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Anchor White Christmas, 45% abv ($30)
Anchor is, of course, a brewery and a distillery, so it would make sense for them to distill some beer. This release for the 2013 holiday season was a distillation of their Christmas Ale. It's not labeled as a whiskey, likely meaning that it was never stored in oak, just distilled and bottled. It was initially released at $60, but K&L has it marked down to $30 (like any holiday gift that didn't sell).
The nose is very new makey with a touch of hops. The palate has mild new make notes with just a touch of hops. The finish has peppermint and beer. This has some nice flavors but the pure new make qualities dominate the beer notes. I'd pass on this one.
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Whipnose Whiskey, from Seven Stills Distillery in San Francisco is a distillation of Pacific Brewing Laboratory's Whipnose IPA. Seven Stills distilled the beer without adding anything to it. The beer includes five malts (2-Row barley, Crystal 15, Rye Malt, Aromatic Malt (Amber 50) and Belgian Cara-Pils), four types of hops (Simcoe, Centenial, Cascade, Chinook) and maple sugar. Seven Stills then ages it for six months in 5 gallon new charred oak barrels.
The nose is full of beer; spicy and hoppy. It's very similar to Charbay's R5. The palate is also beer heavy with a discernible hops; it even has a prickly mouthfeel as if it were slightly carbonated. It definitely has a young taste to it, a bit raw and new makey, again not unlike Charbay's R5 and S whiskeys, but the strong hoppy taste mitigates some of that youth. The finish is exactly what you would expect after a good IPA, slightly bitter and a bit hoppy.
I'm not sure I've ever had a whiskey that tastes this much like beer. If you're a fan of IPAs or of the Charbay whiskeys, I'd definitely recommend it. It's got some rough edges, but it's bursting with flavor.
I really like the flavor of distilled beer. I'm hoping we will see more an more of these on the market.
3 comments:
Interesting. If he is using sugar in the recipe, how can he still call it a whiskey?
Just to be clear, the distiller is not adding sugar; it is an ingredient in the beer they are distilling.
Since this is not a straight whiskey, it is permitted to have a small amount of additives and flavorings, including sugar.
I made the mistake of buying a bottle of White Christmas last year. Smelled like vomit to me. Didn't taste much better, frankly.
After tasting it and other similar spirits, I have concluded that hops do not belong in whiskey.
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