressed before being fed to the boilers (and byproducts from that fed to cattle). It accounted for a 25% reduction in natural gas consumption at the distillery from 2010 until 2013. Some of that liquid is just now exiting the barrel eight years later.
Unfortunately, the technology couldn’t keep up with increasing demand, highlighting how scalability can scuttle green initiatives. But parent company Beam Suntory is taking meaningful steps to protect water sources and land adjoining the property. In partnership with the University of Kentucky, they’re working on ways to “develop watershed balance” at all of Beam Suntory’s facilities across the Bluegrass State.
Far North Spirits
As advertised, this producer is the northernmost craft distillery in the continental U.S., located less than 20 miles below the Canadian border in Minnesota. It’s also among the greenest, growing all its grain on site, which is the biggest eco boon a distiller can achieve. The vast majority of other materials Far North uses are either source-reduced (meaning only low-impact products are even considered), composted, or reused (e.g., spent grain as fertilizer). A retrofit to the boiler has reduced water consumption by half as well. You won’t even find a trash dumpster on the property. If you want to sample how tasty sustainability can be, secure a bottle of the Roknar Minnesota rye ($35), distilled from estate-grown Hazlet Winter rye and heirloom corn, then finished in cognac barrels.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.