Pekut and Carwick Independent Bottlers (Page 2)

Screenshot of Merriam Webster rum definition.

How Did Rum Get Its Name?

In an effort to provide you with ALL the information about our products while still satisfying the inquisitive nerd within, we’re writing a rum handbook. You’ll be our guinea pig as we serve up the story of the spirit—from rum’s origin to its current standing in

A glass of Prunus Mume California Umeshu with magnolia blossoms and a sunset in the background.

Prunus Mume California Umeshu

The prunus mume tree is commonly called a Japanese or "ume" plum and is actually more closely related to an apricot than a plum, despite the name. While the tree is originally from China, the fruit is often encountered here in the US at Japanese restaurants in pickled

A bottle of Pekut & Carwick Heritage Single Malt Whiskey Stands in front of a whiskey barrel.

Heritage California Single Malt Whiskey

Grain: 100% unpeated UK malt mash Distillery: Sutherland Distilling Company in Livermore, CA Batch: Two barrels distilled in October 2016 Barrel: American Standard Bourbon (ASB) char #4 Nose: vanilla, menthol, cedar, and wet oak Palate: dry with a building heat, brief apple sweetness, brioche, toasted bread, hints of pear esters

A bottle of Pekut & Carwick Bulk Rum from Guyana in front of an oak barrel.

Bulk Rum

Raw material: molasses Origin: Guyana Distillation: blend of pot and column still Maturation: no age statement, blend of aged and unaged Proofing: lowered to bottling proof in used single malt and rum barrels Nose: sugar, light caramel, cake donut, slight nutty funk Palate: dry, mouthwarming, "chewy" maltiness, vanilla,

Glossy fresh lemons and oranges are piled on a blue plastic crate.

Citrus x Aurantium California Vin d'Orange

Impression: more orange than an orange Process: maceration on fruit and spices Base spirit: wine and brandy Nose: honey, orange blossom, wine, white brandy, vanilla Palate: orange peel, orange juice, orange marmalade, grapefruit peel bitterness, hint of sherry RELEASE NOTES: It's difficult to maintain perspective when you'

A bottle of Pekut and Carwick Maiden Voyage California Single Malt Whiskey

Maiden Voyage California Single Malt

Grain: Metcalfe barley grown in Esparto Mash: 100% unpeated barley malted at Admiral Maltings in Alameda Distillery: Sutherland Distilling Company in Livermore, CA Batch: 1 barrel Barrel: used bourbon Terroir: 100% East Bay RELEASE NOTES: Maiden Voyage California Single Malt is a uniquely local single malt. The bottle you’re

Four people walk along an aisle in a Scottish warehouse full of barrels.

Genesis

A few years ago, I toured two of my favorite whisky producers in Campbeltown (Scotland) and Osaka (Japan). I stood in a dunnage warehouse soaking up the smell of damp earth, black mold, and a sweet, piercing high note of oak and ethanol from hundreds of single malt, single grain,

A hand holds a copita glass of whiskey up against a plant and a brick wall.

Unmarketing our marketing

When you buy anything these days, you’re not just purchasing a product. In these modern times, marketing and branding is everything. Jack Daniels is the world’s top-selling whiskey brand for a reason. In 2019 the company spent $27 million on broadcast advertising. And it’s no accident you

A closeup of sugar cane.

We want US rum

If you’ve been reading along with us here, you know we love rum. We think it’s underappreciated and underrepresented and it's ready for the spotlight. But the spotlight, as always, looks a little different for us than it does for the broader world of rum marketing.

Detailed closeup of dried barley grains.

About grain

A while back we mentioned that we’re working with Spirit Works Distillery in Sebastopol, California, to release some of their excellent wheat and rye whiskey. Those projects got us thinking about grain, and how this is our first foray into whiskeys not made from malt (remember malt? we'

A hiking trail tapers off into the distant hills.

2021 equity benchmarking

The end of the first quarter has passed (wow that flew by), so here are some updates on progress since the new year. If you haven't already perused our website, I posted some of my thoughts on being a white small business owner in an economy built on

How to taste at cask strength

How to taste at cask strength

It can be challenging to get into drinking cask strength spirits. You've got the marketing hype cheering you on (elegant bottles, beautiful labels, engaging content), but that almost makes it worse if you're struggling to get around the high alcohol content. Here's how F.

Rum reading

What do you know about rum? A lot of people associate rum with sugary batch cocktails at a college party, latter day cheeseburger-in-paradise pirates (yarrrr), and headaches that make you want to never drink again. There's more to RUM THAN COLLEGE PARTY HANGOVERS One of my favorite books

An annotated image of the Pekut and Carwick label system theory with information category names.

How we made the label

Light is easy to think about. It's one orderly progression from short wavelength to long wavelength. Kind of like getting on a crowded Delta flight - everybody's got a number and has a place in the boarding queue. You might be tempted to think that aroma

Three bottles of Pekut & Carwick spirits are displayed against a cream background.

Do we really need another flavor wheel?

Flavors and aromas aren't that easy to categorize. Light is easy to think about. It's one orderly progression from short wavelength to long wavelength. Kind of like getting on a crowded Delta flight—everybody's got a number and has a place in the boarding

Cutting the Sugar Cane, a print of an original 1823 drawing by William Clark of enslaved workers cutting cane in Antigua.

Rum is f*cked

I'd like to encourage you to check out Céline Bossart's article Decolonizing the Whitewashed World of Carribean Rum on Liquor.com. It's required reading if you consume sugar cane products (rum, refined sugar, molasses) or similar things like coffee and chocolate here in the

A page from the SF Chronicle featuring an article about ume and Pekut & Carwick.

SF Chronicle: "ume is going to have a big moment soon"

We’ve been singing the praises of our Prunus Mume liqueur since day one, so we were over the moon when Esther Mobley (the SF Chronicle wine critic!) reached out to us for a conversion about ume plums. That’s right, we’re low-key famous! If you want to know

Shiny, fresh Seville oranges in a blue plastic crate.

Orange you glad we said Sevilles?

Winter is peak citrus season here in California. It's also the season of coming home late at night reeking of orange peels and vanilla beans after processing this year's batch of Citrus Aurantium California Vin D’Orange! If citrus x aurantium sounds unfamiliar, maybe you know

We Are Not Alone! A Rant

We Are Not Alone! A Rant

Last week we were flipping through a reputable craft spirits industry publication, keeping our eyes peeled for topics we are passionate about, like how the spirits industry can do better from a sustainability standpoint. We read a large spread about US-based craft rum distillers. Many companies were mentioned, and the

Johnny Depp as character Jack Sparrow on a beach with his pirate accessories.

Bamboozled by booze (advertising)

In our search for the answer to life, the universe, and everything booze-related, we keep getting carried off by deluges of starry-eyed anecdotes, pontifications on polished copper contraptions of yesteryear, and plain old misinformation. Modern-day distilled spirits marketing is whack if what you're after is real information. Take,

Closeup of sugar crystals on a blue surface.

The cost of sugar

As you know, we’re nuts about rum. Distillates of sugar cane are the delicious, versatile, and under-sung heroes of the booze world, if you ask us. But the problems with sugar supply chains are immense, and as we’ve only lightly touched on them in these newsletters, we thought

An old ramshackle boat is grounded in low waters and lit by sunset light.

Our story

California is a land of sun-drenched valleys California is a land of sun-drenched valleys, rain-soaked mountains, salty sea air, and redwood forests. The air is filled with the scent of sagebrush, burning wood, and fresh citrus. The light here is softer, more golden than red, but no less intense. We

A container ship loaded with stacks of containers traverses grey waters.

Global value chain of rum

Ever heard of a GVC? According to Stefano Ponte, author of Business Power & Sustainability, a Global Value Chain is "the full range of activities that firms, farmers, and workers carry out to bring a product or service from its conception to its end use". Whether you'

Two Pekut & Carwick bottles are displayed with their flavor projections visible on the labels.

How to read our bottles

Take a peek behind the curtain on our label design! By now, you're sure to have seen the flavor projection (it’s on our bottles and all over our website): Hannah Coward designed this graphic to be a precise, but not overly dogmatic, representation of what *we* want

A room full of barrels and kegs at Spirit Works distillery.

Is it Whiskey or Whisky?

We love whiskey. No, wait. We love whisky. So which is it? The seemingly insignificant addition of the letter “e” can be confusing. Should I spell whisky with an "e"? In the wider world of spirits, it (mostly) depends on where in the world it came from. Whisky