Monterey Rye - Age Your Own Rye

[ILLfarmboy]

Well, I picked up one bottle of each, the rye and corn. I'm now debating on whether or not get a second bottle of corn spirit. My thinking is, rather than half-and-half, I might want to come closer to a straight bourbon recipe (i.e. 66% corn, 33% rye). The trouble is, a second bottle is not easy to acquire now that I passed it up on the shelf in Salinas. BevMo says there's one in San Francisco.

Then again, a 1:1 ratio might produce something unique.

I'd like to go for a more well aged (approximating a 12-15 y.o.) style whiskey once I start.

How does their corn spirit taste? Can you tell it was made from a corn/sugar mash verses an all grain bill?

[jinenjo]

With regard to your mash question: I tasted each the other night, and regrettably, I couldn't really tell, Brad.

They were quite tasty though. I was able to get both distinctive qualities out of each. A dryness and spice (although it was more like a bitter, herbal spice as opposed to a red, hot spiciness) came out in the rye dog. As for the corn, that I quite liked. In it came the typically rich, oily texture and mild sweetness.

Both were not bursting with flavor, however. The tastes seemed more subtle, almost muted. I've only had limited exposure to white dog (mostly rye), and always at full strength well above 100 proof. The Monterey spirits at 80 proof compared to genuine KY white dog makes for quite a difficult comparison.

That said, what I tasted gives me promise for the experiment.

[ILLfarmboy]

...... I've only had limited exposure to white dog (mostly rye), and always at full strength well above 100 proof. The Monterey spirits at 80 proof compared to genuine KY white dog makes for quite a difficult comparison.

That said, what I tasted gives me promise for the experiment.

Gosh, I wish I could taste rye white dog. Hell, I wish I could taste bourbon white dog. The closest I have come is buying a couple bottles of Virginia lightning and one jar of Georgia Moon. Virginia Lightning tastes much better, its actually enjoyable.

I look forward to reading about your home aging experiment.

[Graeck]

I just bought a bottle of the Monterey Rye after a friend of mine who's in to Rye recommended it. It came with a stick of medium charred American oak. I tasted it before putting the oak in and it was quite pleasant "as-is" though definitely lacking some character -- but all in all, quite nice. So I've dropped the stick in the bottle and am waiting for a month. Then I'll test again.

The bottle comes with a little card (did someone mention this?) that you can fill out and send to the company to get other "sticks". You can choose from American, French or Hungarian oak, and low, medium or high charred. I was thinking of ordering another stick and switching to a different wood two months in...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one. My friend said it's one of the best deals in Rye. The bottle I bought ran $27.99 at a local liquor store.

[CorvallisCracker]

Hello Graeck. Welcome to SB.com.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one. My friend said it's one of the best deals in Rye. The bottle I bought ran $27.99 at a local liquor store.

Hmmmm...

For under $30 you should be able to get both Wild Turkey rye and Sazerac rye. For under $15 there's Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond. You might want to try those.

[NorCalBoozer]

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one. My friend said it's one of the best deals in Rye. The bottle I bought ran $27.99 at a local liquor store.

That's a much better price than i saw, which was $35. I'd like to try it but I was sort of surprised at the price, since i saw the corn for $12

all in all I am looking forward to trying it so I hope that I can locate it at a more reasonable price point.

Greg

[Graeck]

Hello Graeck. Welcome to SB.com.



Hmmmm...

For under $30 you should be able to get both Wild Turkey rye and Sazerac rye. For under $15 there's Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond. You might want to try those.

He obviously felt it was better than WT and Sazerac. By "one of th best deals" I think he meant in terms of quality/price ratio...not absolute price.

I'll post the results...

[jinenjo]

I'll post the results...

Please do.

If the aging hasn't begun too much. I'd take out the white dog to save for the other wood sticks (if you're up for more of this experimentation). That way you'd have a baseline to compare all of them against each other.

As for the price, I paid $23 + tax for the rye and $19+ for the corn.

[jinenjo]

I wasn't sure whether or not to start a separate thread for my project.

I'll post a picture soon, now that I've started the aging experiment. Began it last Friday, the 26th of July. The weather's been quite cool in the morning and most of the day. Not very sunny at all (with the exception of a few days). Hopefully, it'll be more consitently sunny, then cool at night.

That's bay area weather for you.

Salut.

[jinenjo]

Here's a picture. I'm glad I went out to take it today, because I found there was a leak at the spigot. I emptied it to see how much I lost. Luckily, not too much.

A little extra for the angels.