Happy Friday! The days are warm, the nights are cool, and I can already see pumpkin spice on every coffee and cocktail menu somehow. Heading into September means most bars and restaurants are getting ready to be back in the weeds after unpredictable summer patronage, which is a blessing and a curse for those in the thick of it. To take some of us out of the madness of being inside the hospitality machine, if even for a moment, I thought it might be nice to talk about what’s new and exciting in spirits. Some of these things may just be new to me, but nonetheless interesting, and definitely under-discussed.

Also quick reminder for our Massachusetts readers that there’s an incredible tequila event coming up on September 17 at Ember & Alma. Obviously Lui will be there but I actually just got my tickets as well. Come say hi and hang out with us!

How Mexico is making gins that reflect their nation’s incredible biodiversity

Certain spirit categories are bound by guidelines that decide what qualifies under that name. For some spirits these guidelines are more rigid and for others they are more broad. We’ve discussed the strict requirements for tequila and mezcal labeling (which has been the topic of some recent lawsuits we also wrote about) but up until now I wasn’t even sure what the hard rules were about what makes something “gin”. As it turns out, there really isn’t much guidance.

The best summary of the requirements for a spirit to be classified as a gin is one that I found on Craft Gin Club:

“Gin must be a neutral spirit distilled from something natural like wheat, barley, potatoes or grapes. The [flavors] of a gin come from its botanicals (that’s the herbs, seeds, flowers, plants or spices added during production), and, crucially, all gins must contain juniper.

In fact, the predominant [flavor] in gin must be juniper, otherwise the drink can’t be defined as gin, by law. There must be at least 37.5% of pure alcohol in the total volume of liquid (that’s the ‘A.B.V’ you can see on the label). Within the overarching category, there are three traditional types of gin: London Dry, Plymouth Gin, and Old Tom gin.”

[…]”[Flavored] gin, gin liqueurs and sloe gin are all different from traditional gin in a few significant ways.”

This means that there is a huge amount of room for creativity when it comes to the addition of botanicals when making a gin. The most challenging of which is really contending with juniper as the predominant flavor. Once again we have the wonderful writers at Mezcalistas to thank for a very informative article about the different gins that distillers in Mexico are producing and where to start your tasting journey if all this is new to you. Although there are varieties of juniper that are native to Mexico most distillers are trying to stick to the standard European juniper that most gin drinkers are accustomed to. Since the base of the spirit just has to be “neutral” there are gins from Mexico distilled from a variety of sources: corn, sotol, sugar cane, and of course, agave.

In addition to starting from unique spirit bases the gins coming out of Mexico are also utilizing botanicals that gin has never seen before. A few examples are things like chili peppers, Mexican oregano, and prickly pear, and that isn’t even counting some of the more unique herbs that are native to the country like epazote - an herb used for cooking and medicinal applications for centuries in Central America. These make flavor combinations that give drinkers an entirely new kind of gin experience and keep things fresh and interesting in a spirits category that has been left in the shadow of other big spirits for quite some time.

How one company claims it is making whisky in as little as two months

For the majority of our audience the general production process for whiskey/whisky (referred to from here on out as whisky for simplicity and because it is the usage most relevant to the story ahead) is something we all at least vaguely understand. For those less familiar, the extremely condensed and simplified explanation of what makes something whisky by definition is: a spirit made from a fermented grain mash and then aged in a wooden container. Each whisky subcategory has its own requirements for earning a specific label or distinction but most whisky age requirements range between 2-4 years minimum.

So it would be reasonable to wonder: how on Earth there could be a company that claims to be making anything in two months and then calling it whisky? Well even though I may have led you to believe that someone somewhere has finally figured out time travel, that isn’t exactly how Kowloon Spirits is making its new controversial whisky. Science! - it seems has found a way to accelerate the aging process that gives whisky the distinct flavors that consumers know and love it for. Essentially the company is using stainless steel chambers filled with their “new-make” whisky (what’s also called white dog among other things, the un-aged spirit that will become whisky after aging) and a Port-seasoned cask from Quinta De La Rosa and then simulating aging.

Kowloon Spirits’ co-founder and marketing director Lawrence Lau says that “(…)what we’ve done is use pressure, energy and temperature to speed up the ageing process.”

Since Kowloon Spirits is based in Hong Kong, where there are no specific age requirements required to legally label a product as “whisky”, they aren’t technically breaking any rules. That doesn’t mean that this innovation in production will be seen as such by other whisky/whiskey distillers and enthusiasts. Lau has admitted to being financially motivated to produce this controversial spirit citing that himself and his co-founder and Master Distiller Max Rybinski are not drinkers and neither come from spirits-making backgrounds.

Controversial or not, the entire batch from the first release (June 1st) of the two whiskies made by Kowloon had already sold out by the time of Joyce Yip’s reporting (cited above) on September 1st.

What some companies are doing really well and what some others are doing…

Sustainability is a subject that every major industry should be concerned about. We’ve talked about how garnishes can have an impact on the environment and how some bars and restaurants are working to offset their carbon footprints. The strong demand for agricultural products in the spirits industry, combined with consumers’ focus on quality and values, makes it increasingly important for brands to position themselves as sustainable. Some distilleries are now partnering with Grown Climate Smart a company using USDA grant money to incentivize farmers to implement regenerative practices to improve a wide range of environmental outcomes. With so many brands to choose from, giving consumers a straightforward indicator of environmental values can be just enough to stand out from the crowd.

Another area of impact that the spirits industry can effect is local community: distilleries using their platforms and their profits to directly benefit the people in the areas they reside in. A great example is Journeyman Distillery, which has two locations (one in MI and one in IN), that has made charity a pillar of their business operations. The location in Valparaiso, IN has a program called “Cocktails for a Cause” that changes charities monthly and already has a calendar of organizations booked out until August of 2026. Not only is it amazing to be able to give back to the community you work in and serve but it is also an incredible way to connect with guests on a human level and foster trust in a way most other business models simply can’t.

Last, but certainly most least, is another class action lawsuit for another celebrity tequila brand. Cincoro, a “luxury” brand tequila company part-owned by Michael Jordan and belonging to Cinco Spirits Group, is facing a class action lawsuit alleging the company falsely marketed its product as 100% agave. In the wake of high profile class action lawsuits against Diageo’s Casamigos and Don Julio brands this really feels like a bad case of deja-vu. This lawsuit is out of California and also claims that after independent NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) testing there is evidence of non-agave sources of ethanol - namely corn and cane sugars. The brand asserts that the claims are false and that their product is what they have always claimed it to be - 100% agave.

In the spirit of exploring, this video I had saved a while back seems to fit extremely well. I always enjoy watching how visiting a culture different than your own can inspire and change you in ways you may not expect. Honoring the cultural process of making a food or beverage even when the ingredients that you have available in your own environment may vary slightly is a great way to draw connections between distant communities. Food and drinks really are such a huge social activator and one good thing about the internet is that we get to share them even more widely than ever before.

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