Moonshiners Institute is releasing its very first batches of 5 entirely different spirits.
The brand new multi-spirit distillery will be starting business with a gin, a white and dark rum and 2 American-inspired spirits – White Dog and Not-Bourbon, an alternative to bourbon whiskey.
As ‘Adventurous Spirit Makers’, their mission is to ‘make damn good spirits’. All their products are made and bottled at their city centre site in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Moonshiners are a husband-and-wife team – Luke Smith & Grace Noon – who intend to produce all kinds of spirits on a very, very small scale; their still is just 100 litres. What they lose in economies of scale they gain in precision, allowing them to make super high-quality spirits. Distiller and founder, Luke, is the creator of all their spirits.
“Because of our tiny scale we can hone in and make spirits that may not be viable at a larger scale”, said Luke, the former head distiller of Mason’s Yorkshire Gin.
“White Dog, for instance, isn’t really that known, or drank, in the UK. We’re hoping to change that. It’s also known as moonshine which is, in effect, unaged bourbon-style whiskey. It just has a bad reputation because of its illicit history.
“Some might say why would you want to drink whiskey before it has touched a cask, but in our opinion if it’s truly great whiskey, the new-make should be great too. We think it’s pretty special and it drinks superbly well in a margarita in place of tequila!” Luke remarked.
Moonshiners do also age this spirit but do it super quickly using small barrels so it doesn’t take years, just a few weeks, to achieve a similar flavour profile to a bourbon whiskey.
“We call it Not-Bourbon, because it isn’t, it doesn’t meet the criteria. We don’t distil it in America and we don’t age it for the required 2 years. But we do use a high corn recipe and follow much of the typical Bourbon making process that results in something not dissimilar. We reckon it offers most of the joy with less of the wait.”
Their launch range includes 5 spirit products; Unrest – White Dog, Paradox – Baby Barrel Not-Bourbon, Vamp – London Dry Gin, Vagant – White Rum and Noctivagant – Dark Rum.
Commenting on their unusual multi-spirit approach, Luke added “Choosing a distillery’s spirit specialism has roots in the availability of the base ingredients historically. Getting a hold of these ingredients isn’t an issue anymore but the bias remains. Tradition is a hard thing to shake!
“But a bakery, for example, can be known for making a range of baked goods, from croissants to sourdough to cakes. Similarly, we understand distilling in-depth so we can make all kinds of spirits – and we will be!”
This is not all this little distillery has planned. They will also be launching make-your-own-spirit experiences for whisk(e)y, rum and gin.
“We call these events our Academies. You use a mini-still to make booze and learn a lot about spirits and distilling in a short space of time and in a very hands-on way!”. Prices for academies start from £99 per person, gift vouchers are currently available and bookings will open this Autumn.
Bottles of their 5 launch spirits are now available to buy from their website www.moonshiners.co.uk Prices start from £35 for their full size bottles.
