While we were making the rounds, we stopped at the bar in the center of the Drew Estate Booth (beneath the new tower) to sample some spirits and talk to Frank Moreno, National Director of Brand Development for John Drew Brands. If it were up to me, I would have been happy to grab a bottle of John Drew Rye (I’m a rye man) and a glass and kick back on the couches you see in the background. But it’s a trade show and there’s work to be done, so we stuck to tasters.

We started off with a sample and a chat about Dovetail Rum. The rum is made from 100% Florida sugarcane molasses, and aged in bourbon barrels. I drink more bourbon than rum, and I found the bourbon note pleasing in the this rum. For me might give it the edge on some other rums on the market.

Next up is John Drew Rye. It’s a 90-proof, 100% Canadian rye with a 95% rye mash bill, which is pretty impressive. Many ryes out there don’t rise much above the 51% requirement.

Then it’s onto the Brixton Mash Destroyer, Jonathan Drew’s industry disrupting blend of Kentucky bourbon and Florida rum. As much as I enjoy rye, I do like the idea of blending spirits with other kinds of spirits. You get a little taste of that when you try things like bourbon finished in port casks (e.g. Angel’s Envy), or scotches aged in sherry casks (e.g. Macallan 10) or rum casks (e.g. Balvenie Caribbean Cask). They aren’t blends, but they are hints at what might be if the two were mixed. Brixton Mash Destroyer answers one of the what-might-be questions.

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