Critically Need: QUEST’S END's SANDKHEG’S HIDE.
The Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) fandom has amassed a wonderful milestone: super-premium whiskey! This is indeed whiskey for the geeks. SANDKHEG’S HIDE whiskey is inspired by the first campaign initiated by the Critical Role show. Even better? The whiskey is created by Find Familiar Spirits, a trio of fantasy aficionados that includes a name you may recognize: Actor Matthew Lillard ( Scooby Doo, Scream, Five Nights of Freddy’s and more), Screenwriter Justin Ware (Bloodsucking Basterds and more), and Tim Sparapani (Blue Run Spirits Co-founder). Be prepared to roll for whiskey with QUEST’S END: SANDKHEG’S HIDE.
““We wanted to do something special for our fans, and we wanted to pull something from the actual lore of the show. Quest’s End was a natural fit as a partner — both our companies have an authentic love for storytelling as well as gaming and fantasy.””
Origin Story: Critical Role
In the past decade, the role playing game of Dungeons and Dragons have rose from the dark confines of a basement and blasted right into the bright screens of movies and television. Commonly called D&D, it a game where players will create their own characters as guided by the official D&D rulebook and with flairs from their own imagination. These imagined characters will go on a quest (called campaigns) for some purpose as designated by the person pulling all the strings and dictating the story, the Dungeon Master. These campaigns are wildly different as it depends on the imagination and teamwork of the players. Plot changes, items, random occurrence , and surprises can be found with each campaign and the roll of a dice.
Most people were introduced to the game when it first came out around the seventies and eighties. The game was met with a lot of controversies often being associated with satanism instead of just a way for friends to play make-believe. The current popularity of the game has boosted by television shows like horror thriller series of Stranger Things or epic movie adaptations like Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The rise of the game has also spawned multitudes of streaming shows that of people playing the game. These players range from everyday folks to well known actors all streaming on platforms such as Youtube or Twitch. One of the most commercially popular streaming show is Critical Role. Since 2012, the show has decades of campaigns featuring an eye popping roster of guests and stories. The show has a massive fandom with their own inside jokes and references. The show is still ongoing and currently streams on Twitch. It may take some time to catch up on the campaign but it’s worth it .
What is Sandkheg’s Hide?
Instead of digging through hours of D&D campaigns, there was a handy wiki page dedicated to Critical Role that provided the answer. According to the wiki page, Sandkept was made from the spittle of sandkheg, a type of fictional desert insect. The thought of that may make some shudder but insects and alcohol are a thing and a rising trend.
Now this whiskey created by Find Familiar Spirits is definitely not made out of fictional bugs. It is crafted by Quest’s End master blender Ale Ochoa with “base bourbon notes of baked apple, brown spice, shortbread cookie, and oak blended with whiskey finished in vermouth barrels for herbaceous notes and whiskey finished in sherry barrels for dried red fruit and a hint of smoke.” That absolutely sounds like an awesome whiskey to drinking at a tavern right before a campaign! The shortbread cookie is a particular curious note. Wonder if shortbread cookies will actually go well this whiskey?
In addition to the super-premium whiskey each bottle of SANDKHEG’S HIDE is accompanied by a new story set in the Critical Role universe, along with a wax seal, an exclusive coin medallion around its neck, and a "found" journal is also included. The “found” journal is designed from the Exandrian (a world created in Critical World) maker of Sandkheg's Hide that tells the story of this unique concoction. It is written by Jasmine Bhullar (known under her twitch name: thatbronzegirl) with all-original art by illustrator Tyler Walpole and a map by fantasy cartographer Deven Rue. On side note, it is definitely worth it to check out both Tyler’s and Deven’s website. Walpole has amazing artwork for Magic the Gathering fans and Rue’s website is a treasure trove of fantasy maps.
All of this just screams out “collect me!” doesn’t it?
To collect, SANDKHEG’S HIDE is available For Pre-Sale April 30 - May 1, & On Sale May 2 - May 23.
For preorders, sign up for Critical Role’s newsletter here.
““From the gorgeous ‘in-world’ Exandrian bottle design to the delicious whiskey blend to the incredible all-new Critical Role art and story in the journal, we’re insanely proud of what we’ve created with Sandkheg’s Hide. We think Critters are going to freaking love it.””
