The amazing concentration of artisanal distillers that we have here in the San Francisco Bay Area is what first got me hooked on craft spirits.  Over the last year, I’ve trekked all over the Bay Area to meet the people behind these hand-crafted spirits.  Everyone, from relative greybeards like St. George Spirits, Germain-Robin, Anchor Distilling and Domaine Charbay to precocious up-and-comers like Old World Spirits, Stillwater Spirits and Distillery No. 209, is doing the craft distilling movement proud.  Craft distilling originated in the Bay Area and continues to lead the charge.  So I’m practically bubbling over with excitement that there’s a new show in town – 1512 Spirits.

1512 Spirits is a contradiction of sorts.  Having burst onto the scene in May, you could say that they’re the new kid on the block, yet, the Cimino family has been distilling for decades and decades.  1512 Spirits’ master distiller, Salvatore Cimino, is a character straight out of a craft distilling graphic novel (seriously, can we get this?).  By day, he cuts hair at 1512 Barber Shop in San Francisco’s Nob Hill; in the dark of the night, he puts on his distilling cape and plies his trade at their Rohnert Park distillery in Sonoma County.  Now, let me just say that I’ve visited a couple of one-man-show, start-up distillers, and it’s painful and sometimes tragic to watch them struggle to swim upstream in an industry that is cold and brutal.  The fact that Sal can keep a 9-to-5 job and run a distillery on the side qualifies for bona fide superhero status in my book.Sal’s barber shop bat lair on 1512 Pine St. has a liquor cabinet with whiskeys and Scotches, and probably a teleportation device which beams him to the distillery after the barber shop closes.  The last appointment of the day sometimes comes with an invitation to try some of his products.

Sal’s approach to distilling seems to mirror his approach to haircuts.  Old World.  Artisanal.  Care and attention paid to every detail.  Crafted by hand in every sense of the word.  On one hand you have antique barber chairs, traditional straight razor shaves, hot towels, creams and classic scissors.  On the other hand there’s the small, direct-fire, handmade copper pot stills, family-owned distilling techniques and hand-milled grain.  Every point in the production process, from milling to distillation, is handled by Sal and Sal alone.

In an age where consumers are clamoring for locally-grown foods and hand-crafted, small-batch coffees, beers, teas, chocolates and spirits, 1512 Spirits is a breath of fresh air.  To boot, 1512 Spirits has a backstory and history that can makes marketing executives swoon.  The Cimino Family has been distilling for more than a hundred years, starting in the countryside of Palermo, Italy, and continuing the tradition through 3 generations of the family here in California.  According to the back of the bottle, barbershops in San Francisco were oftentimes used as a front to distribute bootlegged spirits during Prohibition.  While the label on the 1512 Barbershop Rye depicts a Prohibition-era photograph of Sal’s grandfather, it’s anybody’s guess as to the Cimino Family’s true contribution to drinking history in the US.  No matter, the good news for consumers is that 1512 Spirits is a registered distillery and will continue to release its fine products to the public.

Sal’s approach to distilling seems to mirror his approach to haircuts.  Old World.

But to get this far and not talk about the product isn’t right.  1512 Spirits’ first release is the 1512 Barbershop Rye, and it’s a product that would stand alone even without the story, history and pretty packaging.  It’s a full-flavored, unoaked, 100% rye whiskey that was designed to be sold and enjoyed unaged.  This is an important point, because other ‘moonshines’ or ‘white dogs’ on the market are either a means to an end (“let’s sell our whiskey unaged to see if we can start making money”) or piggybacking on a trend (“we already have a successful aged whiskey, let’s sell the unaged version too since white dogs are hot right now”).  1512 Barbershop Rye was created “to convey to the drinker the pure elegance of the rye grain,” according to Sal.

The rye is 45.5% ABV (91 proof), which allows it to keep the aroma and taste that you would get if you were drinking it off the still, without the harshness of tasting the spirit at distillation proof.  The aroma is clean and fragrant and the rye grain really shines through.  There’s also a subtle sweetness.  On the palate, it’s clean and creamy before the pepperiness of the rye tingles on the tongue.  This is definitely a rye that I’ll pull out when I want a break from the vanilly-caramely flavors of bourbon and the peatiness of Scotch.  I’m also thrilled for future 1512 Spirits releases, which they have targeted for the end of 2011.  Rumor has it that Sal is working on a cherry-smoked bourbon and a fully-aged rye.

1512 Barbershop Rye is distributed exclusively by California Street Distribution, LLC and retails on shelf from $29.99 to $33.99.  You can find it on shelf at select retailers, including Ledger’s Liquors (Berkeley, CA), K&L Wines (3 locations), Cask (SF) and Healthy Spirits (SF).