White Whiskey

[bobmsp]

Friday evening, I bought a bottle of a new (to me) spirit: white whiskey.



I've had other whiskeys from this local distiller, so I thought I'd give it a chance. (More info about the distiller, 11 Wells, and this product here.)

Long story short: it's not really my thing. The only flavor is that of corn and it's not really something that I seek out.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I could do with it? I enjoy bourbon, gin, scotch (as well as some of the more acquired tastes like grappa) so I'm open to suggestions.

 

[BSAGuy]

Send it to me?

I feel the same about white whiskey. Seems to lack taste and roundness to me. Just kinda harsh.

You could mix it with lemonade or tea.

 

[eezee]

Could this also be considered moonshine?

 

[bobmsp]

I think this is an "homage" to moonshine. Apparently, one of the legendary moonshines was known as "Minnesota 13." I assume that the real thing was much stronger than this - my bottle is 84 proof.

 

[Stevew443]

You could pick up a small oak barrel that are being offered and age it yourself. You may end up with something worth drinking.

 

[Bluefish577]

It will age some even in glass. You can use it in place of vodka for a mixer.

 

[Ace_Club]

You could pick up a small oak barrel that are being offered and age it yourself. You may end up with something worth drinking.

This, or you could order some oak chips/spirals (available from most homebrew supply shops), soak them in bourbon, and then add them to the bottle.

It will age some even in glass. You can use it in place of vodka for a mixer.

Not really. The "aging" that whisky gets is mainly from contact with the barrel.

 

[mikewood]

You might try charred white oak staves. Or if you can fine some sherry ok cask staves.

 

[Legion]

This is going to sound gross, but try it.

The last bottle of undrinkable whisky I had (Disgusting Irish stuff that tasted like wet cardboard) I mixed it with full cream milk. It sounds rotten, but it isn't bad, and it masked the nasty taste. The old school jazz musicians used to drink whisky and milk, I heard because some of them had stomach problems.

Anyway, at least you get some calcium.

 

[Billski]

Undrinkable? I've never had one of those.

Give some to your friends in that cold state.

This is winter, you know.

 

[FL shaver]

Mix with Coke. Pretty much what I did with a bottle of Nine Square Rye:
http://elmcitydistillery.com/ecd/products/

 

[Bluefish577]

Not really. The "aging" that whisky gets is mainly from contact with the barrel.

while not aging like being on oak it will change some over time in the bottle. It won't get the vanilla or carmel from the oak but it won't get any worse by leaving it sit for a year or two.

Or you could also charcoal filter it which will make it more neutral.

 

[Ace_Club]

while not aging like being on oak it will change some over time in the bottle. It won't get the vanilla or carmel from the oak but it won't get any worse by leaving it sit for a year or two.

Or you could also charcoal filter it which will make it more neutral.

It won't get any worse, but it won't get any better. It's why spirits don't have the bottling date listed on their labels. There is no difference between a 1990 bottle of Macallan 18 and a 2015 bottle of Macallan 18.

 

[Bluefish577]

I know there are distillers that will argue that it does change even in glass. More in the first few weeks, less over time. I have seen it first hand.

 

[Legion]

 

[clyde72]

It won't get any worse, but it won't get any better. It's why spirits don't have the bottling date listed on their labels. There is no difference between a 1990 bottle of Macallan 18 and a 2015 bottle of Macallan 18.

Not really. The "aging" that whisky gets is mainly from contact with the barrel.

+1
Basially that is true, but in the case of "Single Barrels" they may not be the same. Each barrel will be slightly to greatly different due to the climatic changes it experienced. Even which level it was on in the rackhouse will effect it. All the whiskey from an individual barrel will be the same and once bottled it is DONE!

It will age some even in glass. You can use it in place of vodka for a mixer.

while not aging like being on oak it will change some over time in the bottle. It won't get the vanilla or carmel from the oak but it won't get any worse by leaving it sit for a year or two.

I know there are distillers that will argue that it does change even in glass. More in the first few weeks, less over time. I have seen it first hand.

According to the tours I took at Jack Daniels, George Dickel, Prichards, Wild Turkey, Town Branch, Makers Mark, Four Roses, and Woodford reserve. Once whiskey is bottled it is DONE! As long as it is kept sealed and out of sunlight. Sunlight will cause negative effects on whiskey, aka make it go bad.
This is a common misconception that a lot of people have. I think it is because wine will continue to change in the bottle, so this gets carried over to other beverages too.
If you have a bottle of 10 year old whiskey that you bought 30 years ago, it is not 40 year old whiskey. It is a 30 year old bottle of 10 year old whiskey.

"Unlike wine, whisky does not mature in the bottle. So even if you keep a 12 year old bottle for 100 years, it will always remain a 12 year old whisky. As long as the bottle is kept out of direct sunlight, the Scotch Whisky will neither improve nor deteriorate, even if it is opened. Whisky that is stored at very low temperatures can become cloudy, but the cloudiness should disappear when the whisky is returned to room temperature."
http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/understanding-scotch/faqs/

 

[clyde72]

Many Distilleries are bottling and selling their white dog aka moonshine. Several makers are making nothing but "moonshine" or white liquor. The flavors are as different between one brand and the other as the difference between Knob Creek and Buffalo Trace.

3 of my personal favorites are Tim Smith's Climax and Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey, and George Dickel White Corn Whiskey No. 1. There are many that are flavored also, apple pie, strawberry, cherry, cinnamon, honey, lemon, orange, etc.

 

[DCRIII]

Friday evening, I bought a bottle of a new (to me) spirit: white whiskey.

View attachment 632426

I've had other whiskeys from this local distiller, so I thought I'd give it a chance. (More info about the distiller, 11 Wells, and this product here.)

Long story short: it's not really my thing. The only flavor is that of corn and it's not really something that I seek out.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I could do with it? I enjoy bourbon, gin, scotch (as well as some of the more acquired tastes like grappa) so I'm open to suggestions.

Buy some charred oak online or a a brewing supplies shop and add to it. In two weeks to a month and it will taste like aged whiskey.

 

[Spang]

What you purchased is "white dog", which is basically unaged whiskey. A lot of the small boutique distillers are selling this, with catchy "moonshine" inspired names, because it is a cash flow product: distill it, bottle it and sell it. Most of these outfits aren't heavily capitalized, so they can't survive four years of outgo and no revenue waiting for real whiskey to mature. Whiskey is essentially a lower distillation proof grain spirit that is then aged in oak barrels (of varying characteristics, depending on the whiskey), but this aging takes time, as in several years. The white dog, or unaged spirit, doesn't have much character when it goes into the barrel; the lovely flavors of whiskey, especially bourbon, come mainly from the extended barrel contact. There have been many attempts to devise a method of speeding up the process of imparting the brown flavors of the barrel into whiskey, but no one has yet come up with a suitable substitute for extended time in a charred oak barrel.

About the best that can be said for your bottle of white dog is that it is probably OK for mixing in some drinks and likely does have a bit more flavor than most vodka, but that might not be necessarily be all pleasant flavor. Oh, and it does have alcohol, so there is that.

 

[Acmemfg]

It just comes off as a marketing gimmick I think. No one here in Tennessee really takes this stuff too seriously..we know good whiskey and this isn't a great example of it. Mostly produced for tourists. But..again like anything else, there will be those who really take a "shine" (now is that a bad pun??) to it.