And what are these? These define a huge number of brands that simply pretend to be a distillery but actually buy bulk elsewhere, then devise a marketing campaign that is anything but honest.
A brand is invented, along with a lovely story of family and production that seems absolutely real and inviting but which is barely true, if at all. His name for this practice - "Potemkin distillery" - come from the historical Russian "Potemkin Villages"...
"According to the story, Grigory Potemkin erected fake settlements along the banks of the Dnieper River in order to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787. The phrase is now used, typically in politics and economics, to describe any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that some situation is better than it really is. "
For example check out the luscious copy spewed out the the boyz at Angel's Envy Rye (and bourbon)...
You can visualize them hunched over the still, and micromanaging every single step of its production, aging, blending and finishing. We are led to expect a "small batch" custom product that reflects "200 years" of tradition and Lincoln Henderson's (whoever the fack that is) "lifetime" of craftsmanship. Whew! Just one problem."Some people might say we have a problem when they hear that we personally sample each barrel of Angel’s Envy throughout every step of distilling and aging our spirits, and then repeat the entire tasting process for the special finish. We agree. We’re raging perfectionists. We hope you’ll forgive our condition, but we just can’t help ourselves. We’re very particular about our whiskeys. That’s why we blend every single batch to taste. Rooted in 200 years of bourbon heritage, we create artisan, hand-finished spirits that aren’t afraid to improve on the classic tradition. Inspired by legendary Master Distiller Lincoln Henderson’s lifetime spent crafting fine spirits, Angel’s Envy is our masterpiece. The 5% of spirit lost each year during barrel aging is called the “Angel’s Share.” After tasting our finished bourbon, Lincoln joked that we’d finally gotten a better deal than the angels. And so Angel’s Envy was born."
The product is anything but small batch, but is reportedly purchased in bulk from mega-producers like LDI/MGP. The only thing we know for sure they do is to "finish" it in old port, sherry and/or rum barrels. This is the same game played by Plantation Rums, on whom they obviously went to school. Plantation's claim to fame is a quick and unspecified dunk of sourced rum in well used up sherry barrels, which barrels I'm sure they are pleased to dump, er sell to the Angel's boyz.
Here too Angel goes nuts with marketing copy, claiming that they meticulously examined "100 rums", before selecting the very special used barrels used to finish Plantation's XO. I suppose each hand selected barrel is personally blessed by the Pope. Yet we learn nothing about the actual age or fills, preparation or protocol of these specially selected barrels. Personally, I'd love to know how they "meticulously" examined the 100 rums and by implication, the barrels they'd purport to buy. Did they buy 100 barrels and test them? Did they travel for an in situ examination? Since each barrel - even from the same source - is different, well how DO you select the ones you want? As for old sherry/rum combo barrels from Plantation, are they then sulfur treated? Disassembled for shipment, shaved and/or retoasted/charred?
We learn nothing. Is this more a marketing story that many would suspect? Do these guys really understand their cooperage? How much actual experience and history do they have with not sherry, but - heaven forbid - sherry/rum combo barrels?
And like Plantation, they too are rather vague, claiming only that the finishing is "up to 18 months". You see, each "small batch" is finished to taste, and heck, that could happen in 30 days or 15 minutes for all we know. But we can trust that at least one 18 month batch is surely out there somewhere. A promise kept.
About that distillery...
Turns out that Envy does indeed plan a distillery, but according to Cowdery there's no indication on just when this will happen, or if it does whether it will be just a micro show piece (accompanying a visitor's center) or large enough to actually make significant quantities of product. The site is interesting: the distillery is to be built on a piece of land that is a chemically contaminated environmental hazard. Per Cowdery:
Do you believe this? We're not talking crystal clear mountain spring water here; what we have instead I'd guess are grounds full of heavy metals and industrial waste. Wonder how they'll spin that? And according to Cowdery IF the distillery is completed this year, they won't have their own product until about 2019. Apparently AE has been very close with their plans. Good grief!"The Vermont American property has been vacant for decades. The site is heavily contaminated. Vermont American's parent company, Robert Bosch Tool Corp., has agreed to pay for environmental cleanup of the grounds and courtyard."
As for the reviewers? Why, they'll just pass it along...
No matter, the world is full of reviewers like the Wolfboy who apparently still hasn't figured out that most of the new labels are simply made up brands and stories from the same few real distillers. According to the Frozen One:
He refers to the as yet unbuilt distillery, and passes along the "small batch... hand selected" meme, then completes his fantasy by giving the Angel's Envy Rye one of his highest scores ever, brought down only slightly by his dislike of the bottle design. Urp. He accounts for the supernatural qualities of this basic bulk spirit by citing his belief that Plantation's ex-sherry barrels are simply sponge full of both great sherry as well as Plantation's fine rums. Wow! Add that to their special, hand-selected, meticulously produced small batch rye from their "distillery" and he is in doggie heaven. Lift that leg!"Angel’s Envy produces not only this Rum Finished Whiskey, but also a Cask Strength Bourbon and a Port Finished Bourbon. All of these whiskeys are made in very small quantities from what must be hand selected barrels. If you have a chance to grab any of these expressions, I would suggest that you do it sooner rather than later, because once the word gets out, I suspect these gems will be gone. And as the Angel’s Envy Whiskey becomes more well-known and sought out, the distillery may be tempted to hand select more and more barrels to keep up with the demand."
Were it only all true. I'd suggest less caffeine, a couple aspirins and a good nights sleep...
