There’s no better time to explore the world of wine and spirits through the eyes of tastemakers who make it exciting. In today’s post we interviewed Bill Aldinger, the founder of Specter Whiskey Company, to share his great experience with our Thewinestop community.
The Specter Story
The Specter Whiskey Company began as the vision of its founder, Bill Aldinger, who has a deep passion for the great wines and spirits of the world. Having worked in the wine industry as well as managing a successful wines and spirits shop in California he built the Specter Whiskey Company to share his dedication to fine spirits with the world.
1. If you can tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
The Specter Whiskey Co was born from the deep passion and respect I have for wine and spirits and the great experiences you can have around them. My career started in the Napa Valley in wine production where I worked with the greats at Grgich Hills and Ravenswood learning what it truly takes to make great wine. Building on this experience, I spent time in Bordeaux learning about a different style and approach to wine production.
Returning to the United States I had the opportunity to manage Beltramo’s, a wine & spirits retailer which was located in Menlo Park for over 100 years, a true staple of the area with a lot of great history.
It was there that I learned about spirits and became enamored with the world of American Whiskey. From these experiences, the idea of Specter Whiskey was born and our intent is to create great American Whiskey with the best ingredients possible, honoring the great American distillers that came before us.
Having grown up in the Bay Area I wanted to start with a true California Bourbon made from the bounty of our great state. I set out and met with distillers, farmers, coopers, and winemakers to put together what would ultimately be our first release, Specter California Straight Bourbon Finished in Dessert Wine Casks.
It has been a labor of love and we are really excited to share our spirits with you guys. We hope that folks will enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoyed making it.
2. What do you like to drink and why?
While I specialize in Bourbon, I enjoy a cross section of spirits and cocktails. When I reach for a spirit or my go-to cocktail book, my final choice is often driven by the season.
While Negronis and Tequila based drinks were a popular choice this summer, I am rapidly transitioning to Bourbon either neat or mixed in a cocktail. My favorite fall cocktail is the Specter Maple Old Fashion, it just puts me in the fall spirit.
3. What are your favorite brands?
When I reach for a bottle of American Whiskey from my home bar, I tend to reach for one of two bottles. My first choice would be Bookers Bourbon, produced by Jim Beam. It’s an authentic classic and one of the first bourbons I tried that made me sit back and think, “this is great”.
My second is Hillrock. Hillrock produces delicious whiskey that is true to its sense of place on their historic property in upstate New York. With their single malt they do everything in house, using their own barley and malting it right there on the property.
I love that sense of authenticity and uniqueness. They don’t cut corners and I think the quality of the product speaks for itself.
4. Is there a particular style that you are trying to recreate with Specter?
Specter Whiskey was built to honor the traditions of the great American distillers and the distilling eras of the past. For our first release our intent was to honor the farm distiller who was a staple of early American life.
These early distillers lived on the then western frontier (modern-day Kentucky and Tennessee) and would often rent time on their neighbors still to turn their surplus crops into a more mobile and more delicious form of currency.
Honoring the traditions of these early American farm distillers I wanted to mirror their approach by creating a bourbon from the bounty of the Golden State.
5. Where are you sourcing the Corn, Barley and Rye? Why did you choose these areas?
Specter California Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch 001 is a purely Californian product as all fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling takes place in the state.
More specifically, we sourced organic corn and rye from a company who supplies some of the best artisanal bakers in the state. We decided that we wanted to use baking grade grains for our whiskey, it’s something that you don’t commonly see as it comes at a much higher cost but we felt it was worth it in the pursuit of making great spirits.
For our barley we worked with a farmer out of Lompoc who went on to found the great Admiral Maltings in Alameda. His malt is now used by great brewers and distillers throughout the state.
6. Do you have any particular cocktail recipes that you like using Specter for?
Specter is barreled at 103 proof which makes it a versatile spirit. It can be enjoyed neat to capture the full flavor profile but also enjoyed as a cocktail and still hold up to the other ingredients. My favorite Specter cocktail recipe is the “Specter Maple Old Fashioned”. The recipe is detailed below!
- 2 oz Specter Whiskey
- 1/4 oz Pure Maple Syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Add ingredients into a mixing glass with ice, stir and pour over a large ice block. Garnish with orange peel and a cinnamon stick (cinnamon stick optional). This is a great cocktail for the fall and the holiday season!
7. What’s on the horizon for the brand?
We’re experimenting with some different cask finishes for our California bourbon as well as a new addition to the lineup which honors a later era of American distilling. I look forward to sharing more of them with you soon!
Bourbon From Specter Whiskey Company
Specter Napa Valley Dessert Wine Finished California Straight Bourbon