Who Likes White Dog?

[imbibehour]

I would say rarely, I bought it out of a curiosity more than anything as part of my education... and uh... scientific study... yeah that's it

No regrets though, although if I swing through West Virginia again I just may grab some more of it cause it just feels like the right thing to do...

Don't ask me why...

[squire]

The quest for scientific study and education is unending, we must persevere wherever the path may lead.

[fussychicken]

Wow, so much white dog hate. Why? Others find great pleasure in unaged agave distillates, unaged grape distillates, unaged sugar cane distillates, but no love for unaged cereal grain distillates?

OK so maybe corn and wheat aren't as sexy as an agave plant, but is that the only reason?

Just for the record, I have a bottle of BT white dog and High West's Silver Oat and like them both. I think the Silver Oat is great and am getting low on my bottle.

[cowdery]

How many people sip white tequila or white rum straight? The best use of un-aged spirits is in cocktails. That's becoming crystal clear the more I sample them.

[fussychicken]

To each his own I guess. One of the best spirits I had last year was a unaged mezcal made out of wild tobala agave that has a wonderful smokey complex flavor. And yes, I sip it straight.

I personally would love to see some experiments with different corn, wheat, and rye strains in an unaged distillate. Maybe when some of these other micros go bust I can pick up a still for cheap and try myself?

[PaulT]

When we first got into the distilling racket, I looked at white dog as more or less just something interesting. However, as time has gone by and I've tried other white whiskies, I've gained a much greater appreciation for ones that I like. Ours is white corn, so (to me), it has more of a floral, light corn flavor vs. a heavy "smack you in the face with an ear of corn" flavor. And, of course, there's the "Black Dog," that I continue to appreciate more as time goes by. The balance of smoke with the sweetness from the corn seems to go well together, but not everyone enjoys that heavy, smoky flavor, so I can understand when someone gets a funny look when they try it. Otherwise, Tom and I need to hook up sometime and swap juices.

[callmeox]

Tom and I need to hook up sometime and swap juices.

Hey, what you do on your own time is your business.

[kickert]

Hey, what you do on your own time is your business.

[imbibehour]

To each his own I guess. One of the best spirits I had last year was a unaged mezcal made out of wild tobala agave that has a wonderful smokey complex flavor. And yes, I sip it straight.

I personally would love to see some experiments with different corn, wheat, and rye strains in an unaged distillate. Maybe when some of these other micros go bust I can pick up a still for cheap and try myself?

[squire]

fussy, it's not hate, just disinterest.

[squire]

Paul I appreciate your input and perspective.

[sailor22]

I haven't encountered any white spirit that I would consider a sipper. Mixers all, and since I rarely make cocktails...

Fun to sample occasionally in order to compare against a similar but aged product. Never considered purchasing.

[B.B. Babington]

like anything else, it depends on the white dog. I've had some exceptionally smooth white dog brandy from down the holler that was totally amazing. I've tried maybe only two dozen taxed commercials. The only commercial white dog that had me stand up and take notice was a virginia product, catoctin creek, which was a super mellow rye.

[White Dog]

How many people sip white tequila or white rum straight? The best use of un-aged spirits is in cocktails. That's becoming crystal clear the more I sample them.

I agree as to Tequila and Rum, but there are many un-aged Eau-de-Vies and Grappas that I love sipping, from both sides of the Atlantic. I would never imagine mixing a Poire Williams Eau-de-Vie from Switzerland's Etter, for instance.

[B.B. Babington]

when stepping out o' realm of whiskey, there's lots of unaged spirits that are unique and flavorful. and for tequila, a lot of aficianodos prefer robust blanco over mellow reposido or anejo. But for grappa, I love metaxa and similar expressions, but I'll let ya keep the grappa.

[cowdery]

Nobody is answering my primary question.

How much white dog do you drink relative to your consumption of aged spirits? Would you say you enjoy white dog exclusively, frequently, occasionally, rarely, or never?

Or, to put it comparatively, do you drink white spirits less than 10% of the time? Less than 40% of the time? Less than 70% of the time? More than 70% of the time? Or more than 90% of the time?

Yes, there are some white spirits that you sip. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that white whiskey is not one of them. It's better in cocktails.

[White Dog]

I love White Dog, my wife loves White Dog, my kids love...

Oh wait, you mean white whiskey.

I have BT, Georgia Moon, Tuthilltown, and some Kovals. I like the Kovals, and don't care for the others. I like having the Kovals on hand for the intellectual exercise of examining "pure" forms of Rye and Wheat, so no, I don't love them.

I do agree with Kickert, in that I'll use Koval Whiskeys in place of Vodka, which I don't own. In the summertime, if my wife wants a vodka-lemonade, she'll get a Koval-lemonade.

Yikes. I guess my answer wasn't sufficient because I didn't use percentages. I will choose "occasionaly."

[B.B. Babington]

Very little - almost 0% white dog whiskey compared to aged.

[wadewood]

To answer Chuck's question, true white dog 0%. I do have some lightly aged micro stuff that I like, but still very small % of my consumption.

I know one local liquor store is sitting with a shelf full of BT white dog that is not moving. They offered a bar owner to purchase him a small oak barrel, if he would buy their stock - then he can barrel age this and sell at his bar. A good gimmick way to move some inventory.

[squire]

Since I have tried some in the past I will say rarely.

[dmarkle]

Nobody is answering my primary question.

The answer is no. Not only because it's yucky, but because the prices are completely ridiculous for what you get around where I live. When white dog costs more than Beam white, what's the point? I'd mix 'em both with Coke or whatever in order to make either one palatable. Maybe there's some fancypants avant-garde bartender out there who makes some sort of fancy drink with it, using white dog's unique characteristics, but I've never had such a drink.

It's neat to have as a curiosity. It's neat to smell and sip and say, "Wow! I'm sure glad this gets better as it ages", but no. No, I pretty much never drink the stuff.

[T Comp]

Nobody is answering my primary question.

How much white dog do you drink relative to your consumption of aged spirits? Would you say you enjoy white dog exclusively, frequently, occasionally, rarely, or never?

Or, to put it comparatively, do you drink white spirits less than 10% of the time? Less than 40% of the time? Less than 70% of the time? More than 70% of the time? Or more than 90% of the time?

For whiskey white dog the answer is rarely. For white spirits as a whole it would be less than 5% in my entire drinking lifetime of 40 years and close to 0% in the last few years. My old world father in law's death even took the occasional schnapps or aquavit off the table.

[camduncan]

To answer your question chuck, true white dog 0%. Corn Whiskey.... less than 1%

[harshest]

Nobody is answering my primary question.

How much white dog do you drink relative to your consumption of aged spirits? Would you say you enjoy white dog exclusively, frequently, occasionally, rarely, or never?

[cowdery]

To clarify, and only for purposes of this exercise, I'm calling all white spirits 'white dog,' even including some that have perhaps a few months in wood, as long as they still have that white dog flavor.

As this micro-distilling thing has developed and more of the un- or barely-aged products have come on the market I have developed a new appreciation for the visionaries who chose two years, and the 'straight' designation, as a defining threshhold. While the barrel, especially a new charred one, begins to have some flavoring effect almost immediately, it is only after about two years that the spirit is really transformed into something else.