LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Readers,

Welcome to our March/Spring 2022 edition of PR%F the Magazine. We are beyond thrilled to welcome George Clooney and Rande Gerber with their Casamigos Tequila to our special family of PR%F the Magazine covers! Their business model with over 1 million cases sold of their exceptional taste of tequila captured the world. Read all about it in our very special cover story that shares with our readers valuable insights on building a brand.

We are so excited about the upcoming PR%F Awards 2022 and have many announcements for you. First, our new website has been launched and now is accepting entries for your spirits, wine, and beverage brands at www. proofawards.com.

All the information about the PR%F Awards can be found at www.proofawards.com, including how to enter your bands, FAQs, shipping instructions, categories, registering information, & more.

Everything PR%F is in one place, including PR%F Awards, PR%F the Magazine, PR%F Live! with Jennifer English, and PR%F Events (coming soon). PR%F Awards 2022 will continue to offer a one-entry fee for two competitions, including the coveted PR%F Awards-Masked, the double-blind competition, and PR%F Awards-Unmasked, The Total Package. All of our judges (all buyers) will taste your brand, see your bottle, read your ingredients, learn your price point, and hear your story. Why do we host two competitions? All of our judges are buyers from across the nation and are looking to find and place the next new brand, the next cool beverage, and the next unique spirits/wine treasure on their shelves, in their restaurants, bars, and lounges. Both competitions are an opportunity for our judges to get to know you and your brands a little better.

More exciting news!

We have added a third competition to PR%F Awards 2022—Bar Essentials & Gadgets. More than 40 bar essential categories have been added to the competition, and a new magazine column will debut next month highlighting key bartenders using these gadgets and rating them. Stay tuned for this exciting new monthly review article coming to PR%F the Magazine. If you have a super cool bar gadget, a must-have for busy bartenders or hustling restaurant beverage staff, check out our latest categories for PR%F Awards— bottle openers, wine foil cutters, ice mallets, bottle cap catchers, strainers, shakers, decanters, glassware, tap handles and more.

Next, PR%F Awards is saluting brands accredited as Kosher with a brand new 2022 shiny blue metallic medal that reflects this exceptional accreditation and honor. Enter your brand into its regular category and let us know you have been certified Kosher by any Kosher societies or certification agencies. We would like to honor you with an additional medal and highlight this special point of difference for your marketing strategy.

Women-Owned Businesses are always highlighted with a specialty pink metallic medal saluting this courageous group that pushed past the stereotype and emerged as leaders in the beverage industry. When you enter PR%F Awards, make sure we are made aware that you are a Woman-Owned brand.

PR%F Awards and PR%F the Magazine welcomes 2022 with exciting additions, a new competition and wonderment. However, one thing will always remain the same … all of our judges are beverage buyers and are looking for the next exciting beverage or gadget. Is it yours?

Check out our new website, and as always…

Cheers & Namaste! Michele D. Tell Executive Director, PR%F the Magazine Founder, PR%F Awards

THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE CRATER LAKE SPIRITS

ROCK AND RYE

Friends don’t let friends drink bad spirits. That’s why we created this classic rye whiskey cocktail: the ideal camping and adventure companion. Whether you’re shredding the mountain, sitting around the campfire, or simply watching the clouds roll by overhead, Crater Lake Rock & Rye will serve you well. Notes of dark cherry, blood orange, and bitters make for a carefree crowd pleaser.

Our Rock and Rye won Double Gold in PR%F 2021 spirits award competition! Check out our website craterlakespirits.com for buying options near you.

For over a quarter of a century Crater Lake Spirits has been at the forefront of the craft spirits movement, all built on a simple mission: Distilling real spirits made from real ingredients. This Bend, Oregon based distillery was founded with the goal of reviving the tradition of American handcrafted gin and vodka. One of the Pacific Northwest’s oldest and largest distilleries, it continues to produce a growing array of distilled spirits, all still created in small batches. The offerings have expanded beyond the original vodka, gin, and whiskey to include infused vodkas, reserve products, ground-to-bottle estate spirits, Black Butte Whiskey (a collaboration with brewing pioneer Deschutes Brewery), and other special and seasonal projects. These special projects have included a double malted barley whiskey, an agave spirit, and an aged rum, all exclusives in the two Crater Lake Spirits Oregon-based tasting rooms.

From ground to bottle, the distillery produces a portfolio of spirits that remains true to its roots. Inspired by the pure water of the Cascade Mountains, the flagship product, Crater Lake Vodka, is filtered a minimum of ten times through charcoal and crushed lava rock, a practice unique to them that mimics the natural filtration of water in their region. A quirk of nature that produces water so ideally suited to alcohol production that Bend is home to over 30 breweries, many of which are nationally recognized.

Created from 100% rye grain, Crater Lake Straight American Rye Whiskey is aged in number 4 char new American white oak barrels for two years. While two years may be young for some whiskies, the high desert climate of Central Oregon, with its low humidity and incredible temperature variations, provides an aging environment that matures whiskies quicker than the more temperate climates of Scotland or the American southeast. In fact, Crater Lake Rye was one of the American whiskies that inspired the concept of terroir in aging whiskey.

This history has led Crater Lake Spirits to earn prestigious honors in this year’s PR%F Awards. Crater Lake Reserve Gin won the Silver Medal, with focused botanicals of juniper berries, coriander, bitter Seville orange peel, sweet glazed orange peel and grapefruit peel. With a minimum filtration of 50 cycles, this gin’s smooth taste and impeccable citrus and herbaceous notes make it worth the space in any gin connoisseur’s liquor cabinet. Rock and Rye Whiskey won the Double Gold Medal, a ready-to-drink classic rye whiskey cocktail with notes of dark cherry, blood orange and bitters.

In early 2022, the company launched its 60 proof Rock and Rye Whiskey in 100ml cans. Available in packs of two, the cans are available immediately in Oregon with future expansion planned. Currently, 750ml bottles are available for purchase at craterlakespirits.com, or available by request wherever liquor is sold near you.

What’s next?

Crater Lake Spirits remains focused on celebrating and supporting local. A passionate supporter of social responsibility and sustainability, the distillery believes in providing spirits crafted from real ingredients that are authentic, fresh, and sourced locally whenever possible. The distillery has made a switch to using recycled and post-consumer packaging products, growing many of its own herbs and spices, composting on-site and they are working on the development of a solar-powered facility.