High West Silver OMG Pure Rye

[biskuit]

A new one from High West, I got to taste this unaged rye at a trade show recently and found it pretty spectacular. The OMG stands for "Old MononGahela" as in the Pennsylvania river that runs through the original American whiskey country. A bit silly name, but it's a fun story. The whiskey itself is 100% rye - 20% of it malted. And this supposedly contains all the head and tail, no cut, in honor of the good old ways (1800s).What I really liked in this was a very present yeastiness on the nose especially, almost like a champagne yeast. David said they use three types of yeast, and had played around with the right balance of them. It may be unusual, but I think it plays really well with the rye spice. Very interesting stuff, eager to buy a bottle and spend more time with it once it comes out, which is rare for an unaged whiskey for me.


(a few more notes on other things I tasted at the show at http://www.thirstysouth.com/2011/09/13/omg-rye/)

[moose]

Sounds interesting, I have had the Rendezvous and the Double Rye and loved both. Will definitely be looking forward to giving this one a try, thanks for the info.

[tmckenzie]

Ain't no way he left in all the heads and tails. I have seen it and it looks clear to me. I have never seen a historical basis for distillers not making cuts. Maybe I am wrong?

[MikeK]

Yeah, I thought the heads and tails contain the stuff that will hurt/kill you. One reason it's risky to try 'shine made by someone who doesn't know darn well what they're doing.

[StraightNoChaser]

I haven't heard that heads and tails are harmful but they do produce off, volatile aromas and flavors

[tmckenzie]

I do not know what all are in heads or tails. I owuld think the heads at least would give a nasty headache and the tails would for sure give you a bad case of the runs.

[biskuit]

Good points all, I was surprised, too. Maybe I misheard him. Will see if I can confirm that.

[p_elliott]

The heads and tails contain Acetone, Methenol and Ethyl Acetate. No I didn't pull that off the top of my head (other than than the Methenol) I looked it up.

[tmckenzie]

I am sure they know better than to leave that in. Heads smell just like finger nail polish remover. Which you could acutally use them for.

[timd]

Not enough bad stuff in the heads (mostly) or tails to do you any real harm if left in - you'd have to drink a few dozen bottles to get truly "poisoned" (beyond the already mentioned headaches & runs) - but they taste like $*#*!@ and nobody in their right mind would want them.

I believe many simply dump the heads, and re-distill the tails. As for heads, a few microdistillers I've spoken too use it for cleaning around the shop!