CHOCOLATE AND WHISKEY
Time to make room for craft in your drinks cabinet
Sumptuous pairings
American whiskey is not just about Bourbon and rye anymore. They loom large, of course, enshrined in our national identity. But make room for others, because the craft spirit movement has ushered in exciting new tipples. Rum’s comeback. New spins on gin!
Within the whiskey category, our unique slants on single malts that capture the cultural moment inclined toward local and sustainable agriculture. Our malts vary from region to region more dramatically than probably in any other country. Maine to
Texas to the Pacific Northwest, distances so great and environments so varied that they could be entirely different nations. Despite the dissimilarities, there seem to be some emerging commonalities.
One trend is to reflect terroir as authentically as possible. My go-to definition is ‘a specific locale captured in your glass.’ Terroir is a relative term when applied, yet a robust definition starts with culture, then water, climate and environment including microorganisms, equipment and procedures, where the grain is grown and malted, where the peat is collected if used, and the wood in which the spirit is matured and finished.
Our native whiskeys mature in American White Oak (Quercus Alba), but there are local subspecies, such as Quercus Garryana of the Pacific Northwest. And local climate conditions affect the properties of the wood.
In New York State temperature extremes intensify the usual flavor notes of oak. That’s why Coppersea Distillery chooses New York State oak to deliver a distinguishing sense of place to their Bourbon. What if whiskey finishes in a cask that is not made of local wood? Was the liquor that once occupied that cask locally made or foreign? How much of a stickler does the distiller want to be?
Are our whiskeys developing a predictable profile? Much of new American whiskey is marketed as NAS (no age statement). The distillers will usually tell you the age range when asked. If your facial expression registers shock at how young their spirit is, they will explain that whiskey barrels matured in our US climates are battered by more extreme temperatures.
So the argument goes, our whiskeys, particularly in the South, mature more rapidly. And that’s true, to an extent. Yet I have often felt that many of our whiskeys would benefit from more time in the barrel. They tend to lean green, and good whiskey cannot be rushed.
American whiskey tends to have a higher alcohol content – usually 45% ABV (90 proof) or more.
Compare that with Scotch, generally in the 80-86 proof range. Also, many of our whiskeys strike me as exceedingly sweet. Perhaps this is because we’ve been raised on a Bourbon-born, corn-fed sweet tooth.
Speaking of the national sweet tooth brings us to chocolate. Unless a craft chocolate maker is located in the same area where their cacao is grown, terroir is sourced and imported along with the beans. But artisan bean to bar makers then make decisions that dictate the style of their brand, such as degree of sweetness, the percentage of cacao to end up in their bars, the texture and mouthfeel, and so on.
Experienced barsmiths know they need to age their chocolate, although that is measured in weeks, not years, and that aging is done in a cool room, rarely in wood.
Let’s look at some American single malts as they represent far-flung corners of the USA and pair with them great American artisan chocolate bars. All the chocolate listed can be obtained through the brands’ on-line stores.
PAIRING AMERICAN CRAFT SINGLE MALT WHISKEY AND DARK CHOCOLATE
Whiskey
Fifty Stone Single Malt Whiskey (Maine Craft Distilling), 45% ABV. Maine Craft Distilling deserves a much wider audience.
They call their spirits “Highland style” but I’d drop that description. Because when it comes to a peated malt, Maine Craft probably presents the most purely American terroir play on the market. Their own floor malted Maine barley is smoked with Maine peat and local seaweed, then aged in Maine oak. A beautifully executed original!
Chocolate
Fruition Chocolate (New York) Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) 68%. Its fruit and spice notes tend to go well with peated whiskeys.
Brasstown Chocolate (North Carolina) Ucayali (Peru) 70%, With floral, mocha, caramel and fruit aromas, when paired with the whiskey, a sandalwood-like flavor slowly emerges from the liquid.
Whiskey
Mccarthy’s Oregon Single Malt (Peated) by Clear Creek Distillery, 42.5% ABV. Perhaps the earliest craft producer of American single malts in the 1990s, their whiskey matures in Garryana oak for three years. More refined and subtle than age might suggest. Their malted barley and peat are from Islay, Scotland, yet not so marine. Whispers of pine verging on menthol-eucalyptus were detected along with vanilla, oak, leather or tobacco. The mild peat and smoke allow the malt to come through without excessive sweetness.
Chocolate
Fresco (Washington State) San Martin (Peru) #225, 70%. Its spice and herb profile accentuates the peat and the green herbal aspects of the whiskey. A very pleasing combination. Or you may prefer:..
Potomac (Virginia) Duarte, Dominican Republic 70%. A deeper experience. While Fresco makes very fine Dominican bars, the batches I sampled lacked spice notes. This Potomac Dominican has nutmeg and cocoa aromas along with fruit. Dominican bars often feature tobacco notes that should rhyme beautifully with the Mccarthy’s.
Whiskey
Westland American Oak Single Malt, 46% ABV (Washington State).
Westland is among the vanguard of those distilleries working toward authentic Pacific Northwest terroir.
The American Oak single malt is considered their flagship expression, and its place in the distillery’s core repertoire is why it is included in this piece.
Westland also produces yearly limited editions using Garryana oak and eventually spirit made with local peat will be released.
The single malt featured here has a complex profile, with orange and chocolate custards in the nose, cherry, a hint of floral (jasmine), caramel and honey, oak and malt.
Add a tad of almonds to the palate, and finish on banana and Turkish coffee.
Chocolate
Maverick Chocolate Co.(ohio), Big Island (Hawaii) 70%. The earthy roast and mocha notes meet mirror images in the whiskey. A suggestion of cognac emerges.
Whiskey
Balcones Texas Single Malt, 53% ABV.
This brand uniquely reflects local terroir with Texas-grown barley, and the use of multiple barrel aging that is impacted by rapid heat swings in the Waco climate. The nose foreshadows sweetness, caramelized brown sugar-rum and wild honey, spiced fruit poached in sherry and a wild herbal element clinging to the bottom malt notes. Add peppery, brown sugar and candied citrus on the palate.
Given the ABV, a drop of water is recommended to really open it up.
Chocolates
Solstice (Utah) Camino Verde (Ecuador) 70%. A honey-floral nose with brown sugar, fried plantain and cream on the palate meshes well with the Balcones. Or you may prefer:
Potomac Chocolate (Virginia) Tumaco (Ecuador) 70%, a denser experience than the Solstice, as if honeycomb were made of that brown sugar, a whisper of raspberry turns louder.
Whiskey
Stranahan’s Rocky Mountain American Single Malt, 47% ABV. joins Deerhammer as distilleries staking out high altitude with cold, dry mountain air contributing to their terroir.
Stranahan’s single malt features caramel, butterscotch and maple syrup in the nose with a whiff of leather. Add chocolate, cinnamon-butter, a hint of cayenne, tobacco and oak to the palate.
Chocolate
Solstice (Utah) Camino Verde (Ecuador) 70%. While this one worked well with the Balcones too, the effects here were quite different. Here, the chocolate softened the cayenne notes, added banana, and boosted cinnamon and brown sugar.