Metallica rolls out its own whiskey, distilled with (no joke) heavy metal
Metallica is a money-making machine.
It is, after all, the biggestselling Bay Area band of all time. But it hasn’t just made its fortune off record sales. It’s partnered with Vans on a line of shoes, and released Metallica-branded watches.
Now, the band has gotten into the spirits market, which has proven very lucrative for other musicians, from Sammy Hagar to Bob Dylan.
“It’s not often that we announce a brand new, neverbeen-done-before Metallica endeavor, so we’re incredibly excited and super proud to introduce Blackened American Whiskey,” the band announced.
“Those of you who are whiskey connoisseurs may have heard some rumblings earlier this summer as we’re honored to partner with master distiller extraordinaire, Dave Pickerell, to create a unique blend of straight American whiskey.”
The Metallica whiskey ($53) will be available through thinkliquor.com and spirited gifts.com.
Part of what sets this whiskey apart, and makes it a proper match for Metallica, is that sound itself is part of the distilling process. Pickerell has been intrigued by the power of sound waves since his days at West Point as a student and later as a chemistry professor.
West Point is home to one of the world’s largest church organs which, Pickerell says, would produce a note so low that it made the building tremble. It “would really shake your guts.”
So, Pickerell took what he learned there and applied it to Blackened whiskey, which takes its name from a song on the band’s “… And Justice for All” album. In this case, the song itself is part of the distilling process and contributes to the flavor.
“The blend of bourbons, ryes and whiskeys from all across North America, carefully selected by Dave himself, is housed in black brandy barrels and inundated with low hertz sound waves so intense that it actually enhances the molecular interaction and ultimately the finish of the whiskey,” the band’s statement continues.
“We are fortunate to have a long-time collaboration with Meyer Sound, who engineered a proprietary subwoofer that amplifies the low-frequency sound waves. All the planets aligned. The low-frequency range needed for Dave’s vision was the range you hear in our music and the process of sonic-enhancement we call ‘Black Noise’ was born. A patent-pending process, the playlists that we create help to shape the flavor of the whiskey.”
That sound wave on the bottle? It’s from the song “Blackened.” Consider it heavy metal distilling.