By Will Grunewald
From our April 2019 issue
When Ned Wight got hired at Portland’s Allagash Brewing Company in 1996, he was founder Rob Tod’s first employee. In 2009, Wight started his own boozy enterprise, New England Distilling, and got talking with his old pals about collaborating: Allagash would supply beer for Wight to run through his copper stills. Test batches used big-flavored brews, but Allagash brewer Jason Perkins suggested trying saison, a delicate beer — sweet, yeasty, spicy. “I didn’t think those flavors would express themselves,” Wight says. “Then we tasted it and we were like, ‘Oh my god. That’s incredible!’” The current batch has aged three-plus years in barrels, and while those yeasty, spicy notes have mellowed, they’re unmistakably present. “It’s cool to see the evolution of it,” Wight says. “That’s really the idea behind this one.” New England Distilling releases bottles of Rack IV Saison whiskey on April 6, Saison Day, an Allagash-spearheaded national celebration of the beer style.
New England Sour
INGREDIENTS
2 ounces New England Distilling Saison whiskey
1 ounce lemon juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
1 egg white (optional)
½ ounce red wine, something nice and fruity
DIRECTIONS
Add whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake for about 30 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Pour red wine over the back of a spoon and into the glass, so that wine floats on top of the drink.
