Chasing the White Dog with Max Watman
What is "the white dog" in your title, and how does it compare to the whiskeys our readers are more familiar with?
White dog is what legit American distillers call whiskey when it comes off the still, at its raw state, before the barrel has turned it brown and given it all that caramel and vanilla we get from the oak. I used the phrase in the title for a few reasons (including a self-indulgent desire to link my American search, my quest, to Moby Dick) but, most importantly, I think that the line between legal and illegal whiskey is somewhat arbitrary, and I wanted to begin by blurring the separation.
White Dog, which is available from micro-distillers like Koval, House Spirits, and Death’s Door as well as (major distiller) Buffalo Trace, is more complicated than vodka. It is the framework upon which those oak flavors hang. The grain profile of the spirit is very present, the taste is undeniably the taste of whiskey, but it is young and raw, like beaujolais nouveau is to burgundy.
To read more please visit: http://blogs.forbes.com/booze/2010/06/18/chasing-the-white-dog-with-max-watman/ |
Koval Distillery
I admit that I’m easily confused. Still, I have a pretty good
working knowledge of alcohol, so I wasn’t expecting to be confounded by
Chicago’s new “boutique” distillery called Koval. I had heard they were
crafting whiskeys, brandy and vodka in the exact same building
Metropolitan’s been brewing in, so it was a no-brainer to write
something on them as part of my Chicago brewery series. But when I
began investigating their spirits, I soon found myself in that familiar
confused state, holding up a slim clear bottle of Koval’s Chicago Rye
and scratching my head. Whiskey is brown, I told myself, aged to
perfection in wood barrels and wallowing in smoky, peaty goodness. How
the hell is this clear bottle 100% rye whiskey? It was when I tasted
this special grain alcohol that my confusion morphed into frantic
curiosity. Koval’s spirits were officially like nothing I’d ever had
before and it was being crafted in my hometown! Let the obsession begin.
Koval is owned and operated by Sonat and Rob Birnecker. Sonat is a
Chicago native and Francis Parker School graduate who spent a decade
traveling and teaching in Europe. Rob is from Austria and was raised in
an acclaimed distilling family before working for the Austrian Embassy.
It was only with the arrival of their baby boy that the two decided to
settle into the family business and bring a tradition as old as dirt to
our privileged city. Their story is no doubt a fascinating one, almost
as fascinating as the spirits they’re producing.
To read more please visit: http://www.upchicago.com/koval |
The 6 Best Un-Aged Whiskies
Our pals at Liquor.com got the skinny on a new type of whiskey that's hitting the market. Whether you call it moonshine or white dog, un-aged whiskey is one of the hottest spirits categories right now. Not bad considering that Americans have been making the alcohol since before the founding of this country. But unlike many other colonial antiquities, the often illegally-produced, high-proof, clear alcohol has developed a cult status and unique folklore. (The Dukes of Hazzard was about moonshiners after all.) It also tastes pretty good. “People are amazed that something that raw is a perfectly quaffable drink,” says Max Watman, the author of the new book Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine. “I think we’re going to see a white dog boom.” Fortunately, there are a number of legal distilleries now selling this spirit. Here are a few of Watman’s favorites along with his tasting notes.
I find Koval’s Rye Chicago remarkably subtle and spicy, far less rough than other rye-based white dogs. Koval also makes millet, oat, spelt and wheat un-aged whiskies in tiny 10-gallon batches from organic grains.
To read more please visit: http://origin-www.maxim.com/stuff/articles/92930/straight-from-still.html |
Chasing the White Dog at Koval Distillery
I’m still fairly new to the world of spirits and mixology. As an eager
amateur, I read books and peruse blogs for information, I hit the local
bars and lounges for ideas and I experiment at home and at parties.
Generally, I hear about the trends and then go out and find them, but I
feel I’ve turned a bit of corner since I spotted one of the newest
trends in the drinks world before it became big news.
To read more please visit: http://bybe.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/chasing-the-white-dog-at-koval-distillery/
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A Grain of Character
by Mary Beth Klatt
Thanks to a few select distilleries, grain spirits are on the fast track to becoming the toast of the town.
George Washington made them. Ditto Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. Now a new generation of Americans is making grain
spirits — unaged whiskeys that can be consumed after they’re distilled
and cut with water, unlike their traditional counterparts, which are
aged for months, even years, in oak barrels before they’re bottled.
Koval Distillery (1) in Chicago, Catoctin Creek Distilling Company (2) in Purcellville, Va., and Death’s Door Spirits (3) in Washington Island, Wis., make aromatic grains the star ingredients
for their spirits, unlike most conventional spirit manufacturers , who
typically start with a grain-neutral base. In fact, Koval is the only
U.S. company that distills an array of organic grains — spelt, wheat,
oat, millet and rye — for its boutique spirits. These unaged whiskeys ,
also known as fast whiskeys because they’re made quickly, are
surprisingly versatile: They’re good straight up, on the rocks or mixed
into flavorful and fragrant cocktails. “If you want more character in a
cocktail, you need to start with something that already has character,”
says Sonat Birnecker, who owns Koval with her husband, Robert.
The Birneckers decided to focus on white whiskeys because the market
was saturated with other alcoholic beverages. “Something that’s really
artisanal needs to be handcrafted,” she says. “The only way to get
something that’s 100 percent grain is to do it from scratch.” The
Birneckers make small batches of spirits each week using grains from
Midwestern farmers. Each step of the distilling process, from the
mashing to the bottling, is completed on the premises. The certified
kosher spirits are also used as a base for the company’s line of
liqueurs.
To read more please visit: http://www.americanwaymag.com/chicago-koval-distillery-george-washington-catoctin-creek-distilling-company |
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Unconvertional Jobs - 4-8-2010 |
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8 04 2010
By Matthew Bentel
It is 5:00 pm. You get up from the desk in
your cubicle. You make your way to the elevator down to the parking lot
and to your car. You arrive home nearly an hour after quitting time and
pour yourself a whiskey on the rocks. You sit down and try to soak in
the end of the day. That is your life now. But what if this “end of the
day” routine wasn’t saved for the night hours, but rather was a daily
practice? For Sonat and Robert Birnecker, it is.
Sonat and Robert, a married couple, established and now run Chicago’s first boutique distillery, Koval, located at 5121
To read more please visit:
http://unconventionaljobs.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/an-intoxicating-interview-with-boutique-distillery-starter-sonat-birnecker/ |
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Chicago Tribune 3-10-2010 |
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White whiskey is distilled but barely aged
If you look at it, smell it and taste it, whiskey would probably be one of your last guesses.
But white whiskey — which can also be called young or unaged whiskey — is most definitely whiskey. More or less.
The whiskey we are accustomed to, that delicious woody brown stuff, is distilled from grain, but it takes on much of its look, aroma and flavor from the barrel where it was aged. Death's Door White Whisky, produced in Madison, Wis., is distilled like a classic whiskey (from wheat and barley in this case), but aged 72 hours at most.
The aging is a procedural step necessary to call the product whiskey. What results is a spirit clear as water with a nose somewhere between vodka and tequila.
To read more please visit: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/columnists.nsf/cooking/story/634C23D2E6D3C151862576E00060BBC0?OpenDocument |
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The Chuck Cowdery Blog 3-3-2010 |
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I Visit Koval, My Neighborhood Distillery.
‘White whiskey’ is a new term, but a good one. It’s good because anyone with a rudimentary understanding of distilled spirits gets immediately what it means.
Too bad it’s illegal.
Under U.S. law, all whiskey (except corn whiskey) must be “stored in oak containers,” i.e., aged. White whiskey is just another name for white dog, spirit straight from the still, innocent of oak. It may be ‘white whiskey’ to you and me, but it’s not any kind of whiskey to the U. S. government until it has seen the inside of a barrel.
That’s why the five white whiskeys made by Chicago’s Koval Distillery are just called ‘grain spirits,’ even though they are, in fact, white whiskey. Very fine white whiskey at that.
To Read more please visit: http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-visit-koval-my-neighborhood.html |
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Metromix Chicago 2-24-2010 |
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More ways to drink local
Last week we gave you our guide to drinking local, spotlighting bars around town mixing up cocktails with spirits from boutique distilleries around the Midwest.
This week, two more spots are busting onto the scene with local booze on their cocktail lists. River North's Gilt Bar, which warms up with a soft opening tonight, will be serving up the Jasmine, made with Cointreau, Campari, lemon and Death's Door vodka from in Madison, Wis. Primebar, opening this Wednesday in the Loop, fills a designated "Drink Local" section of its drink menu to drinks like Coming Up Roses (Maker's Mark with mint and rose hip liqueur from Chicago-based Koval) and the Chicago 75, which matches three locally made ingredients (North Shore's No. 6 gin, Koval's chrysanthemum-honey liqueur and Goose Island's 312) with bitters and lemon juice.
To Read more please visit: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/metromix-blog/2010/02/more-ways-to-drink-local.html |
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