Rebel Rabbet has launched the first expressions from its new range of experimental, cross-category spirits, titled Rebel Exile Spirits (RES).
Founded by Matt McGivern and Dylan Bell, who both hold day jobs at The London Distillery Company, Rebel Rabbet plans to release a new spirit each month till the end of 2019. Currently available at Every Cloud, Nightjar and Black Rock, each release will be strictly limited to 50 bottles, which’ll be numbered and signed.
The first two expressions, created in partnership with Bermondsey craft brewer Anspach & Hobday, use saison yeast to ferment a 103-year-old Irish mash bill recipe that incorporates oats, Special B, Extra Pale Maris Otter and rye, which is then triple distilled into a new make spirit.
Further bastardising drinks categories, The Holy Trinity expression borrows from gin production, rectifying the new make with botanicals quince, vanilla, pink pepper, cassia bark, coriander and liquorice. The second expression, Misconception, has been aged for three months in bourbon barrels that formerly contained triple sec.
Rebel Rabbet recommends The Holy Trinity for a new take on the Whisky Sour and Misconception for an Old Fashioned.
‘The most important factors were pushing our spirit idea as far as we could take them and building our spirits from the grain up,’ said Bell. ‘That’s why collaborating with local brewers, designers and producers was vital in the development of the RES series.
‘We want to revive forgotten spirits and recipes in the most authentic way possible, but also not take ourselves too seriously.’
Prices for the RES series range from RRP £60 to £70 per bottle from www.rebelrabbet.com.
