Berkshire Mountain Distillers is revealing a ready-to-market expression that’s the result of a nearly three and a half year experiment with the Sam Adams brewery. What’s known as Shays’ Rebellion American Whiskey came about back in 2012, when the distillery had the idea to experiment with triple distilling a batch of Samuel Adams Cinder Bock, a fiery Rauch Bock beer. The resultant whiskey made from this beer was then aged in Samuel Adams Utopias casks for nearly three and a half years” before being ready for bottling at 86 proof. “The final battle of Shays’ Rebellion occurred only three miles from our distillery in Western MA,” said Chris Weld, Master Distiller at Berkshire Mountain Distillers, in a statement. “Two hundred and fifty years later, we’re working with our friends in the East to create a whiskey that celebrates Massachusetts’ spirit of independence.” “The aging process intensified the mature, complex flavors of this small batch whiskey. We’ve released a limited number of bottles, so I encourage folks to track down a bottle and enjoy this whiskey responsibly.” Shays’ Rebellion American Whiskey is being released as a limited bottling, with less than 3,000 bottles being made available. It is only available in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, and Michigan, as well as the distillery’s retail store.

Shays’ Rebellion American whiskey maintains the smokiness and malt character of the Cinder Bock that it was made from but finishes with port and dried fruit notes from the Utopias casks that it was aged in, resulting in a mature, complicated and delicious whiskey.