Copper Fox Rye Whisky

[sku]

I'm a big fan of Wasmund's single malt so I was excited to try their Rye. This is the rye whiskey, not the rye spirit discussed in an earlier post. It's aged 14 months with the same fruit woods used in the single malt and is 45% abv. Unfortunately, I really did not care for it.


The nose is similar to Wasmund's with the fruit wood in the forefront. There's also a fresh leather scent (new couch?). There's only the smallest hint of rye on the nose. I have to admit that I cringed a bit upon tasting this. There is a flat alcohol note that is unpleasant. It's not harshly alcoholic, more on the bitter side. It may be that the rye simply doesn't blend with the fruit woods as well as the malt, or at 14 months, it may just be too young, or both. The rye flavor doesn't arrive until mid-palate and then on the finish, but the bitterness stays on my tongue for longer than I'd like. You can feel the hints of rye and malt as if they are struggling to get out and be heard among the acridity, but sadly, they don't make it.



More here: http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2010/01/whiskey-wednesday-copper-fox-rye-whisky.html (http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2010/01/whiskey-wednesday-copper-fox-rye-whisky.html)

[CorvallisCracker]

I visited the Wasmunds web site (http://www.copperfox.biz/), and this caught my eye:

"The next step is our secret chip and barrel aging process (patent pending). We can only tell you that it involves apple wood, cherry wood and oak chips, special selection and toasting techniques..."

Now according to the BATF regs (which I've been reviewing a lot lately), Section 5.39(c) reads:


Treatment with wood. The words "colored and flavored with wood
------ (insert chips, slabs, etc., as appropriate)'' shall be stated as
a part of the class and type designation for whisky and brandy treated,
in whole or in part, with wood through percolation, or otherwise, during
distillation or storage, other than through contact with the oak
container."

If I understand this correctly, they can't call their products simply "Single Malt Whisky" and "Rye Whisky". Instead they have to be called "Single Malt Whiskey colored and flavored with wood chips" and "Rye Whisky colored and flavored with wood chips"

Looking at the label, I don't see that. Why not?

[CorvallisCracker]

If I understand this correctly, they can't call their products simply "Single Malt Whisky" and "Rye Whisky". Instead they have to be called "Single Malt Whiskey colored and flavored with wood chips" and "Rye Whisky colored and flavored with wood chips"

Looking at the label, I don't see that. Why not?


Okay, I sent them a E-Mail and got a reply. Seems that wording is on the label, just in very small print.

Now I'm wondering if they're going to do the same on that new version of MM.