Harrowsmith Fall 2019 | 932 percent of the total volume per
year disappears and evaporates
into the heavens. This is the
angel’s share.
Aging in barrels with the
generous help of the angels can
take gasoline-like skull cracker
and refine it into a mature blend.
If you consider a 12-year-old
scotch, the angelic math still
applies: the angels can assume
up to 24 percent of the liquid
in that time frame. Barrels
in warmer, drier climes like
Kentucky or Scotland can even
see an increase in angels’ shares
of up to 4 to 5 percent a year!
Your hillbilly pop homework
1
Pour your own share and
watch The Angel’s Share
(2012). The brevity of the plot
says it all: “Four friends, one
mission, lots of spirit.” When
a new dad is inspired by a
distillery visit, hope is found
at the bottom of a barrel.
2
For tipsy adventures in
distilling, get your paws on
Victoria Redhed Miller’s boozy
bible, Craft Distilling: Making
Liquor Legally at Home (New
Society Publishers). The self-
reliance expert offers guidance
for building a small column still
and introduces “unholy spirits”
like a tequila-esque drink distilled
from Jerusalem artichokes.
3
Attend the Saints & Sinners
event at the Moreston
Heritage Village at Grey Roots
Museum & Archives in Owen
Sound, Ontario, held annually
each June. Get schooled in
temperance, Prohibition and
bootlegging history. The one-day
afternoon celebration re-enacts
the era with lively protests,
partiers and a paddy wagon.The bar exam
Now, here’s the fun part of your
homework—your guide to the
most intriguing spirits on the
shelves, from coast to coast.
Let us know how you perform
on your taste test.Left Coast Hemp Vodka
and Empress 1908 Gin,
Victoria Distillers
Victoria
Made with Canadian-grown
organic hemp seed. The smooth
oiled hemp hearts lend a
grassy, hazelnut flavour. Mix it
in a Caesar, martini or serve
it neat with some squares of
dark chocolate.
If you can still “gin and bear
it,” the surreal colour of the
Empress 1908 is courtesy of theFOOD & RECIPES: BLIND PIGS AND THE ANGEL’S SHARE