My Whiskey-Custom Made Whisky

[buffdaddy]

Came across this interesting blurb on Coolmaterial today. Was wondering if any of you could afford the price tag, how would go about creating your signature whisky?




"Have you ever wanted your own whiskey? Like, a lot of your own whiskey? Thanks to Mississippi River Distilling Company, your boozy dreams have come true. With “My Whiskey” the company’s custom whiskey program, you can create and enjoy your very own blend. Working with the guys over there (you don’t need to travel, you can do it all by phone or email), you’ll select the grain bill, the yeast, the barrel, the age, the proof, and the name of your very own whiskey. When it’s done, you get the barrel and its delicious contents. At 80 proof, that comes out to 160 bottles of your very own stock ($6,000 or about $38 a bottle). Your home bar will be loaded for some time to come."

http://www.mrdistilling.com/frame/products_mywhiskey.shtml

 

[Kazeryu]

Considering that it may take you several tries to "get it right" the volume and cost of entry seems a bit steep.

 

[The Dean]

So, you have to bottle it yourself, right? Getting good bottles and designing and printing a decent label will cost a decent amount, too. But you don't really have to go that direction, I suppose. You could pour it in mason jars and slap on a homemade label from your computer. The lack of slickness might even give it a more authentic underground vibe.

As Kazeryu notes, if you don't know what you are doing, you could end up with a barrell of relatively expensive swill. Though, I think you could find some basic/standard recipes to make sure what you end up with is drinkable.

If my bank account was in better shape, I might give something like this a shot. I'd do research first and a bit of experimenting, perhaps by blending some commercial whiskies to get a feel for the profile I was looking for. Then again, you may come up with something you like by simply blending, and aging, the whiskey of others. That's how some commercial products are made anyway.

 

[ReAndyMator]

Lots of places will do (or reserve) a special barrel for you on request. Most suppliers will, if you order a barrel, invite you to the distillery, allow you to nose a handful of barrels based on some information (sherry or bourbon cask? how much peat? (etc)) and then invite you back once a year or so to nose your barrel of choice, to see how its developing. They'll usually buy the barrel back for 70% (ish - based on what I know a few charge/pay) of what you paid for it, if you decide that you don't like the way it's developing. Even so, there are very few privately owned barrels out there.

Oh, and IIRC, you're british. Which also means that it may only cost £4k for the barrel. But then there's another £1500 or so of duty. Then there's another £1500 or so of VAT. And I've got a feeling there's import duty as well (although I might be wrong). And the 'DHL' tax* (as we call it)

*They'll break at least 1/6 of the bottles you ship