I spotted the bottle of Cosair Quinoa Whiskey at the Twilight Sky Terrace, during the Flyer‘s Mixing It Up cocktail contest.
If you’re not familiar with quinoa, it’s a grain popular among health-nuts and foodies. It’s not something you see in whiskey. Apparently, Corsair, the Nashville-based artisan distiller, thought differently.
According to Will Atkinson, Corsair’s “distillery ambassador,” “To our knowledge it is the only quinoa whiskey in production. We use malted barley, and both red and white quinoa from Ecuador to make the mash that we distill. We then age said whiskey in new charred American white oak barrels for maturity.
“I tell people that if they know what quinoa tastes like, well then this whiskey tastes like quinoa. If not, it has a nutty earthy characteristic that is a little unusual for a whiskey. It has also won a silver medal in 2011 at the New York International Spirits Competition.”
Corsair Quinoa Whiskey is available at Joe’s Wine & Liquors. It’s $48.99 for 750 ml.
