Nantucket’s Triple 8 Launches New Whiskey

On August 8, Triple 8 celebrated the launch of it’s new Nantucket Whisky ‘The Notch’.

Triple 8 Distillery was established in 2000 as the state’s first micro distillery, having operated as a brewery (Cisco Brewers) since 1995. Triple 8 began making whisky with the help of George McClements, production manager for Morrison Bowmore in Scotland. With his help, Dean Long, founder and co-owner of Nantucket Vineyards and Triple 8, studied the art of distillation and managed to barrel down the distillery’s first whisky, the first ever legally produced on Nantucket.

This first ever Triple 8 whisky tasting on August 8 was the same night as the 8 P.M. world’s biggest toast on an island, with 5112 mini martinis hoisted around Nantucket. It was the 5th Annual 8/8 @ 8 p.m. event. Here are some of the photos from around town.

This year, patrons at 88 restaurants along the East coast raised a glass while bartenders hopped on their bars and read an ode to all things Nantucket, especially Triple Eight Vodka.

The signature Nantucket Red colored cocktail was ‘Nantucket Tea’, a summer concoction featuring equal parts Triple Eight Vodka and Triple Eight Orange, with Nantucket Nectars Lemonade, a splash of cranberry juice and a dash of Hurricane Rum.

Back at the Brewery, Jay Harman introduced Jim Murray from the United Kingdom, the foremost authority on whisky, who writes the “Whisky Bible“, which rates the world’s whisky’s. If the whisky was not up to his standards, he would say it – his livelihood depends on getting it right. So there was trepidation amongst the gathering about what he would have to say about this 8 year long project that was seeing its first light of day. Nerves were frayed, the distillers along with their families and employees decidedly on edge. Was this experiment a success or was it a boondoggle?

Mr. Murray was ebullient. He explained that after pulling samples of the first 8 barrels and creating an extensive tasting panel for blending, Mr. Long and Mr. Murray came up with what Jim Murray called “a superb dram!” Jim gave this a score of 92 on his whisky rating scale. According to the Whisky Bible, that makes this an exceptional whisky, called brilliant. Mr. Murray added that there are many distilleries in Scotland who would only dream of making whisky this good.

Jay Harman said the night of the launch, “If it was not for Dean’s attention to detail, Randy’s great beer brewing skills and George McClements’ advice on how to operate the still we would not be here today sampling such fine whisky. But, what really makes it all worthwhile is when someone like Jim Murray, who Dean claims has the best nose for tasting that he has ever seen, comes along and totally appreciates the time and heritage that goes into every cask and then raises a glass and toasts, “There once was a whisky from Nantucket, so good you could drink it by the bucket!” “

Good whisky takes time, and with such a small supply, it’s no wonder that bottles of The Notch are retailing for Eight Hundred Eighty Eight Dollars ($888.00). The very first bottle was released on 08/08/08 and purchased for Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7500.00). This blend was a combination of several barrels that Mr. Long and Mr. Murray, respectively the master distiller and the world’s whisky authority and author of the Whiskey Bible, tasted prior to the event.