This Week's Pour: Saint Liberty Mary's Four Grain Bourbon
So, upon choosing this whiskey, I have realized that apparenty this distillery no longer exists....but it still exists here. So, let's do this.
Saint Liberty is (was?) a distillery in Austin, TX. They proudly distill & age in Austin, but proof down in Marble, Colorado with water from Crystal River (fed from the Rockies). The mashbill of 61% corn/22% wheat/10% rye/3% malted barley is aged for a minimum of 4 years in 53 gallon New White Oak Barrels at a #3 char, releasing more of the kind vinnilins and not exposing itself to too many oak tannins. It is then triple distilled, aged, bottled, and enjoyed by the masses.
Everything from Saint Liberty's line is named to honor the Prohiition-era women bootleggers. Such as Mary Curley, a Prohibition-era Colorado bootlegger whose exploits are recounted in Saint Liberty's story. A woman who immegrated from Ireland to Colorado with her husband, so he could take advantage of the booming Colorado marble mining industry. They then opened a hotel in the aptly named Marble, Colorado, where she opereated a distillery and speakeasy out of the basement. She was oft caught, but never paid a penny in fines, and was eventually arrested. While behind bars, she supposedly requested her cooking stove and cooking accoutrements to serve her fellow inmates.
All that being said, I could not find any records that Mary Curley the bootlegger existed. And it doesn't go unnoticed that she is called a bootlegger, but based on her lore would be more considered a moonshiner. But whiskey is a story-teller, not an ecyclopedia. The story behind some great whiskies are simply there to tell a story alongside your journey and experience. Either way, she's a pretty whiskey, and from my second home.
So, this week with your Whiskey Flight Club subscription, please enjoy a glass of Saint Liberty Mary's Four Grain for $2.50 off...bringing it to only $5 for a pour, and let yourself enjoy the history of the women who helped the whiskey lovers throughout the 20's.
Cheers,
Melissa