White Whiskey: Koval’s “Rye Chicago”
October 14, 2011 § 9 Comments
White Whiskey. Moonshine. White Dog. Prohibition.
This Whisky Woman enjoys an occasional un-aged whiskey.
No, I am not talking about re-visiting our college days of paint-thinner tasting Everclear – that hurts just thinking about it. I am only talking about craft un-aged whiskies. (I don’t think Everclear is actually a “whiskey” but you get the idea)
Why craft? Because the small scale distillers who are really making their products from grain to spirit are like pastry chefs; both being extremely careful during the cooking process to ensure that the end product is both delicate and flavorful. They take their time to really develop the flavors of the grains.
Typically, these un-aged pistols are corn based but I have been loving Koval’s Rye Chicago Whiskey recently. (See my earlier post on Koval HERE). Made from 100% organic RYE, I was surprised to find this to be so smoother and aromatic, especially when compared to it’s classic, rougher cereal-forward cousins.
TASTE
Nose: black pepper, floral, orange citrus, eucalyptus, cereal
Palate: sugar coated eucalyptus, orange zest, sweetened rosemary (or pine)
Finish: long and dry, orange peel that moves into a black pepper and sugar mixture
STYLE
100% Organic Rye from the American Midwest
Only the “hearts” cut of the distillates are used
ADDITIONAL
40 % abv / 90 proof
750ml glass bottles
If you’re not a fan of drinking these neat or with ice/water, then try a white whiskey in your favorite Bloody Mary recipe! The complexity of the whiskey (verses the flavorless vodka) really kicks it up a notch!
AWARDS
Gold Medal, 2010 “White Whisky”, American Distilling Institute, USA
Gold Medal, 2010 “Grain Spirit”, Destillata Spirits Competition, Europe
Lastly, I love drinking this with a lemon-based dessert! Deee-lish!
Hi WW
We love the blog and have nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award in our latest post;
You guys rock! Thank you so much! I’m honored!
Yo WW!
This sounds quite delicious. The eucalyptus and rosemary sounds particularly appealing.
I like how you get to try some rather uncommon spirits! Good fun. I’m green with envy! 😉
Cheers!
G-LO
Thanks, G-LO!
Don’t be green! 🙂 If you & Mrs. G-LO ever get to NY, I’d be honored to share my finds with you!
-WW
Thanks WW! We’ll be sure to take you up on your offer next time we’re up there.
Yes definitely!!!
-WW
You had me at Rosemary! Then add the idea of using this for a super bloody mary?! count me in. WW you speak my language and everytime I read your posts I learn something new. Congrats on your nomination!!
Thanks Dish Babe!
That’s very nice of you to say – I really appreciate your comment. Glad you’re finding some things useful – whisky is such a cool, never-ending journey! There’s always another dram to be enjoyed!
Thanks again!
-WW
[…] first heard about Koval Distillery of Chicago two years ago after reading about their White Rye Whisky on The Whisky Woman blog. Although I haven’t tried much in the way of white whisky, her “sugar coated […]