Mother Sauce International Blend

In the 19th century, French chef Antonin Careme created the four “mother sauces,” the basis for thousands of derivative sauces, and the foundation of flavor in classical cuisine. August Escoffier added Sauce Tomat in the early part of the 20th century, and so the Five official mother sauces were born. Generally, each sauce utilizes a flour, a fat, and a liquid, which can be altered in an infinite number of creative combinations. Classically trained chefs are taught the fundamentals of each sauce preparation, and several of their derivatives, allowing for an expanded flavor palette, grounded within a shared culinary language.

Since Prohibition, there have been 5 fundamental whiskies, each regarded for their unique qualities. Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Bourbon, and American Rye. While there are derivative versions in each of these categories, their fundamental flavor profiles are distinct. For their entire history these categories have mostly been kept apart, growing their share of the whiskey market, based on appealing to a different consumer with a specific taste and heritage.

·         Scotch - normally distilled twice, is generally considered a robust spirit. Malty, sometimes smoky, floral, and rich.

·         Irish – normally distilled three times, considered the “lighter” of the European whisk(e)y styles, generally fruity in character with grass and citrus notes.

·         Canadian – mostly column distilled from corn, rye, and malt in differing proportions, Canadian whiskey is aged in used barrels, and grows sweeter with time, generally vanilla, custard, caramel, and toffee driven. Light, easy, and flavorful.

·         Bourbon – mostly column distilled, corn based, aged in new charred oak barrels by law. Oak, leather, red fruit, and caramel sugar driven. Big by nature due to the new charred oak treatment.

·         American Rye – also required to be aged in new charred oak barrels, the unique combination of spice from the rye grain and wood from the barrel create a powerful whiskey.

While we can appreciate the history of these separate distillates, there have been notably few attempts to combine them in any meaningful manner. Under TTB guidelines, the general type “whiskey” allows for a very broad set of parameters, meaning that while combinations of these may have been avoided for marketing purposes in the past, they aren’t necessarily disallowed by law.

As more spirit companies serve global portfolios, it’s only a matter of time before we begin to see larger attempts to bring these whiskies together. William Grants “Blend” campaign and “Fistful of Bourbon” product, along with Beam Suntory’s “Legent” are leading examples of this idea starting to take shape, but no one has really attempted a full and direct branding of an international blend.  

In that spirit, we present… Krogman’s Mother Sauce, a whiskey blended from the world’s oldest and finest traditions.