Spirits · Tucson, Arizona
Del Bac
Sonoran Desert single malt with barley dried over mesquite instead of peat.
- Founded by
- Stephen Paul, Amanda Kramer
- Based in
- Tucson, Arizona
Their story
Whiskey Del Bac is a family distillery in Tucson, Arizona, led by Stephen Paul and his daughter Amanda Kramer. Stephen also ran Arroyo Design, a custom furniture company, and the whiskey grew out of its woodshop.
In 2006, while grilling with mesquite scraps from the shop and sipping Scotch, Stephen's wife Elaine asked what would happen if barley were malted over a mesquite fire instead of peat. Stephen started experimenting on a five-gallon pot still, released his first three whiskeys in 2013 and later built out a 500-gallon system and a malt house. The company, once called Hamilton Distillers, now goes by Whiskey Del Bac.
How it's made
Del Bac handles every step in house, from malting to bottling. Barley is germinated in a tank and then dried over burning mesquite, giving the whiskey a sweet desert smoke. The wash is double distilled in a copper pot still and aged in barrels, with local water used for mashing.
Why we carry them
Del Bac's mesquite smoke is unlike anything from Scotland, softer and a little sweet. We think it is one of the most distinctive American single malts around.
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