Fog's End Distillery-Monterey Rye

[Mashy]

I was recently in Santa Cruz on vacation with my family and wanted to cash in on the cheap liquor prices in CA. I usually only drink my own here in WA but the prices are very high here. Example: $37 for Knob compared to CA where I got it for $21.99. Anyway, while I was at the liquor store I saw a couple interesting things. One was a mason jar with "apple pie" flavored alcohol in it at only 40 proof. Asking price was $23.00. No thanks. The other was this Fog's End Monterey Rye bottled at 90p. It was intriguing to me for a couple reasons. One, the ingredients on the label were listed as 50% Rye and 50% sugar. Sounded real familiar. Then I read the back of the label where the distiller noted he used the "old style" no-cook sour mash method for created his whiskey, which also sounded very similar to what 90% of us theoretically do. Anyway, I didn't buy it at first because I know the drill but then it kept eating at me so I went back and gave them my $26 and took a bottle home. Opened it last night and tried it out. The first thing I tasted were tails and the last think I tasted was a sharp/bitter charred flavor. I told my wife who was trying them with me it tasted like over charred oak sticks (I have done that a couple times) rather than the even flavors of a barrel. A later trip to the website below shows exactly that. Anyway, I had some all Rye UJSM ageing on some medium plus toast oak infusion spirals. I watered this down a bit and gave some to my wife and she thought it had more flavor and was cleaner tasting. Bottom line...this guy is making whiskey like I did when I started a couple years ago. Shit cuts and short cutting the aging process. Anyone want a bottle of rye shine aged a couple weeks? I'll give it you for free!


http://www.fogsenddistillery.com/products.html

[Braz]

Here's their You Tube video of their process. Includes such niceties as plastic hose connections, plastic funnels and plastic collection vessels. Nice! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inT7ebd5YGs

[Mashy]

Thanks Braz! Yeah I noticed the cheap equipment he used other than the Colonel copper still. What I noticed more, and explained quite a bit, was that he doesn't even crack the rye grain! No wonder there was minimal flavor.

[Durace11]

Anyone want a bottle of rye shine aged a couple weeks? I'll give it you for free!

IMO, add it to your feints bucket for your next neutral run. We don't want the bad stuff