so I did and that’s what I got at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2024. Kings Code Batch 1 Riona snagged a Gold Medal in this year’s competition. If you haven’t met Riona (Gaelic for Queen), you should. Kings Code is a project in collaboration with Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn, NY. It started as a proof of concept project that Colin Spoelman, Laura Graham and I came up with to see if it would fly. Well, fly I did, to Europe, Cork, Ireland in particular to buy some exceptional whiskies to put in the blend. Then off I went to Lovingston, Virginia, to scoop up some of the best American Single Malts I could lay my palate on.
Back at the Blending Lab (aka spare bedroom), I tasted and drew some cryptic diagrams. I concocted this blend to grab your attention. From the start, she lures you in with the prettiest nose from the American Single Malt in an STR cask. She fills and arrests your palate with American Single Malts in ex-bourbon cask and Pedro Ximénez cask. Her finish is powered by Clonakilty Irish Whiskey finished in Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes cask. Delicate stone fruit, peach and nectarine, white flowers linger in the back. Despite the youth of the components, this blend shows balance, elegance and complexity.
Grab a bottle or two while they are still available. I made only 800 of them. You can buy them in fine whisky stores in CT, MA, RI and at Kings County Distillery. You can get a pour at the bars that know their whiskies.
In CT, The Store Bar & Grill in Torrington, The Engine room in Mystic, Vinted in West Hartford, Zinc in New Haven, Flinders in Stamford.
In RI, the Courtland Club and the GCB (Graduate Center Bar) at Brown University.
PS look for Kings Code Batch 2 A Touch of Bessie this June. She’s smoking hot and older than Riona.