Spirits have Arisen in the Hills of Sta. Rita!

Here’s a cocktail recipe combining improbably disparate ingredients that were fused to create one stunning outcome:

• First, factor in the centuries-long Serbian family tradition of home distillation. (Forget about the Americanism “a chicken in every pot.” There, it’s more like “a still in every garage.”)
• Add plenty of tenacity from an engaging young American couple originally from San Berdoo, inspired by the alcohol-based art form perfected by their Old World forebears
• Toss in a llama farm just six and a half miles west of Buellton.
• Import a big eye-catchingly handsome and handmade copper contraption built in the motherland that alchemizes ephemeral vapors into luscious inebriants.

What could be conjured up from this unlikely amalgamation? Rock 12 Distillery, featuring a disarming assembly of vodkas, liqueurs, and brandies at a palate-enervating stop on Highway 246.
In 2016, Sarah and Marko Suput ripped a page from his family’s history book and began the process of conjuring up a commercial distillery here in Santa Barbara County. Seven years later, after loads of physical labor and an innumerable set of vexing hoops, forms, and licenses, they pulled off the impossible, opened in 2023 and are prospering in the heart of nearby wine country.

They can even mix and serve cocktails at their bar. The temptations here are countless. Come on up and taste! I sure did:

• The citrus-centric straight vodka is glossy, sensually textured, and would be intensely desirable on its own in a frosty martini up or certainly on the rocks with an accompanying lemon twist AND one (or three) almond stuffed olive(s).
• There is also an herbaceously spicy Serrano chili-infused iteration that should without any doubt be the basis of your next Bloody Mary, and the purity precludes masking it with any additional capsaicin-based hot sauces.
• Finally, a refined hibiscus-predicated bottling will turn a standard Cosmopolitan into a rapturous pre-dinner libational triumph via the ruddy, floral perfume and immodest mouthfeel.
  Next, Sarah and Marko introduced their liqueurs: The coffee-based rendition is sourced from local Zaca Roastery in nearby Buellton, and flaunts an abundance of chocolatey caramel on its brazenly plush framework.
• A first for me was a quince-based rendering with such a precise gravitational aromatic pull that I was prompted to purloin their apropos tasting note: “apple pie in a glass.” Expect nearly wicked, glyceriny impact on the palate. This stuff would outrage a Public Decency Committee.
• The last liqueur, Victus Amaro, is bittersweet, floral and a far superior vermouth substitute for all you Negroni and Manhattan predilectionists out there. It was voted best liqueur in 2023 by the John Barleycorn Society, a competition against heady worldwide participants.
• The finale included two brandies. The first was made from local wine that was then distilled and aged for two years in barrels, and like a Cognac VS, it harbored the spicy, woody intonations and silken dried fruits that would make any renowned French distillateur grudgingly admit parity, if not defeat.
• The apple brandy, despite the multitude of highlights preceding it, was the ultimate temptation of the day for me. Suave and sexy, it maintained impeccable balance, staying light on its feet, yet fanning out for complete satiation of every critical taste and mouthfeel receptor. As Robert Parker once noted about a wine, “It must be tasted to be believed.”

Sip it neat by the fire and contemplate immortality.
Or immorality for that matter…
Cheers! Or as they say in Serbia, Živjeli!

By Bob Wesley
Bob Wesley is a Santa Ynez based wine buying consultant and writer specializing in California wines. You can reach him at maisonbob@aol.com

Photo credit:

Sarah Suput

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