Whiskey Tree

[Josh]

I don't know if "historical" mashbills are being added to the whiskey tree yet, but I can tell you Michter's from Schaefferstown used:

50% corn
38% rye
12% barley malt

to make Michter's Pot Still Whiskey. As for the barrels, all I have seen have a pretty heavy char inside them. I'm not sure of the bourbon, rye, and corn mashbills, but I could ask Dick about them next time I see him.

I think the problem with incorporating the mashbills of dusties is that it could spiral into a listing of every bourbon mashbill ever made. It's more practical to stick with bourbons in current production.

HOWEVER, now that you've posted it here, it's forever in this thread. Which I think is pretty cool.

[dgonano]

And Michters was called "Pennsylvania Sour Mash Whiskey". There was no grain 51% or higher. There was no claim of being a "Straight Whiskey". So used barrels would make sense. They wanted the whiskey to be naturally smoother. They also had hopes their brand would compete with JD as a non-bourbon whiskey.

[dgonano]

BTW Josh, a very nice comprehensive list. One you probably are sorry to have started.

[ethangsmith]

Correct. It was a mix of new and used, but the bulk of it was in used cooperage. It was so they could make Michter's less expensive and sell more, but unfortunately it didn't work so well anyway. My guess is that the heavy char in the barrels allowed them to be reused easily and still impart a nice oak and char flavor to the Michter's "pot still" whiskey. That, and since they weren't selling much, the 6 years probably turned into 10 or more pretty quickly! I know Dick said they would often be barreling 15 to 20 year old bourbons and ryes because they were "left over stock." If only I could get my hands on bottles of that stuff!

[cowdery]

Correct. It was a mix of new and used, but the bulk of it was in used cooperage. It was so they could make Michter's less expensive and sell more, but unfortunately it didn't work so well anyway. My guess is that the heavy char in the barrels allowed them to be reused easily and still impart a nice oak and char flavor to the Michter's "pot still" whiskey. That, and since they weren't selling much, the 6 years probably turned into 10 or more pretty quickly! I know Dick said they would often be barreling 15 to 20 year old bourbons and ryes because they were "left over stock." If only I could get my hands on bottles of that stuff!

Has he told you what their bourbon and rye mash bills were?

[ethangsmith]

Not yet. I'll get that information the next time I talk to him. He did say they had one bourbon mashbill and 2 rye mashbills- One being for Sam Thompson (which had a higher percentage of rye grain) and the other being their standard mashbill for all other rye products.

[White Dog]

Bumpidy Bump Bump.

On the Malt Advocate's blog they're stating that the now-live Willett Distillery is mashing Bourbon with 72%Corn, 13%Rye, and 15%Barley.

Seems like a crazy-high percentage of Barley, but supposedly it's the old Willett Family recipe. Very cool.

[ethangsmith]

Is Wild Turkey's mashbill really that high in corn? I thought it was a high rye content bourbon like OGD. By the most recent chart, it looks like Old Forester would be the highest rye content bourbon on the list, which I find hard to believe.

[Josh]

Is Wild Turkey's mashbill really that high in corn? I thought it was a high rye content bourbon like OGD. By the most recent chart, it looks like Old Forester would be the highest rye content bourbon on the list, which I find hard to believe.

I always considered Wild Turkey to be high rye too, but all the evidence I've been able to find contradicts that.

[Josh]

Bumpidy Bump Bump.

On the Malt Advocate's blog they're stating that the now-live Willett Distillery is mashing Bourbon with 72%Corn, 13%Rye, and 15%Barley.

Seems like a crazy-high percentage of Barley, but supposedly it's the old Willett Family recipe. Very cool.

That's odd. 1792 has a higher that average barley percentage according to reports and it's pretty dull IMO. Maybe KBD will have better luck.

ANYWAY, on to updating.