CLM Winter 2018 Food Section

VERY CULINARY
Oak City Amaretto from Raleigh, NC
Lots of liquors and liqueurs started as homemade family
recipes, and Raleigh, NC based Oak City Amaretto is no different.
It’s a family recipe with roots in Italy, and today the
Scalabrino family shares the family secret for all to enjoy, filling
your glass with the smooth taste of rich roasted almonds. In
tasting for this first DRINK LOCAL article, I found I liked this
local brand of amaretto simply on the rocks, although it mixes
well into any craft cocktail. Like many liqueurs bottled in North
Carolina, Oak City is not a distillery, but instead a brand.
Owner Anthony Scalabrino makes his family
recipe and then has it added to clear distilled spirits
at Raleigh Rum Company. Like all the spirits
I've showcase here, Oak City Amaretto is distributed
at statewide ABC stores. If you don't see it
ask. It can be a hard find, but it’s worth searching
out. At a customer’s request, any ABC store in NC
will be happy to place an order and get it in stock.
For more info on the Oak City Amaretto brand,
visit oakcityamaretto.com.
TOPO Distillery from Chapel Hill, NC
There is plenty of whiskey in the Tarheel state, and as time
passes for this relatively new industry we are seeing more
and more Carolina aged whiskey, as those first barrels have
now had time to rest and age. With the aging (usually done
in oak barrels) comes that distinctive rich caramel color and
a deeper richer flavor profile of each individual spirit.
TOPO Distillery in Chapel Hill is the Carolina’s only
organic and LEED certified distillery, producing a host of
organic local spirits.
In the TOPO line up is a delicious organic Eight Oak Aged
Whiskey, the award-winning TOPO Organic Vodka, TOPO
Organic Piedmont Gin and TOPO Organic Carolina White
Whiskey, all made from grains grown less than 100 miles
outside of Chapel Hill. New for 2018 look for a longer aged
TOPO Reserve Carolina Straight Wheat Whiskey and a brand
new organic spiced rum. The rum is the only
TOPO product not made from Carolina
wheat. To create this spirit according to traditional
recipes, TOPO sources organic cane
from the only organic cane field in the United
States located near West Palm Beach, Florida.
For more info on TOPO in Chapel Hill, NC,
visit topodistillery.com
Southern Artisan Spirits from
Kings Mountain, NC
Southern Artisan Spirts is proud to be the third legal
distillery to open for business in the state of North
Carolina. Alex and Charlie Mauney, twin brothers
who grew up in Kings Mountain, NC, started with
wine, and then tried experiments in making their
own vodka… but they wanted something more and
so turned their attention to the complexity they
found in gin.
Steeping the spirits with a host of complex botanicals,
the way one would steep tea leaves in hot
water, the Mauney brothers hit on a flavor profile
they loved and began distilling the blend. That was
in 2010, and their flagship Cardinal Gin has since
become a household name. The bottle with the mirrored
image of red cardinals can be found in bars
across the state.
The Mauneys’ distillery is housed in an old cotton
mill that is still family owned by the Mauney clan in
Kings Mountain and offers room for expansion
when as the distillery finds itself in need of more
space. Currently SAS doesn’t offer tours or tastings,
but look for that to come, as just this past year they
have expanded their line of spirits to include a delicious
barrel rested (aka aged) version of Cardinal gin
– perfect as is on the rocks – and an exciting brand
new product to the SAS line up – North Carolina’s
first rye! Dubbed Turning Point Rye, this local spirit is
made from local rye wheat and is destined to be an
essential ingredient in many a local craft cocktail!
For more info on Cardinal Gin and Turning Point
Rye visit SouthernArtisanSpirits.com. ■
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