I’ve been posting reviews of U.S. microdistilleries over the past week or two, so I thought I’d include another one. But don’t go too far out of your way to find a bottle of this one.
Rogue Dead Guy Whiskey, 40%, $40
I love Rogue beers as well as their attitude and philosophy. But this whiskey tastes just too immature—harsh, sweet and one-dimensional. Maybe with some additional aging this whiskey might come around, mellow out and develop, but it has a long way to go.
Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 69
John,
Is Rogue doing the distilling here, or are they providing wash to another distiller, a la Stranahan’s, et al?
Sam, it’s all theirs from what I know. PDF of the details here.
Interestingly, my review bottle doesn’t have an age statment on it, but it tastes pretty darn close to white lightning. (I was guessing a few months aging at the most.) Then, I just looked at the PDF from their website that I linked to above and it states that it’s aged for one month on that label. It could, of course legally be older than that, but the sample bottle I have seems to suggest only a couple months old.
Interesting. Didn’t even know they had a distillery. But a 69? They’ve taken third place in Geneva, fer cryin’ out loud!!
Sam, don’t even get me started on the whole medals thing…
John,
Let me know when you get a chance to try the new microdistilled whiskey from New Holland Brewing. It’s called Zepplin Bend. It was just released last December, and I got a couple bottles. Here in Michigan it’s running about $65 per.
Three year old, from bourbon barrels, I like the flavor, vanillas, caramels, might benefit from a little longer in the barrel, but very well done for a first effort.
Bill, I had a “work in progress” sample of the New Holland Whiskey, but not the final version. But I would like to try it.
i agree that it has a very sweet taste. i have been drinking whiskey avidly for about 11 years now. the rogue had a sweet and very light taste which was refreshing. however, if you are a lover of whiskey for its dark and “oak-y” taste, this is not the whiskey for you. i certainly prefer the “mature” taste of woodford reserve, gentleman jack/single barrel or gold medal, or basil hayden. for a young bottle, i thought it had a very nice taste to it. the only down-side was its price. but, as a whiskey lover, i didn’t mind to spend.
some people were wasking about how long its been aged….and i believe the bottle says “ocean aged for 1 month”.
Re:
“Maybe with some additional aging this whiskey might come around, mellow out and develop, but it has a long way to go.”
Whiskey will not develop or mature once it has been bottled, so I’m not sure what “John” means here…
I’ve tasted 100 year old JD from and anniversary bottle and sure enought it tastes like regular old JD.
Aging in barrel, before bottling, Burl. That’s implied. Like you said, whisky doesn’t age in the bottle.