With the anticipation building for our Pop-Up Whiskey Bar this Saturday 10/26 from 5-8pm, we’re celebrating the unofficial return of whiskey season.

The distinct scent of fall is in the air; a bouquet of decaying foliage, manure and fertilizer from rural farms, tinges of smoke from neighborhood bonfires, and the earthy smell of gravel and concrete from construction (hopefully) wrapping up outside our doors. It’s the time of year that I most associate with whiskey; a spirit whose oaky, fruity, baking spice-like flavors assuage the soul as daylight hours dwindle and temperatures drop. If summer is the main course, fall is the after-dinner dram.

Enjoying a pour of a fine whiskey, sipped at leisure, offers a moment of reflection and a reminder that it’s okay to slow down in a world that only seems to move faster. The intricate balance of flavors reveal more nuance as the whiskey takes in the air, and as the ice slowly adds dilution, if you prefer a cube or two. Comparing drams from around the world reveals a broad spectrum of flavors and experiences that keeps us, and other whiskey enthusiasts, coming back for more. We love to share our delight for this spirit, and cordially invite you to join us in celebrating it this weekend.

If you’re curious about what gets us most excited in the whiskey world, it’s our single barrels! These special programs allow us to hand-pick a single barrel—often bourbon or rye—that’s bottled exclusively for our store. It’s a right of passage for any whiskey lover, and we take pride in selecting barrels that we truly believe are exceptional. Right now, we have three unique store picks available, with two more arriving this November. Stay tuned—you won’t want to miss them!

This coming Tuesday, we are thrilled to welcome Steffen Spinks of Heavenly Spirits Imports, our leading supplier of fine Armagnacs, to the France 44 Event Space for our very first Armagnac class! In anticipation of the fun evening, we will be offering 10% off all Armagnacs this weekend through Tuesday night. 

Nestled into rolling hills and valleys equidistant from the Pyrénées to the south, and Bordeaux to the north, lies the world’s oldest brandy producing region, Armagnac AOC. If you’re new to brandy, it’s a large, encompassing category of spirits distilled from fruit-based wine. In Armagnac, hundreds of small to medium-sized producers, many of them multigenerational families, make this oak-aged eau-de-vie, or “water of life”,  from up to ten local white grape varieties. The French eaux-des-vie distilled here tally a mere one to two percent of production when compared to its younger, more famous, and luxury-branded sibling – Cognac. 

France’s two principal brandy producing regions are indeed like siblings, sharing inherently inseparable qualities while each treading their own paths. Cognac, a globally-recognized symbol of prosperity, whose finest specimen display the smooth and masterful nuance of barrel-aging. 

Armagnac, the earthier sibling, sparked with an authenticity and expressiveness that is softened with age.

The key differences that separate Armagnac from its sibling are derived from its viticulture and production methods. For a brief rundown, Cognac is made solely from Ugni blanc grapes and is double-distilled, resulting in a more neutral and higher proof eau-de-vie, a sort of blank canvas on which oak flavor can be imparted. On the other hand, Armagnac undergoes one continuous distillation from a wine of up to ten grape varieties. The resulting spirit is lower-proof and retains more aromatic compounds from the base wine, a discernible fruity and floral expression, that can take years of oak age to be tamed. 

Armagnac, with its interplay between grape and oak characteristics, makes for a fantastic after-dinner drink, or as an enticing twist on your favorite cocktail! Check out a few of our favorites: