Lead Distiller Bryan Jennings holds up two bottles of 15-year-old “Notch” single-malt whiskey, the darker one a blend from a higher percentage of sherry barrels from the Nantucket barn where the whiskey is stored. (Joe Dwinell/Boston Herald)
A revolution is brewing in the whiskey business.
The American Single Malt Whiskey Commission is attempting to declare U.S. distillers on par with their Scottish counterparts.
One of the charter members is Triple Eight Distillery, part of the Cisco Brewers family founded on Nantucket. This puts Massachusetts in the race to make Scotch Whiskey passe.
“Everything starts here,” Bryan Jennings, lead distiller at Triple Eight, told the Herald on a recent trip to Nantucket. “I love the seasons here and that’s what people say they can taste.”
The salt air, the waves, the wind, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia that whipped the island the day we visited create a climate akin to Scotland. It’s giving the whiskey stored in giant oaken barrels a mystique.
The alcoholic beverages market is expected to grow past $4 billion by 2029, according to one recent estimate, so the stakes are high. Distilled spirits have jumped 12% as the nation puts the pandemic in the rear-view mirror.
“Our whiskey has been called the ‘biggest best-kept secret,’” said Cisco Brewers CEO Jay Harman. “Distributors have asked, ‘Are we drinking it all?’”
They aren’t. The “Notch” brand is not cheap. Bottles sell for north of $400. The whiskey has also won numerous awards, including “Liquid Gold.”
The company also sells more affordable products — with its flavored spirits, beer, wine and Nantucket craft cocktails hot items this summer, especially the “Nantucket Blue.”
But it’s more about the Massachusetts-based business taking on the big players in an industry that has been rocked by change. Craft brewers are seeing nearly 5% growth and the major players — Bud Light especially — stumble and lose market share.
Cisco Brewers employs about 300 on the island and at beer gardens in the Seaport, New Bedford and Portsmouth, N.H. and they are looking at Newport, R.I.
Harman said the company — Triple Eight, Cisco Brewers, and Nantucket Vineyard — is “like a family” with an island vibe. But it is poised to become something bigger. Sam Adams exploded, so did Harpoon Brewery.
The question for Cisco is, can they bottle the spirit of Nantucket into a drink that will bring customers from all over the country to one of the most exclusive islands around? It’s nearly impossible to find a place to live on the island and the ferry can be a choppy ride.
But among the oaken barrels stacked to the ceiling — some shared by fellow distillers from Buffalo Trace in Kentucky to wineries all over — you get a sense of the beginning of a new brand.
The devotion to the craft is also something to emulate. The term “single malt” means the whiskey is bottled from one source with barrels tapped together and mixed by distillers taught by masters of the craft.
One sip from a blend that has never seen the market, at least not yet, will have you thinking about the clean sharpness for days to come. It’s akin to a kiss you’ve waited long to experience.
That’s what’s being made today in Massachusetts.
Read More: Nantucket’s ‘liquid gold’ part of whiskey revolution made in Massachusetts