Thinking of Whisky Differently: The Heart Cut

Welcome to our Thinking of Whisky Differently series, where we explore whisky from fresh perspectives. We’re focusing on brands breaking away from tradition. Those who uncover new ways to enjoy this spirit.

That could be through finding new flavours in production innovation, exploring hidden corners of whisky in spirit selection, crafting unique pairings or innovative cocktails, and just generally being cool and interesting. 

We’ll show you how whisky can be so much more than you thought. We start with The Heart Cut, one of our favourite new bottlers, after the release of two genuinely original new releases… which aren’t technically whisky. Let’s get into it. 

The Heart Cut 

The Heart Cut was founded by partners Georgie Bell and Fabrizio Leoni who wanted to create their ideal whisky brand. Their dream was realised last year and up until now they’ve bottled seven whiskies and the two new curiosities. Covering England, Denmark, Finland, the US, and Israel, the duo are not afraid to step outside the box.

“This is the whisky company we’ve always wanted to exist. To spotlight distilleries we love and shout about them in a whisky form. If this distillery wasn’t on your radar, now it is,” says Bell. “Ultimately we set up The Heart Cut to display whisky today in its purest form. Whisky is made everywhere. Passionate people are making it everywhere. Amazing flavours are coming from that. Let’s properly reflect the whisky landscape. Surely that’s the spirit of being independent, partnering with distilleries you love, buying directly from them (no brokers) and telling their stories so other people can discover them”.

Their latest releases are St. George 7 Year Old 2016 – The Heart Cut #8 and St. George 7 Year Old 2016 – The Heart Cut #9, and when I heard about them, I knew I had to try them and pin Bell down for a chat. I achieved both at a meeting at Dram Bar last week. 

She teases the duo as being “Total complex oddities and outliers” saying they “encapsulate everything we’re trying to do with The Heart Cut”. She adds that she’s never seen or tasted anything quite like them, especially No. 9. Bell boasts over 15 years in whisky, including working as a brand ambassador for companies like Bacardi and Diageo as well as holding a diploma in distillation with the IBD, The Institute of Brewing and Distilling. This isn’t just a sales pitch. When she says the new bottlings are outliers, she means it. 

The distillery: St. George Spirits 

Both expressions are sourced from St. George Spirits, based in Alameda, California. The distillery is regarded as one of the pioneers of the American craft distilling movement. Its adventurous, fearless and maverick nature can be traced back to its founding in 1982 by Jörg Rupf and continues to this day.

The distillery initially focused on eaux-de-vie (fruit brandies), which were relatively unknown in the U.S. at the time. Over the years, St. George expanded its offerings to include a broad range of spirits and today, the distillery produces a variety of spirits, including single malt whiskey, gin, vodka, absinthe, and liqueurs. Its absinthe was one of the first legal absinthes made in the U.S. after the ban was lifted in 2007. 

“St. George first came up on my radar in 2013 when I visited the distillery and I fell in love with them,” Bell explains. “I went back in 2018 and got more familiar with their eaux de vie and whiskies and thought they were really cool. When we started The Heart Cut, they were on our dream list of distilleries to work with. Where everyone else zigs, they zag. They’re focused on how they can make spirits unique to them as a distillery and to their provenance. They’re very proud of being from and in California. Take Baller, they make that umeshu themselves”. 

The experimental malts: The Heart Cut #8 and #9

The samples St. George sent Bell and Leoni had started as beer from a local historic brewery. “We say whisky is distilled beer because there’s so much overlap in that early stage of production, but this really is distilled beer,” Bell explains. The brewery that made the beers felt what they had created had potential, but not as beer, and actually contacted St George to tell them they had ‘distilling beers’ they knew they would appreciate. Once The Heart Cut got wind of them, they were destined to become part of their early staple. “We loved them both so much that we asked to bottle them both”. 

The first spirit was made from a beer with added hops and sage, in the other coffee was added during the brewing of the beer before distillation. Because of that, each final spirit, The Heart Cut #8 and #9, is not permitted to be labelled as ‘whisky’ by EU regulations. So, what to call them? The clever Heart Cut crew avoided the usual dreary “brown spirit” route and instead coined the term ‘Experimental Malt’ to label them. “I remember the day I went to Soho Whisky Club, Dram Bar, and Milroy’s and brought them samples to try. They loved them, but I said ‘Here’s the catch: we can’t call them whisky. Which one do you think might work?’ We had a list of a few options but everyone honed in on Experimental Malt,” Bell explains. “They are made from 100% malted barley. If it wasn’t for the hops and coffee, they would be American single malt whiskeys”. 

The connection to beer continues as The Heart Cut recommend enjoying these characterful malts with a good pint. Bell and I are in firm agreement that the world needs more boilermakers. “I love the taste of beer and whisky and the combination of it. I really like the parallels between the production perspective and the flavour parallels. It makes it more of an occasion,” Bell says. “There’s a real joy in breaking up the day by having a little nip of whisky. It’s not about the alcohol, it’s about the flavour and the occasion. And we like to do that with beer. It’s a high-low combo – high strength, low strength”.

Speaking of strength, The Heart Cut #8 is presented at 54% ABV and The Heart Cut #9 at 52.5% ABV. Both were reduced down to a strength Bell and Leoni think works as they don’t simply bottle at cask strength for the sake of it. “What we find is that there’s a very fine line when adding water. You want to make sure you’re bringing it down to a strength where it tastes great as it is and it can still take water if you want to add it. Bring it down too much, it loses its superpower,” Bell says. “We spend days working out and experimenting to find out what the right strength is”. I think this is the right way forward. Cask strength is a seductive concept, but some whiskies lose balance for the sake of that punch and status. Frankly, I’d rather a practised and experienced distiller/bottler diluted it than my unsteady hand at home. 

St. George 7 Year Old 2016 – The Heart Cut #8

Right, on to the actual malts themselves. The Heart Cut #8 started life as a heavily hopped Californian IPA made from 100% malted barley and infused with sage. The beer was then distilled before maturing in a fourth-fill cask that had previously held bourbon, reposado Tequila, and Californian ale. “It wasn’t a happy accident, but these elements come together. This literally can’t happen again because the brewery won’t make that beer again,” Bell says. Let’s have a taste. 

Nose: It’s the oddest, maddest garden of a nose you’ve ever smelled. There’s raspberry, summer flowers (dried chamomile mostly), umeshu, sandalwood, lychee, and sage. And it’s all doused in your nan’s perfume. If you knew nothing about this spirit and nosed it, I’d love to know what you would guess it is. 

Palate: Add the elements from the nose but add chocolate, malt, warm pastries, red chilli spice, apricot, and bubblegum. 

Finish: Toffee Crisp and stone fruit with more perfumed herbaceousness.

Pairing: “This is a big malt, so pair it with something light, bright, breezy and sessionable. Our go to…Wild Goose Chase by Below Brew Co – a juicy 0.5% Pale Ale” – The Heart Cut. 

St. George 7 Year Old 2016 – The Heart Cut #9

The Heart Cut #9 was a 100% malted coffee stout, distilled and then matured in a new oak. It’s described as a “Burgundy-style barrel” from the Midwest, near Minnesota, which was air-dried for 24 months before being assembled at Kelvin Cooperage. 

Nose: Pickled green jalapeños (the kind you get with a kebab) followed by nutty white chocolate and orchard fruit. More familiar whisky notes emerge with an American oak sweetness of coconut and toffee. 

Palate: The same green, earthy jalapeño quality continues to the palate among dried apricots, robust spice, and a warming Horlicks note.

Finish: Rich coffee comes through at the end. 

Pairing: “Coffee Stout. We’re big into Bevertown’s ‘Spresso’ Coffe Stout, made in collaboration with Climpson & Sons, and Wiper & True’s ‘Espresso Martini Shake’ – another coffee stout, this time inspired by, yes you’ve guessed it, the Espresso Martini” – The Heart Cut.  

Thinking of whisky differently: The Heart Cut

The two are bizarrely brilliant malts I highly recommend. While they are incredibly interesting, I don’t want that to damn them with faint praise. They’re not merely intriguing, but something I wouldn’t drink again or ultimately think is a noble pursuit but a swing and a miss. I genuinely wanted to have another dram, particularly of #9, which is so up my street my next-door neighbour has probably met it before. You might not have ever tasted anything quite like these, but there’s absolutely whisky DNA in them. 

Overall, they represent what I want to see. Spirits with a story. Ones that present a different idea of what whisky can be. These are a breath of fresh air flavour-wise and because of that, they can appeal to those who haven’t seen the light and accepted whisky as their lord and saviour. That’s what The Heart Cut is arrowing for. To bottle whiskies from cool distilleries across the world. Not limited by style or country. That every whisky it bottles has a different story is the story of the Heart Cut to some extent. And they’re all housed in a fresh, clean, pretty design uncommon in whisky branding which houses digestible info on the label that, above all else, communicates flavour instantly.  

Reflecting just over a year after The Heart Cut was founded, Bell says she doesn’t think any cask they’ve released is a dud, “Which is something to be proud of”. I agree. For year two, she reveals they know which distilleries they want to bottle from, and how long those casks take to come to us, saying the process is a little more instructed this year. “Year one was about surviving the fact that we were new parents as well, so the fact that we’re able to have brought out nine casks to date is an achievement”. We look forward to what they do next. Keep your eyes peeled, because new releases are on the way soon. 

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