We didn’t realize that we were going into the liquor business. We just thought that we were sharing a delicious home made drink with friends. Our founder – Taste Mistress, and resident foodie – started making homemade liqueurs in our kitchen. The result was fantastic. Sweet, clear, fruity, floral and powerful. We poured it for dinner guests and they were hooked too. Soon a few bottles grew to dozens of bottles and we had local stores asking to carry our liqueurs.
By the time we caught our breath, we had an operating distilled spirits plant, pallets of liquor, gold medals, industry recognition, and two of the best liqueurs on the market. But our taste mistress is a whiskey girl at heart, and we started dreaming about a whiskey we could call our own. It took us a few years and the sipping whiskey that emerged is something unique and incredible. CALI – A full-bodied whiskey with whispers of wonderful aromatic spices and botanicals.
Over the next few years we slowly developed a handful of unique bourbons and ryes all our own. Experimenting the interplay of grain and wood and water, we developed rich, sweet smooth bourbon and rye mashes that served as the platform for our experiments with wood. We have come to love the art of sculpting whiskeys with wood. Working with French, American, Austrian and Brazilian oaks, in a range of chars and toasts allows us to shape the whiskey so that it opens on the nose and the palate in unique and delicious ways. Over the past years, and into the coming years we are working with expressions crafted with sonoran mesquite, amburana, cherry, cedar, cypress, aspen, alder and others, and are looking forward to eventually sharing our estate winery barrel finished whiskeys that have been teasing us for years as they mature.
California is a sun-washed land of dreamers and builders, with a relaxed creativity and natural luxury inspiring the world. CALI Whiskeys are reflection of that warm, welcoming, mellow culture. Rich, and smooth, with a deep tan and a bit of easy-going complexity CALI Distillery pwhiskeys are a California Twist on classic American Sipping Whiskeys. We hope that you will enjoy our spirits, and share with your friends.
We make every bottle by hand – in our little beach town distilled spirits plant – from all natural ingredients.
Never GMO. Never Industrial.
We are truly excited to bring our family of natural hand crafted spirits to your family.
Cheers,
Howard and Marni Witkin