Fans of Metallica and liquor are about to drink something pretty cool: the latest product in their BLACKENED American Whiskey line.
The new "Rye the Lightning" offering is a limited edition, 90 proof Kentucky straight rye with "notes of dried fig, hay, pinewood, pear and rum cake on the nose [and] clover honey, mint, corn husk, sugar cane, walnut and cinnamon" on the palate. The whiskey is aged between five and eight years, finished in Madeira wine and Caribbean rum casks for 2 to 14 weeks.
But the secret to the BLACKENED drinks is the band's "Black Noise" process: the barrels are placed in specially-wired rooms featuring Metallica classics at full volume. The frequencies cause the barrels to actually shake, extracting more flavors from the drink as it moves around in the wood.
READ MORE: July 1984: Metallica Releases "Ride the Lightning"
As you might guess from the name, tracks from Ride the Lightning, the band's sophomore album from 1984, were given the "Black Noise" treatment - but bassist Robert Trujillo worked with their distiller to put a special spin on the proceedings. Instead of the original tracks, the only live performance of the entire album (recorded at the Orion Music + More Festival in 2012) was pumped through the speakers - and fans who purchase a bottle can scan a QR code to download that set as well.
"The vibe from the crowd at the first Orion Music + More Festival was electrifying, and it's really cool that we get to capture that energy in this release" Trujillo said in a statement. "We've used a few live songs in our [distillery] playlists before, but never a full live playlist."
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