What's Cooking on 1060: 'Bucks County Whisky Distiller Earns National Recognition'
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A local whisky distiller has been recognized by two national magazines.
John Cooper of Mountain Laurel Spirits, the distiller of Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey, says a lot of people might not recognize that you can get a good local whiskey.
"The quality of our rye for example," Cooper says. "All of our rye is grown here in the state of Pennsylvania, predominantly from Bucks County."
But Whiskey Advocate Magazine realized it when they named Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey the Craft Whiskey of the Year.
"They're aged in small, 15-gallon quarter cast barrels," he says. "So the rye that won the craft whiskey of the year, that whiskey on average is only about 8-1/2 months old."
Meanwhile, their (Dad's Hat Pennsylvania) Rye Whiskey, finished in Vermouth Barrels, was named one of the top 100 spirits of 2015 by Wine Enthusiasts Magazine. Cooper says the secret is small batch distilling.
"You're getting a high interaction between surface area of wood versus surface volume of the spirit itself," he says. "It's going to age faster in a small barrel than it will in a larger barrel."
Cooper says brown alcohols seem to be gaining popularity.
"Classic cocktails are making a huge comeback, and as a direct result of that, rye whiskey is making a huge comeback," he says. "Pre-Prohibition rye whiskey was king. It was the number one selling whiskey in the world. Pennsylvania was the largest producer of rye whiskey in the world."
And the trend is to revisit those old cocktails.
"What's happening now is palates are changing," Cooper says. "Americans are rediscovering whiskey, in particular, younger people."
Hear the full podcast (runs 14:48)…
And for this week, that's "What's Cooking on 1060!"
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