J's Whisky Diary

Bull Run Distilling, in Portland, Oregon was founded by former brewer Lee Medoff. The Cask Strength Single Malt was launched in 2016 with a  4 year age statement, while their Single Malt product now carries a 5 year age statement. Just a note for anyone not familiar, the "age statement" of a spirit indicates the age of the youngest spirit in the product; a 25 year and a 2 year spirit, when blended together, are 2 years old. Bull Run produce a range of products including an Aquavit and a barrel-aged Vodka. Nearby Burnside Brewing produces wash for the distillery, which places them somewhere on the grain-to-glass spectrum. This, along with their practice of fermenting the wash hot (relatively speaking, at least 80°F) lend their malt a good amount of character. Ester and phenol formation during fermentation are eventually mirrored in the final product, yielding notes of tropical fruit and clove. Medoff has at least 20 years of distilling experience to his name—hardly an amateur ...

Founded in 2004, Stranahan's was an early comer to the craft distilling scene, and the first microdistillery to open in Colorado. Stranahan's is named for co-founder George Stranahan, notably also a co-founder of Flying Dog Brewery, which went so far as to provide all the wash for the distillery until adequate brewing equipment could be procured. The distillery was acquired, in 2010, by Proximo Spirits, notable for their distribution of Jose Cuervo in the United States along with ownership of several other "premium" alcohol brands. Stranahan's produce a range of Single Malts, each with different finishing characteristics, including the annual, unique "Snowflake" release available for only one day each year. Today I'm trying the Sherry Cask Finish; this is batch 2 (out of 3, so far), it is non chill-filtered, given an age statement of 4 years, finished in Oloroso Sherry casks, and finally bottled at 94 proof. The malt pours a muted yellow-gold w...

A.D. Laws Whiskey House is a grain to glass distillery in Denver Colorado, using sour-mash, open fermentation and locally grown grains. Secale Straight Rye is a 95% Heritage rye mash, with barley rounding out the grain bill, of the rye grains, only half are malted. Column distilled, and aged for at least 24 months on charred oak, it is bottled at 100 proof. It pours a lovely, light blonde copper, with some rosy highlights. The nose brings a bitter, cosmic-brownie chocolate, with a buttery, oily texture over a background of classic rye dill and a hint of vanilla. The palate follows on the herbal, spicy aromas, with a very slight oak presence; the vanilla and chocolate are all but vanished until after the swallow. Quite a bit of perceived heat for the proof, with a lingering reminder of that cosmic brownie. Like snack food on a long bus trip, with a nagging scent of industrial cleaner and not quite enough room to breathe; it's toothsome in a way, but overall somewhat unsatisf...