A Whiskey Maker’s Exploration of Craft – Part 1

[birds chirping]

[gentle music]

[tires crunching on gravel]

[Becky] I'm Becky Harris, chief distiller

at Catoctin Creek Distillery.

So when you pull up to Schloss Lieser,

you really get this impression of being in a castle.

I connect on a deep level to the flavor of different places.

As a whiskey maker, I'm really trying to connect people

to the kind of sense of place that we have in Virginia,

and it's inspiring to come to a hotel that has done

that same thing right here in the Mosel Valley.

[church bells ringing]

It was an amazing experience to go right up behind

the hotel and go into one of the vineyards that's truly

a incomparable vineyard in Germany, and the world.

[Thomas] We have a very intense at high percentage

of this typical blue slate soil,

which is in the end responsible for this very special

and unique style of riesling.

We can produce extremely fine

and elegant dry wines as well,

and the slate gives that saltiness and the minerality.

[Becky] When you start to explore those flavors,

it really teaches you a love for the craft,

and it teaches you an appreciation

for the people who create it.

Today I had a conversation with Pete,

the owner of the hotel,

who spoke to me about his vision for restoring

this former castle to its original beauty.

[Pete] I just fell in love with the building.

I never saw such a building which was so complete.

The most amazing room for me was the chapel.

[Becky] The chapel was really

a little, tiny jewel box of an experience.

It's so nice when you see the sun

upcoming from your bedroom.

When you're here you can live like

in the time of the Kaiser.

You're still here tomorrow?

Yes, I am.

I can invite you to go to the winery next door.

[Becky] Awesome.

[Weingut] Yeah, just come in.

[Becky] Oh my gosh, this is incredible!

Yeah, the cellar, as they say, is very old.

[Becky] Tasting experience is something

that happens with all your senses.

So, the scent of the air around you, the dampness,

the kind of echo-y quality of being under the mountain.

It really kind of changes your experience

of whatever it is you're tasting.

Cheers! [glasses clinking]

There are ways of bringing wine flavors into whiskey,

and it's usually as a secondary barrel finish.

When you start to move those flavors,

it really adds another level of depth and complexity,

and it can come out in the whiskey.

My experience in this hotel here has been really rooted

in the craft of the region.

It's always very interesting to me to hear the way

that people talking about food pairings.

[Wolfgang] The paring of the chocolate

with pear and whiskey.

[Becky] Sitting in the restaurant tonight talking

to chef about what he really hoped to create

for his guests really kind of connected me

to the flavors of the region.

Drinking something, whether it be wine or whiskey,

with a dish really changes the experience.

The interaction of the two, it's really like a conversation.

It's really inspiring when you go out into the world

and you see what other people are creating,

what their craft is,

they all really connected me to the vision of this hotel.

Schloss Lieser has really distilled the Mosel Valley,

into my experience here as a guest at the hotel.

Staying in an Autograph Collection hotel allows me

to collect rich experiences.

I'm really excited to visit The Edwin,

another Autograph Collection hotel in Tennessee,

to see what inspiration I'll find there.

[upbeat music]