Whisky—“liquid sunshine,” as playwright George Bernard Shaw so aptly put it—is the drink of both the devil and the angel. The same potion that ruins a man is the same one that forges brotherhoods. And with all the mentions that this famed moonshine has gotten in classic literature, we have to nod in agreement with the recent whisky boom in the collective Filipino liquor industry.
Among the bottles that bear varying names and designs, the Philippines finally has a contender in the ranks: Julius James. The country’s oldest family-owned distillery, Destileria Limtuaco launched the first wholly domestically created whisky, made purely out of corn. The Julius James is a tribute to third and fourth generation master blenders and purveyors of whisky in the Philippines, James V. Limpe and Julius T. Limpe.
Sourced from Isabela, the yellow corn is transported to their micro-distillery in Bulacan where the milled grain is then mashed and made ready for fermentation and distillation. Innovation stems from need—Destileria Limtuaco made its proprietary square oak barrels where the whisky is aged around three and a half years. The whisky easily rivals foreign competitors, given its competitive price and unique flavor profile. It’s fresh yet full-bodied—a result attributed to the combination of the sweet mash method and the country’s hot and humid climate.
This story was originally published in Southern Living, June 2017.
