Metal and Whiskey go together like Rock goes with Roll, so fans rejoiced when the news came out that Metallica is now in the whiskey game partnering with the Master Distiller, Dave Pickerell with the unique Blackened American Whiskey. The whiskey made its North Carolina debut at the inaugural Epicenter Festival, and we were invited to the tasting experience.
Participants were first blindfolded so they could isolate their senses to pick up on the aromatics of the whiskey ingredients. These scent profiles play a big part in the overall taste of the whiskey. Some aromatics picked up were floral, some were Christmassy and warm, others were woodsy and rich.
Attendees were then given headphones to listen to music while tasting the whiskey, this is where the Masters of Metal have elevated the distilling and tasting experience. As those first chords of Metallica’s heavy guitars filled the headphones, that first sip of whiskey was taken, and it instantly had a fiery taste with the cinnamon flavor profiles. This was described as the pyrotechnics of the stage.
The next glass was sampled with soothing Beethoven notes in the headphones, giving the whiskey a sophisticated and gentle flavor, with those crisp floral profiles very apparent. It was revealed that the whiskeys were from the same bottle, but music really elevated the experience for the tasters.
That’s not the only way Metallica has infused their music into the whiskey. There’s the age-old adage that playing music will cause your plants to flourish. Metallica takes a similar approach with their whiskey barrels. You can imagine the magnetic blobs and the way they move to music placed on a speaker. That same approach is applied to the whiskey barrels. Most whiskeys stay still in the barrels, absorbing the same oak flavors as the batch before. By infusing music to the whiskey, this allows movement in the barrel, reaching untouched levels of the oak, giving them unique flavor profiles with different levels of saturation in the oak.
By purchasing your own Blackened American Whiskey, you can expect to taste one of the most sophisticated whiskeys on the market. By following their tasting recommendations, it will open up an entire experience that goes beyond taste and opens up all senses. In addition, every batch has a unique playlist that Metallica members personally curated and infused the whiskey with, and these playlists are available with each bottle purchased.
While you’re looking for Metallica’s whiskey, make sure you check out their Enter Night Pilsner. The stone brewed beer is a very hoppy, refreshing brew that really shows these gents are the Masters of everything they put their name on.
