The brochures are ready for pickup today, along with a few last minute wonders for the silent auction. I have an interview lined up for friday with a reporter from the East Bay Times. And last night at the rcd ‘beaver program’ in Napa we got a lovely plug. (Thanks to Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist for the shout-out and Rusty Cohn for the friendly spying!)
In the meantime there are plenty of dramas to keep us engaged. Most recently the much-hailed debut of a bourbon flavored with castoreum. Yes ,you read that right.
New whiskey flavoured with beaver secretions launched
The 44% ABV flavoured whiskey, which has a Bourbon base, is described as having a “vanilla nose underscored with the addition of spice from the birch oil and wild ginger”. On the palate, the rather elaborate tasting note reads: “dry, smoky spice with fleeting hints of fresh-cracked boughs and mint that open up to reveal rustic-sweet sensations of wet hay, vanilla, wood sugar, and saddle leather interspersed by waves of red fruit”.
A yellowish secretion of the castor sac located under the beaver’s tail, castoreum can form part of a substitute for vanilla flavour although it is rarely used in the food industry today. It is listed as a safe food additive by the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) and continues to be used to flavour Swedish schnapps brand BVR HJT.
In an effort to source local castoreum, the distillery teamed up with a beaver trapper called Anton.
“Anton is a beaver trapper and often gets called in by the state to remove beavers. Beavers are also extremely territorial, making relocation of beavers extremely difficult. So Anton, like all good trappers, uses every part of the animal. The fur is sold, the meat is eaten and the castor sacs are used as lures for future trapping bait. This source of New Hampshire beavers makes for a responsible market practice,” the distillery reports on its website.
Eau de Musc, as the whiskey is being called, is described as a two-year Bourbon, which in addition to castoreum, has been flavoured with raspberry, Canadian snakeroot, fir needles, birch bark (tar oil and regular oil) and maple syrup.
It is reportedly being sold in 200ml bottles for US$65 a pop.
I. Can’t. Even.
As bizarre as it is to make a beaver-butt flavored whiskey and write an article about its introduction like a promotional commercial for that hot new barber in town “Sweeney Todd” – it’s the charming profile of ‘Anton’ the trapper that sets this truly apart. Anton! The name alone speaks of rugged voyageurs in the Canadian territories – bring civilization on their backs to an unruly land with their uniquely wild avarice. I especially like how they mention he devotedly uses ‘every part of the beaver’
Drink this! It will make you rugged!
