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Anchor Distilling first dedicated itself to recreating the original rye whiskies of old in 1994 with the creation of Old Potrero. The first release of an Old Potrero whiskey followed in 1996, so this year marks the 20th anniversary. Yesterday, Anchor marked this milestone by announcing the release of Old Potrero Hotaling’s 16 Year Old Single Malt Rye Whiskey, a single-barrel, pot-distilled 100 percent rye whiskey aged in once-used charred fine-grain American oak barrels. Hotaling’s, which varies from other Old Potrero whiskies in the barrel-aging, commemorates the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire in which the A.P. Hotaling and Co.’s whiskey warehouse miraculously survived. The new release is extremely limited, with less than 200 bottles available nationwide.
“From the very first days of our distilling experiments with 100% malted rye mash, we loved the flavor and aroma of the new spirit,” says Master Distiller Bruce Joseph, who has been part of the Anchor distilling team since it started as a secret project under Fritz Maytag in 1993. “It was complex and bursting with bold flavors. This 16 Year Old Hotaling’s presents those flavors in a mature, complex and well-integrated way.”
Old Potrero Hotaling’s 16 Year Old Single Malt Rye is bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) and has recommended price of $165. Technically, the use of old barrels for maturation means this release is not a rye whiskey in the strictest sense, despite the 100% malted rye mash bill.
In addition to this new release, Old Potrero, which leading spirits historian David Wondrich called the “#6 most influential spirit of the last 25 years,” also offers the flagship Old Potrero Single Malt Straight Rye Whiskey (48.5% ABV; $69.99 SRP), which is matured in new charred fine-grain American oak barrels, and Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey (51.2% ABV; $69.99 SRP), which is aged in lightly toasted fine-grain American oak barrels for two and a half years
