Autumnal 2020

Photos by Colin Beckett

The oak barrel holds an almost mythological place in the crafting of spirits. Barrels have been used for thousands of years to store countless types of goods including wine, beer, spirits, tea, pickles, hot sauce, maple syrup, mustard, salted fish...and the list goes on. Spirits makers who employ barrel-aging often point to the casks themselves as a key component to their products’ quality and character.

We began our humble program of barrel-aging Letherbee Gin in May of 2015. Since then, we have been slowly and steadily laying down an array of barrels, and waiting for when the time felt and tasted right. With glee, we feel that time is now.

Letherbee Autumnal Gin 2020 is a straight up barrel aged gin. We’ve picked our favorite barrels and made our favorite blend. No sugar, caramel, or any other sweeteners or colors added. It’s bone dry and sits in a balance of being uplifting yet grounded, ethereal yet solid, aromatic and earthy.

To go deeper: We use standard size 53 gal. American oak barrels (nothing smaller). This size staves off the oak’s tannins from overpowering the spirit. All casks used in this batch are brand new, first fill, meaning they’ve never had any other liquid in them other than our gin. Veering away from the preferences of whiskey producers, we lean toward barrels that are lightly toasted on the inside - a distinction from the more aggressive charred insides of barrels typically used for aging Bourbon. This bestows a gentler, more delicate and more nuanced oak impression that preserves space for the gin’s botanicals to carry on singing their aromatic harmonies.