Who's tried Dad's Hat? What did you think?

[humchan2k]

I recently acquired 2 bottles of Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye.....and I'm pretty impressed. For a product with VERY little aging, it's flavor profile is pretty developed. It has that malted rye mouthfeel similar to Old Potrero, but don't let that dissuade you, it's got a lot to like about it.

http://dadshatrye.com/

It does not hold up well in cocktails, as I discovered when mixed with good quality ginger beer, it tasted a bit thin....but on it's own, neat or with 1 cube, it's pretty solid.

Not a bad value for $45.

Anyone else give this one a try yet?

[ethangsmith]

Yes. I am actually friends with Hermann and John. You would be amazed at the research that went into crafting Dad's Hat. Both men are well-versed in the industry and are experts at what they are doing. At only about 9 months in a small barrel, I am amazed at what they've done. I have a feeling in a few years they will have a fully aged rye that will blow everyone else out of the water. It's a great deal in craft rye! I always recommend it to my friends.

[humchan2k]

Oh, you are? What's their plan for Dad's Hat, do they want to get it to a mature, 6-8 year product down the line? Honestly, I really like how they thought about details, especially as a dude who rocks a hat everyday, I totally get the emotional bond between product and "Dad" in this release. I've since bought another bottle of it, think I'll work on it during MNF tonight a bit again.....

The only thing I wish for their product is more time, which only comes with time, as I think once it has a couple years of age on it, it IS going to be dynamite stuff.

[Josh]

Is this a companion product to Old Overcoat?

[humchan2k]

Josh will be here all week, ladies and gentlemen! Two shows nightly! Try the veal and don't forget to tip your waitresses, folks!

[ethangsmith]

I think the eventual goal is to push into the 6-8 range- The reason I say this is that they are trying to reenact a proper Monongahela Rye and most of them were aged into that amount of years. Since they just started about a year or so ago releasing some product and only this summer started the release of aged product, I think we can all look forward to further aged products in the future. They currently are in the midst of their first single barrel releases. They are available at their Bristol distillery.

[jinenjo]

Not a bad value for $45.

This did look promising, but here in California, it's got a $100 price tag. OUCH!

[Josh]

Josh will be here all week, ladies and gentlemen! Two shows nightly! Try the veal and don't forget to tip your waitresses, folks!

Thank you for giving me the attention I so desperately crave.

[humchan2k]

This did look promising, but here in California, it's got a $100 price tag. OUCH!

Woah, what part of Cali are you in, sir!?!?! I live in LA, and I can get it for $55/bottle at Vendome and $50 at K&L. I mean....no matter where in Cali you are, you could buy it online at K&L and get it shipped for less than $100!!!!!

Check it out, man, it's worth the dough.

[BourbonJoe]

I took a couple bottles of the white dog to Bardstown for John Lipman. Tasted it down there. Not my cup of tea.

Joe :usflag:

[callmeox]

I took a couple bottles of the white dog to Bardstown for John Lipman. Tasted it down there. Not my cup of tea.

Joe :usflag:

Not entirely unexpected. You're not RyeJoe here on the forum after all.

[mopgcw]

found a bottle here for $60, not too bad at all, a nice bite and with a fiery tail. I like the opening rye, but you can tell it is young. 90 proof. would have been a good trade at $40, but at $60 need to think about it.

[Ejmharris]

I think I will pass on this one!

Mike

[ChainWhip]

Now that this has been out for a while, is there any more feedback on this Rye? Are they trying to recreate any of the ryes made @ Pennco/Michter's, Publicker, etc., or are they making something entirely different?

The mashbill they use is 80% rye, 15% barley malt and 5% rye malt - does anybody know if this matches any of the mashbills for the dusty PA sourced Old Overholts (or other old PA Ryes for that matter like Rittenhouse, Pikesville, WTR101, etc.,?)

[squire]

Overholdt was about 60% rye as I recall but I won't pretend I remember the flavor well enough to draw comparisons today.

[zillah]

I met the Master Distiller and was blown away by his knowledge and his plan for his whiskies. I think people don't know about Dad's hat is that they stay true to the Pennsylvania rye tradition by using a mashbill of Rye, malted barley and malted rye. I may not purchase the standard rye, but the spirit is great and it is amazing how much those small barrels did in 9 months. What he did with the vermouth finish was anything but spectacular. Fantastic stuff. Dat's hat has some full 53 gallon barrels sitting there. If that gets released as a straight rye in 4 years I think it is going to shake up the rye market as unparalleled. Can't wait!

I don't really like rye though...I only drink Rittenhouse on occasion. So take that at whatever value you wish to deem it.

[squire]

I appreciate your thoughts even though it's not your subject. Small barrels and vermouth finish are hardly traditional Pennsylvania Rye though, did the gentleman share the historical source(s) for his mash bill?

[ChainWhip]

Overholdt was about 60% rye as I recall but I won't pretend I remember the flavor well enough to draw comparisons today.

Thanks Squire!

I don't see this in the whiskey tree... Do you know what the other component %-ages are?

I found this in the whiskey tree thread for the Ritt & Pikesville ryes:

(37/51/12, aprox.)**

So it sounds like Dad's Hat is not replicating any of the historical big house PA ryes?

[tanstaafl2]

Thanks Squire!

I don't see this in the whiskey tree... Do you know what the other component %-ages are?

I found this in the whiskey tree thread for the Ritt & Pikesville ryes:

(37/51/12, aprox.)**

So it sounds like Dad's Hat is not replicating any of the historical big house PA ryes?

What is in the whiskey tree reflects current day bottlings by HH. I would guess neither mashbill is similar to what they once were in their glory days 30-40 years ago.

[squire]

60% rye, 30% corn and 10% malted barley I believe (very close to what George Washington used) but I wouldn't say there was any specific formula all the Pennsylvanian distillers used.

Distilling with unmalted grain is an Irish tradition but the historical reason was taxes. Beer/ale was made with malted barley and the Authorities decided to tap into that by levying a tax on malt. The distillers promptly used the minimum malt necessary for starch conversion with the bulk of the mash being unmalted. This did create a style but the intention was to avoid taxes rather than make a better flavored whisky.

The 200 year distilling history repeatedly mentioned on the Dad's Hat website (and by implication suggesting they are a part of it) doesn't go into any details of why they can claim their use of barley and rye malt is emblematic of that tradition.

My own thoughts are Colonial Era distillers brought techniques over from the Old World and used the grains at hand, wheat for bread, corn and oats for livestock, barley for beer and rye for whisky. Customers liked the whisky, bought more of it and the reputation spread.

There is a letter from a Boston distiller written during the Reveloutionary War complaining the the British seizure of Boston had cut off the supply of rye grain for making his whisky. His real complaint though was if he couldn't make whisky to sell he couldn't pay his taxes.

Remember it was a change in the tax laws that allowed the Scottish Distillers to go legit in 1824. Whisky and taxes are a joined theme throughout distilling history. To paraphrase Burns, 'Whisky and Taxes gang thegither'.

Edited December 5, 2013 by squire

[zillah]

I appreciate your thoughts even though it's not your subject. Small barrels and vermouth finish are hardly traditional Pennsylvania Rye though, did the gentleman share the historical source(s) for his mash bill?

I think he was talking in terms of how it was distilled. I think the small barrels and vermouth finish is more about making something decent until the real stuff comes out. As for the mash-bill, I took him at his word, but their website is very forthright about the mashbill being modeled after traditional PA rye whiskey.

I plan on visiting the distillery one day so I might as well ask him, but I am sure if you sent an email they would respond kindly.

Edited December 5, 2013 by zillah

[Luna56]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but.. I was gifted a bottle of this last night in Philadelphia. Just got back home and I'm trying this right now.

So far, everything about the nose, mouthfeel, taste and finish screams "White Dog."

This stuff is odd to me and, though I may end up enjoying it, I wouldn't recommend it as a rye, per se.

Regardless, it is encouraging to see some new whiskey from my Pennsylvania homeboys.

Cheers!

[tanstaafl2]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but.. I was gifted a bottle of this last night in Philadelphia. Just got back home and I'm trying this right now.

So far, everything about the nose, mouthfeel, taste and finish screams "White Dog."

This stuff is odd to me and, though I may end up enjoying it, I wouldn't recommend it as a rye, per se.

Regardless, it is encouraging to see some new whiskey from my Pennsylvania homeboys.

Cheers!

At 6-9 months of age or so in quarter casks kept in a temperature controlled environment it is probably more of an ecru dog!

[AnotherCigarGuy]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but.. I was gifted a bottle of this last night in Philadelphia. Just got back home and I'm trying this right now.

So far, everything about the nose, mouthfeel, taste and finish screams "White Dog."

This stuff is odd to me and, though I may end up enjoying it, I wouldn't recommend it as a rye, per se.

Regardless, it is encouraging to see some new whiskey from my Pennsylvania homeboys.

Cheers!

Funny. I like rye and always wondered what a "traditional" PA(Philly OR West) rye would taste like, being

PA born and raised. Looks like we are not there yet.......

[risenc]

I like what Dads Hat is doing in trying to resurrect PA style rye, and I think their flagship aged rye is better than most new craft ryes. I'm looking for great things from them, but don't go into it expecting the second coming of Rittenhouse, just yet.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk