Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
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- Suggested retail price: $89 & $129
- Thursday, January 7 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring one ounce of each for $7
The word “uisge beatha” in Gaelic is literally translated as “water of life.” It describes any liquor distilled from grains. Pronounced “oos-ke-bah,” it is where we get our English word, “whisky.” “Usquaebach” is immortalized by the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns, in his poem Tom O’Shanter: “Wi Usquaebach we’ll face the de’il (devil).” The word is commonly used to refer to Scotch whisky throughout his work. It does not, of course refer to this particular brand of whisky. Spirits merchants Ross & Cameron of Iverness, Scotland, began marketing their own proprietary vatted malt blends to their customers in 1800. They came up with the bright idea to trademark the name usquaebach in 1877 and marketed some of their finest whisky thus. In 1926, following the death of Donald Cameron of Ross & Cameron, the Usquaebach trademark is passed along to William Grigor & Sons, an ambitious spirits trading company and principals of the famous Bowmore Distillery. Twelve Stone Flagons Ltd., an American company, purchased the trademark in 1969 and began to distribute Usquaebach in the now famous flagon in which it is still sold today. So there is a good and ancient story of great marketing.
I remember the first time I saw the bottle on the back bar of J.August with my friend (and boss at the time) TJ. He and bartender John Seiler started me on my education to quality whisky (sometimes a bit too enthusiastically) in 1986. While the back-story of Usquaebach (the brand) may not be as compelling as some of the traditional single malts, the whisky in the bottle is always of excellent quality and quite distinctive. I must admit, I do get a kick out of that ceramic flagon and it did add to the allure of the whole category in a way that drew me in. I will have the first ounce out of this bottle (and it's companion 15 year old). I hope you can join us.
At precisely 6:30, we will open one bottle of each. When they're gone, it's gone. I do hope you can join us.
Next week in The Spirits Project
A Flight of Vintage Beer from our Cellar