Absaroka is back! Tomorrow Jackson Hole Still Works will release its Absaroka Double Cask Gin 49 for the second time since opening five years ago. The Beverage Testing Institute of Chicago recently awarded Still Works a gold medal for the gin, which received an exceptional rating of 92 out of 100 points for quality.
We’ve tasted a few barrel-aged gins before and we felt there was a lot of room for improvement and ingenuity. So we went for it. The Absaroka is essentially the love child of whiskey and gin.
Travis Goodman, co-founder and co-owner of Jackson Hole Still Works
Every product at the local distillery is made in-house, from the grain to the bottle. And it took the owners, Chas Marsh and Travis Goodman, a year and a half to create this second batch. Using grain from the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming, and a carefully selected blend of botanicals, the gin was aged for over a year in used American whiskey barrels before being finished in new American oak barrels.
We make a crazy powerful botanical gin that we age for 13 months in used American whiskey [casks] barrels and finished it for four months in brand new American oak barrels. It starts out as a light straw color in the whiskey barrels and then develops into a richer fuller body and complexity in the American oak barrels. The barrel time is what gives it its color.
Travis Goodman
Each new batch makes 12 barrels of gin, which fills about 3,800 bottles of 98-proof Absaroka that will be hitting the shelves at Westside Wine & Spirits, Bodega, Bin22, Jackson Hole Marketplace, TLS and other select shops around the valley. The bold and complex flavor profile makes Absaroka a prime ingredient for Manhattan’s, negroni’s, and old fashioned’s, but truth be told the savory taste is just as delicious served on the rocks with an orange twist. Flavors of vanilla, caramel, bright citrus, delicate floral, aged whiskey and oak, and subtle hints of clove, anise, and nutmeg round out this popular libation.
Anybody that drinks Manhattans, it will blow their minds. It is truly a stepping stone for gin drinkers to experiment with a spirit like an aged whiskey and vice versa, it will help whiskey drinkers appreciate gin. There are very few barrel-aged gins out there. It’s its own thing, defining the category.
Travis Goodman
Jackson Hole Still Works is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, selling sloshies and hot cocktails from the walk-up window. Follow @jhstillworks on Instagram for specials, news and updates. And check out the recipe below!
Ingredients
- 1.5 ounces Absaroka Double Cask Gin
- 1.5 ounces Antica Carpano Sweet Vermouth
- 1 bar spoon Luxardo Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- 2 dashes of Bear Root Orange Bitters
- 1 orange twist
Instructions
- Stir Absaroka, sweet vermouth, Luxardo, and orange bitters in a glass with ice, for about 30 seconds.
- Strain into your favorite double old fashioned glass.
- Squeeze or twist the orange peel over the cocktail and around the rim of the glass to release the oils and flavors from the peel, then use as a garnish.
