Troy joined the program to talk about Iron Fish Distillery's exciting new limited seasonal release, Riverbed Whiskey. Troy said that Riverbed Whiskey represents the pinnacle expression of Iron Fish’s Mad Angler brand.
Troy shared that the Mad Angler name was drawn from the writings of Northern Michigan writer Michael Delp, whose work is deeply rooted in the advocacy for preserving and protecting the region’s rivers. Riverbed Whiskey is blended from the most distinctive single barrels of four mash bills and slow-proofed for balance and depth.
A limited amount of Riverbed Whiskey has been released statewide at select Michigan retailers through the holidays. In conjunction with the Riverbed Whiskey release, Iron Fish has partnered with the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA), an environmental nonprofit that has spent more than 50 years restoring rivers and habitats across northwest Michigan.
Through its signature River Care program, CRA reconnects fragmented streams, reduces erosion, enhances aquatic habitat, and strengthens watershed resilience across 16 watersheds in the region.
Learn More: Mad Angler Riverbed Whiskey
Visit: Conservation Resource Alliance
Episode Transcript
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to win form and enlightened on
a wide range of public policy issues as well as
news and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I am on location with our friend Troy Anderson, marketing
manager from Ironfish Distillery. There is a really cool story
with our friends at Ironfish Distillery and beautiful Thompsonville, Michigan,
tying into a once in one hundred year ice storm
that happened earlier in twenty twenty five. Here we are
(00:38):
in November and March seems like such a long time ago,
but there was a devastating ice storm in northern mid Michigan.
Troy Anderson is with me, marketing manager from Ironfish Distillery.
A brand new product coming out in collaborative spirit with
the Michigan Maple Syrup Association. Growing attention to and support
(01:02):
for maple syrup producers devastated by that ice storm in March.
It's easy to forget Troy Anderson. First of all, welcome back.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
You guys are always doing cool collaborations and I just
want to stop for a moment and celebrate that. That's
a really great thing. I did a little bit of
research thanks to I did not realize that Michigan is
a top five producer from maple syrup in the country.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It is a huge industry. It really is in a state.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And you guys use a lot of maple syrup in
your production at Ironfish Distillery.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Absolutely, we purchase over twenty five hundred gallons a year
of Michigan made maple syrup to age in our bourbon barrels.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Eight point seven million dollar industry in twenty twenty three,
six hundred and fifty thousand taps. So an ice storm
reeks havoc on all these maple trees, the sugar maple trees,
and the industry is really reeling from that.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
So you came up with.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
The idea to collaborate on a whiskey. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Absolutely, So the idea really came from our maple syrup producer,
a gentleman named Scott Griner. He runs the Grinder Family
sugar Bush, which is one hundred and thirty year old
sugar bush about ten minutes away from our distillery, and
he provides us with our maple syrup. And since the
ice storm happened earlier this year.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
He informed us that over.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
One hundred thousand sugar maples were destroyed in that storm.
So we thought a really cool way to bring a
little bit of light to that issue was to release
some of our oldest bourbon finished in maple syrup barrels,
collaborate with a number of different establishments around the state
of Michigan, and we're actually going to have some pairing dinners,
(02:44):
some special cocktails on menus at restaurants from Pataski to
Grand Rapids to Detroit and November and December to raise
a little bit of funds for the Michigan Maple Syrup Association.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, this is something that happens in the background.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
We don't think about until some thing like a catastrophic
ice storm happens and the need is really there. So
that is fantastic. This is a special whiskey release called
Ice Storm Whiskey. A blend of whiskey is finished in
listen to this maple syrup, cognac and scotch barrels, and
this whiskey is quite complex layered. It's a new whiskey
(03:23):
for Ironfish Distillery.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Yeah, and I'm pretty confident that we will never make
anything quite like this. Again, there's only just over seven
hundred bottles available for the entire state, So if you
find one, definitely pick it up. I'm going to be
out looking for one because we don't even have any
available at the distillery. We wanted these to be sprinkled
throughout the state of Michigan so folks can go out
(03:48):
find a little gem that supports the Michigan Maple Syrup Association.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So as they're hearing this on the radio, they should
just call around to their favorite package liquor retailer and
see if they have it.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
It's called Ice Storm Whiskey.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
From Ironfish Distillery in Thompsonville, Michigan. Ironfishdistillery dot com is
the website and especially what's the best way for people
Troy to find out about these restaurant promotions and how
they can give back to the maple syrup industry.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Yeah, so go on our website Ironfishdistillery dot com or
follow us on social media at Ironfish Distillery. We will
be announcing where and when those dinners will be happening.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Okay, and again it's called the Ice Storm Whiskey. A
very limited number of bottles available. You have another whiskey
we want to talk about before we run out of
time in this segment, Riverbed Whiskey. First of all, let's
just stop the program right here. How do you decide
collaborations like this special whiskeys. You have your product, and
(04:50):
you've got so many great products that are staples that
you do every year. But for special collaborations. We just
talked about the ice Storm whiskey. Now we have the
riverbed which also has a charitable t tie in with
a conservation resource alliance.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Here in Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Again, give us a little bit of the backstory in
this if you will, Troy Anderson, absolutely so.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Our mad Angler Spirits were inspired by the writings of
Northern Michigan writer Michael delp and the theme of those
writings are watershed preservation, fly fishing. And since the water
that comes from our three hundred foot aquifer well is
the foundation of our mad Angler whiskies, it's a core
(05:31):
value of ours to preserve our Northern Michigan watersheds. That
groundwater is the very same water that feeds rivers in
Northern Michigan. So this year we have donated and raised
over thirty thousand dollars to organizations nonprofits that have preserved
and conserve Northern Michigan cold water streams.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
A couple of weeks ago, on November eighth, you had
a release party. Only one hundred hand numbered and signed
bottles were available. I'm assuming most of those are probably
gone by now.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Fair enough to say, yes, all of the numbered and
signed bottles were sold out at the release party on
November eighth. And the good news though, is that matt
Angler Riverbed Whiskey will be released at retailers throughout the
state and mid November and you'll be able to find
it on the shelves.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Okay, So it should be available and that's always something
to think about. In terms of gift giving, holiday season
is upon us. If you want to give local gift
made in Michigan gifts, this is a great way to
do that. In fact, we were talking with our friends
from behind the Mitt and we're going to do a
whole segment on gift giving for Made in Michigan gifts
(06:43):
on one of our upcoming segments for West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Talk about your.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Partnership deugh Troy a little bit more with a Conservation
Resource Alliance. Obviously, water quality is a huge thing here
in Michigan, protecting rivers. Why is this important for Ironfish?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yeah, so we want to support organizations and not only
the Conservation Resource Alliance, but we've also worked with Trout Unlimited.
We've worked with the Michigan Art Degrailing Initiative and the
DNR to raise awareness and funds for a variety of
different issues that face our cold water streams. And it's
important to us because the foundation of our whiskey is
(07:19):
that fresh water in northern Michigan. And without that, there's
no whiskey, there's no fresh water for recreating in and
we believe the fresh water is are state's greatest resource.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I'm looking at the mad Angler riverbed whiskey. It comes
in a decorative what do you call this tins cylinder, cylinder,
beautiful artwork.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I think people whether it's a bottle.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Of wine or one of their favorite spirits from Ironfish
or wherever they get it, the labels are really a
special thing. This has the mad Angler riverbed whiskey and
this is radio so I'm going to do my best.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
To pay a great picture here, Troy. It has a
beautiful label.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
With I'm assuming at some type of brook trout or
trout on the front. Did I get my fish species right?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
You nailed it. You nailed it. That is a brook trout.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
On the label, there's a beautiful Northern Michigan river scene
kind of meandering right through the middle of the label.
And our goal with this project was to really create
packaging that matched the quality of the spirit itself that's
inside the packaging. And the really great part about this
is that this is a snapshot of a moment in time.
(08:30):
Next year's Riverbed release will be slightly different packaging, It'll
be completely different whiskey because this is a blended whisky
from four different med angler mash bills. And the whole
concept behind this is to change it on a year
to year basis, to give people a snapshot of where
our distillery is at, where our blending is at, and
how our whiskey matures along with our aid.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
When blending happens.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
I know there's a science, but there's also a human
component to it as well. I know you're not a
master blender, But going back to your guy who does this,
what is the process like? Because every blend is different.
How much is science, how much is field taste?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Experience.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, So what I can tell you is that we
have an award winning blender. His name is Isaac Reed.
He does an incredible job for us, and much like
the production of the actual whisky itself, blending is just
as important to that process as coming up and selecting
the grains that will make up the mash bill. And
(09:32):
really Isaac's work is looking for different flavor profiles amongst
our bourbon, amongst our rye, or amongst different individual barrels
that will all marry together to create an enhanced product.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Just an absolutely beautiful bottle. And again it's the limited
edition mad Angler Riverbed Whiskey one hundred and nine proof
if you were wondering at home, but a beautiful, smooth blend.
There has been no sampling of any of these products
during the recording of this program.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
It's just we say that.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Not yet, at least for full disclosure. Troy Anderson, marketing Manager,
Ironfish Distillery, going back to the Iron Ice Storm Whiskey,
make sure you check the Ironfishdistillery dot com website to
learn about those restaurant collaborations and how you can support
the maple syrup makers here in the state of Michigan.
(10:30):
Troy Anderson, our guest marketing manager with Ironfish Distillery in
the segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Always so much fun talking with you.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Thank you, Thank you, Phil you've been listening to iHeartRadio's
West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is a production of
Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
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