Solera

Yeah, this is another ...

And so we've got Solera Edition Cask Strength, which I'm super excited about.

So this guy is-

Yes, please

We have an 11-year...

Solera of Umeshu.

We have a whiskey called Baller that's the California spin on the Japanese take on Scotch whiskey making.

And it's very lean in comparison to our Lot series single malt, the one that we started when I started the distillery.

Wow.

And all the whiskeys get married together in a unique marrying tun called the Solera Vat, which is why we call the 15-year-old our Solera 15.

Yeah, yeah.

And the Solera system is traditionally used in the sherry industry, and David Stewart, our previous malt master, he learned about that and thought for consistency and increasing complexity of our whiskey, we should use a Solera Vat.

Means we never empty the vat completely, and keep some of the previous batches to flavor the next generation, and that's h- that's how we've done it since 1998.

And the 18-year-old is a fantastic example, on the other hand.

So people who want to dive a bit deeper, ask more geeky questions, for example, and want to spend more time, that's the perfect tour for them.

We focus specifically on the creation of our 15-year-old Solera.

And I kept this wine that we now have just released, Der Tittl's Secret Edition 6.

Edition 6 is 10 vintages, two fresh vintages, 24 and 25, And eight vintages out of the Solera.

And so I'll take 24, 25, blend them together, and then add Solera, add Solera, add Solera to a point where I'm satisfied I've reached the best balance.

That then becomes number six.

And what's left of 24 and 25 goes back into the Solera.

So the Solera going forward is now 10 vintages.

And the next edition will be 12 vintages, 10 Solera vintages, and two fresh vintages.

And so we only release every second year.

And then we take the next size barrel and fill.

So it's the Solera system.

Sherry system.

And we

This one I know.

So Solera is where you blend multiple years of wine.

So let's say you start with one vintage in the barrel and the next year you remove and bottle a specific amount of wine and top up that barrel with the new vintage.

And then every year after that, you remove that same quantity of wine and top up with that year's new vintage.

Yes, and I've tried some sherrys with soleras that's been going on for like almost 100 years.

So it can be very, very interesting.

And curiously enough, the Solera method is getting more and more used in high quality sparkling wine production.

But that's a technique we can dive deeper into on a different episode.