June 14 is nationwide Bourbon Day, and this presents a improbable alternative to delve into the intricacies of bourbon manufacturing, the model’s philosophy, and future improvements, with Angel’s Envy’s Grasp Distiller Owen Martin!
Are you able to inform us about your journey to changing into the Grasp Distiller at Angel’s Envy? What experiences have formed your strategy to distilling?
I joined Angel’s Envy in 2022 because the model’s first Grasp Distiller since founder Lincoln Henderson handed in 2013. My ardour and curiosity in whiskey actually began after I moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to attend Heriot-Watt College, learning brewing. As soon as I used to be located, my focus shifted fairly rapidly to distillation science, and I even partnered with a Scotch distillery for my Grasp’s thesis on isolating vitamins from their distillation by-products.
After graduating, I moved again to the U.S. to guide manufacturing at a craft whiskey distillery within the South. I relocated two years later to Denver, returning to single malt manufacturing the place I drove R&D for a small-batch Colorado distilled whiskey – I used to be ultimately named Head Distiller in 2019.
My huge expertise in secondary ending and experimentation permits me to convey a singular perspective to the best-in-class manufacturing group right here at Angel’s Envy. It’s been unimaginable to collaborate and innovate with this main distillery.
How would you describe your distilling philosophy, and the way does it align with Angel’s Envy’s mission and values?
To me, creating whiskey at Angel’s Envy means analyzing a particularly heritage-rich class by surprising lenses – we at all times wish to be pushing boundaries and striving to uncover what’s subsequent for American whiskey.
My private philosophy is to create whiskeys which might be a well-rounded expertise – the grain, oak, fermentation, and maturation flavors are all in stability – after which accentuated or contrasted by the usage of complementary ending casks. Being intentional about every variable so as to create an general considerate product is my most important purpose with any given launch.
Angel’s Envy is thought for its distinctive ending processes. Are you able to speak concerning the inspiration behind utilizing port wine barrels and different ending methods?
Over his profession, Lincoln Henderson spoke in depth with numerous bartenders and bourbon followers, and lots of had expressed curiosity within the taste potentialities ending might convey to bourbon. Through the inception of Angel’s Envy, being impartial of bigger distilleries meant that Lincoln might discover artistic instructions he’d at all times wished to pursue, which is how Angel’s Envy bought its award-winning port end. Lincoln believed {that a} port end would completely pair with our spirit, and after ending and tasting the primary batch, he was sure that he’d made the correct alternative.
In my thoughts, if we’re innovating accurately, it ought to really feel shocking but pure. instance of that was final 12 months’s 2023 Cask Power Rye launch. Our major particular launch had been a yearly bourbon at Cask Power for the previous 12 years, but we’d by no means ventured outdoors of that. I made a decision that might be a enjoyable solution to cap my first 12 months with Angels’ Envy – shock our followers with a double launch that balanced as acquainted however new.
What developments do you see rising within the bourbon trade, and the way is Angel’s Envy making ready to handle or capitalize on them?
I’d say customers appear to be an increasing number of targeted on new and different releases. This might vary from the revolutionary use of a brand new ending cask to extra historic designations. Angel’s Envy was based on the concept of progressing the bourbon trade, utilizing ending casks on the time extra generally present in Scotch and Irish whiskey manufacturing. With the mindset of taking nods to different industries and even the historical past inside our personal, we’ve positioned ourselves to create revolutionary new releases for the years to return.
Are you able to share any initiatives Angel’s Envy is taking in direction of sustainability and environmental duty within the distilling course of?
Amongst a handful of sustainability initiatives we partake in, I’d need to say Toast the Timber is a stand-out.
Launched in 2014 and celebrated every September in honor of U.S. Nationwide Bourbon Heritage Month, Toast the Timber is our initiative to exhibit the significance of sustainability inside the bourbon trade in addition to elevate consciousness of the significance of forests and the elevated want for a wholesome and safe White Oak tree inhabitants. Because the program’s founding, Angel’s Envy, in partnership with the Arbor Day Basis, has planted practically 300,000 bushes.
One factor I’ve personally labored on within the distillery is being extra sustainable and intentional with our barrel use. By regulation, we will solely use a brand-new charred oak barrel for the preliminary maturation of our bourbon and rye. After that, I wished us to get a bit extra artistic. This previous 12 months, we’ve despatched a few of our freshly emptied barrels to different firms – beer, rum, even different whiskey – as “loaner” barrels, primarily. These different manufacturing websites will then fill their merchandise into our barrels to age. Every time they’re finished and have packaged their contents, the barrels get returned to us, freshly infused with flavors and aromas from their second fill, which we then use to our benefit as ending barrels for numerous tasks.
Are there any new tasks or merchandise within the pipeline that you simply’re significantly enthusiastic about and might share some particulars on?
I’ll say that final 12 months was extra of a set-up 12 months by way of new tasks. We have been capable of shock individuals with the 2023 Cask Power Rye launch on the finish of the 12 months, and we’re trying ahead to persevering with to take action! Keep tuned.
What recommendation would you give to somebody who’s aspiring to turn out to be a Grasp Distiller or to enter the bourbon trade?
Be affected person however relentless. You may at all times attempt to discover volunteer alternatives with a smaller distillery or work your approach in by front-of-house alternatives. There are additionally extra routes into the trade through schooling than ever earlier than.
Even when you’re within the trade, I believe quite a lot of of us discover it robust to appreciate it’s not all glitz and glamor. In actual fact, it’s normally the other. Most of my time within the trade has been spent working nights or weekends, doing guide labor, and endlessly cleansing. That’s to not say there aren’t improbable elements about working within the bourbon trade – you simply want to verify your ardour is ready to carry you thru the elements which might be extra of a grind.
I do like that there’s no actual set path to changing into a Grasp Distiller. Every firm and individual in that position appears to have charted their very own path to that finish. You may concentrate on plant administration or work your approach by the standard division, for instance. Every distiller brings their very own perspective into the position, and that overlaid with the model’s historical past is what makes the entire thing compelling to me.
