BA Miel del Sol
Type: Bourbon Barrel Aged Traditional
ABV: 12.0%
Carbonation Level: N/A
Honey: Orange County Multi-Flora from Backyard Bees
Fruit(s): n/a
Spice(s): n/a
Barrel Aging: Few Spirits Bourbon - 4 Months
Sweetness Level: Sweet
Residual Sugar: 15ยบ brix
Bottle Count: 203
The key to Miel is that it starts with honey from our friends at Backyard Bees. Backyard Bees is a local group that saves and relocates hives throughout all over Orange County. It is, in fact, the most locally sourced honey that is possible as it's aggregated from over 100 hives from the area around us. After harvesting the frames from the bee boxes, the honey is spun in an extractor with the sun providing warmth to expedite the process. The warm exterior of the extractor leads to some of the honey slowly warming and eventually caramelizing. That honey, the warmed, toasted, bocheted (read as "bow-shayed") honey, is what we use for Miel, and routinely it takes us 12-15 months to collect enough honey to make one single batch of mead! This honey is so special to us, it was used for one of our first bottle releases during our Grand Opening!
For this batch, we took things one step further. Building on top of the complexity that already comes through from this amazing honey, we then aged this batch of Miel del Sol in bourbon barrels. Using small, 15 gallons barrels, we aged Miel for 4 months. Why only 4 months? The surface area contact time is equivalent to roughly 1 year in a large barrel, which means at 4 months we already got plenty of flavor extraction.
Once it was ready to bottle the batch of Miel showed it self to easily be the best version we have ever made. It's full of caramel and toasted honey. It has notes of flan, toffee, and reminds us of a Barrel Aged English Barleywine in many ways. Our only regret is that we can't make it more often.