The Spirits Of Boston

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CategoryWhisk(e)y

The wicked Whiskeys of Boston Harbor

On the heels of the Craft-Beer monster that in recent decades dominated pub spigots and posh groceries comes the age of thrill-seeking distillers who know good hops and barley when they see them. The result is a class of Spirits so evolved you’d think they spend their weekends on a transcendental meditation retreat.

At the helm of this convention-shattering development is none other than Rhonda Kallman, a pioneer of the Craft-Beer movement who earned her stripes as a co-founder of category giant Samuel Adams. Hooked on the adrenalin rush that only a slew of shiny new tanks and a vault of iron-hooped barrels can bring, Kallman renovated a 19th-century mill building on Boston Harbor and aptly named it Boston Harbor Distillery.

A self-proclaimed lover of almost any alcoholic beverage on earth, Kallman is no poser. Perched on the leading edge once again, she saw the authentic potential of a craft Beer laden with complex characteristics — citrus, spice, ginger, clove, hops — as the foundation of an unexpected kind of Whiskey-like Spirit. After all, Whiskey is distilled Beer without the hops. Her bonds with her alma mater are so tight that she uses Sam Adams Beer varieties to make award-winning, one-of-a-kind Spirits called Spirit of Boston.

We’ve got such a mad crush on Boston Harbor Distillery’s tenacious tumblers that we’ve dedicated an entire Tasting Box to them alone:

Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout amplifies the spices used in its Beer, including ginger, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Santa suit optional.

Demon Seed Whiskey is as it sounds: a dangerously delicious Whiskey made using scorpion pepper, which were soaked in Rye Whiskey and later blended with maple syrup and fresh ginger.

Putnam New England Rye — with a grain bill of 95% rye and 5% malted two-row barley, the resulting Spirit is smooth and soft with powerful spicy notes.

Smartass Corner

Lay some of slick facts on your boss the next time you go out for drinks... and get promoted a day later:

1) Multiple choices: In Brewhiskey speak, what’s the wash? a) the concrete trough where a brewer scrubs her hands after nosing a nascent Spirit; b) the liquid that develops between fermentation and distillation, also known as "distiller’s Beer"; c) the spot in the harbor where Bostonians launder their Brady jerseys.

2) Yo! Don’t knock the politics, bro. Craft breweries are the reason federal excise taxes are lower, which means consumer prices are lower. Plus they made sure that breweries, wineries, and distilleries would have the freedom to distribute all of the stuff we love all of the time. Well, not all of the time.

3) What word denotes an element of the distilling process yet sounds like something you might have removed from your foot? Wort. And it refers to the combination of fermentation ingredients including big boys yeast, grain, and water.

4) What is it with 1984? Boston Harbor’s Spirits are bottled at 84 proof in part because the Boston Beer Company (Rhonda Kallman’s alma mater) was founded in 1984. And then there’s poor George Orwell. If he’d just downed a couple of pints of Sam, George wouldn’t have been so bloody depressing in his novel by the same name.

5) Boston Harbor Distillery puts the swanky in Whiskey Joint. Douglas Fir post-and-beam construction, 40-foot ceilings, and more than 100 windows through which fans can ogle. Up there they call it Booze Envy.

6) True or false? Back in the day, when sales were slower than a snail’s daily commute, Boston Beer Company Founder Jim Koch, who recruited Kallman as his co-founder, would pack a suitcase full of Beer and work the neighborhood, door to door. And you thought that technique was reserved for paint brushes and encyclopedias.

7) What a rip-off! Jim Koch got the recipe for Sam Adams Boston Lager from his great, great grandfather. We assume Great, Great Grandaddy didn’t put up a fight.

8) With barrels of money between them, funny guys John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Rockefeller sent Carnegie a cardboard vest to make fun of his poor childhood. In return, Carnegie sent a fine Whiskey to Rockefeller, a devout baptist who had given up drinking.

9) In 1830, the average person over 15 years old drank 88 bottles of Whiskey per year. That’s one bottle every 4.2 days. And you thought you had a problem.

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Note: Once an order has been safely & successfully delivered, we do not accept returns due to change of heart or taste. Due to state regulations, we cannot accept the return of alcohol purchased by a customer in error.

Boston Harbor Distillery

Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout

Spirits

spicy
vanilla
cinnamon
nutmeg
gingerbread
orange
butter
custard
syrup

Appearance / Color
Dark amber.

Nose / Aroma / Smell
Gingerbread and vanilla bean with spice.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
Gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla custard with fresh notes of orange.

Finish
Full with buttery and spicy character.

Boston Harbor Distillery

Putnam New England Rye

Rye

spicy
apple
cake
cinnamon
white pepper
cardamom
clove
toasted oak
caramel

Appearance / Color
Deep Amber

Nose / Aroma / Smell
The nose is firm, yet soft with warm toasted oak, fresh rye bread, and herbs — from mint to cilantro — and a bit of sea salt caramel.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
The palate opens smooth and builds up in power and spice over time, revealing cinnamon apple pie, white pepper, warm cardamom, and clove.

Finish
The finish is long with blooming slices all around you.

Boston Harbor Distillery

Demon Seed Whiskey

American Whiskey

earthy
maple syrup
spicy
ginger
honey
chili
pepper
citrus
slightly sweet

Appearance / Color
Demonic Brown

Nose / Aroma / Smell
There's an earthiness on the nose as well as maple syrup, spice, and ginger.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
The heat is instant but there's a lot of that Whiskey character in there with peppery spice and honey sweetness. Maple syrup, ginger, black pepper, baking spice, and just a touch of citrus all make an entry.

Finish
Finishes satisfyingly long with a kick of chili heat.

Whats in the box?

Boston Harbor Distillery

Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout

Spirits

spicy
vanilla
cinnamon
nutmeg
gingerbread
orange
butter
custard
syrup

Appearance / Color
Dark amber.

Nose / Aroma / Smell
Gingerbread and vanilla bean with spice.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
Gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla custard with fresh notes of orange.

Finish
Full with buttery and spicy character.

Boston Harbor Distillery

Putnam New England Rye

Rye

spicy
apple
cake
cinnamon
white pepper
cardamom
clove
toasted oak
caramel

Appearance / Color
Deep Amber

Nose / Aroma / Smell
The nose is firm, yet soft with warm toasted oak, fresh rye bread, and herbs — from mint to cilantro — and a bit of sea salt caramel.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
The palate opens smooth and builds up in power and spice over time, revealing cinnamon apple pie, white pepper, warm cardamom, and clove.

Finish
The finish is long with blooming slices all around you.

Boston Harbor Distillery

Demon Seed Whiskey

American Whiskey

earthy
maple syrup
spicy
ginger
honey
chili
pepper
citrus
slightly sweet

Appearance / Color
Demonic Brown

Nose / Aroma / Smell
There's an earthiness on the nose as well as maple syrup, spice, and ginger.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
The heat is instant but there's a lot of that Whiskey character in there with peppery spice and honey sweetness. Maple syrup, ginger, black pepper, baking spice, and just a touch of citrus all make an entry.

Finish
Finishes satisfyingly long with a kick of chili heat.

The first two were flavorful i...

The first two were flavorful in their own rights. There are plenty of bourbons, whiskeys and ryes that do that. Nothing to "write home about" IMHO
The Demon Seed was awful. If I want a ghost pepper I will eat food where it is used. I don't prefer that type of "burn" from my Drinks.

Not My Cup of Tea

Looks like someone just dropped a rating and dashed! No comment provided.

Not My Cup of Tea

Looks like someone just dropped a rating and dashed! No comment provided.

So... like some of the other r...

So... like some of the other reviewers, I wasn't a fan of the Demon seed, but the description is accurate. I definitely felt the ghost pepper or whatever pepper on the first sip... powerful. I don't care for hot spice in my drinks (just like habenero/jalopeno beers). But some people like that kind of thing and I bet that person would like this! After adding a few drops of water, Demon seed calmed down and I could get the Maple Syrup, which provided a decent balance to the spice.... but again, I am also not a fan of Maple Syrup heavy whiskeys. Moving on to the Gingerbread Stout. This was actually pretty decent and would be great at Christmas time... but not a daily drinker. Finally, the Putman Rye... this was good, in my humble opinion, but maybe that was because I already choked through the other two previously and was pleasantly surprised after two somewhat gimmicky whiskeys. A seven rating is due to the fact that it tastes as advertised, but wasn't my match. Best of luck to Boston Harbor Distillery. I was really hoping this would be awesome stuff because I live in the area, north across the boarder in NH.

This tasting box makes me neve...

This tasting box makes me never want to visit Boston. Every sample in this box comes from the same distillery, which has nearly the same playbook for these three drinks - distill with capsaicin. There was nothing enjoyable about these spirits, in fact it was the first time I poured a drink down the sink after the first taste. Hopefully there's more to the Boston drinking scene besides ghost pepper sauce turned into whiskey.

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