Manifest Distilling of Jacksonville, Florida, has announced its second release of the Manifest Whiskey Project. The Manifest Whiskey Project first launched in 2016, shortly after the distillery opened. It was the intention for the project to always feature a limited, unique whiskey only available in small lots. The first release featured a sourced 10-year old, high-rye bourbon that was sold in the tasting room and through limited distribution.
“We never felt pressured to put out another release until the right project came along to wear the Manifest Whiskey Project livery. Around the time our first release sold out, we experimented with using our neighboring brewery’s limited, barrel-aged stout as a mash bill for an American Single Malt Whiskey,” says David Cohen, president of Manifest Distilling.
Small trial runs showed promising results, so 2,000 gallons of Intuition Ale Works’ Underdark Stout were utilized, which was distilled on a copper hybrid pot still and put away in 53-gallon, char #4 casks. The distillers at Manifest slightly modified the grain bill used for the brewery’s Underdark beer, an American Imperial Stout renowned for its notes of oak, cocoa, and toffee. The mash was cooked, lautered and fermented at Intuition, then distilled, aged and blended at Manifest.
Once those barrels started to age, Manifest quickly realized this would be the second release of the Manifest Whiskey Project. The result is an American single malt whiskey with a nose of saltwater taffy, nougat and cordial cherries carrying through on the palate with mocha, toffee, and cocoa.
On December 19, all four barrels will be released, as a blend, around 94 proof. They will be available only at the distillery during tasting room hours and on www.seelbachs.com, for shipping around the U.S.