2mo ago

European rye whiskeys: alternatives for your (mixed) drinks.

www.thewhiskyardvark.com /post/european-rye-whisky

7 comments

I've been looking for a good european bourbon recently. Looks like I'll have to wait a long time for that, though, I'm really picky about american-style whisky - I only like wheat-heavy bourbons (e.g. Maker's Mark), and even then it's exclusively a cocktail spirit for me so I don't really want to pay the craft tax of ultra-small distilleries. That said, Zuidam Korenwijn 5yo is close enough for me - it has 30% corn in its mashbill, the botanicals are extremely subtle, the cask flavors are a lot more similar to american whisky than to scottish or irish whisy, and the 1l bottle has decent value for money.
Never got into rye whisky, unfortunately.
Rye whisky and korn are interesting for historic reasons, though - German immigrants had a large influence on american whisky, and before the 19th century there wasn't really a big difference between rye whisky and rye korn; purposeful cask-aging wasn't really common yet, and before column stills were invented, korn and whisky were distilled using pretty much the same techniques.
- Zuidam do make a couple of whiskies, under the name 'Millstone'. The American Oak elevated ones are quite close to bourbon.
  The main difference is the corn content. But I've never been too keen on the overly sweet corn taste.
  
  I do like corn-based spirits in general. The main reason I don't like bourbon for neat/on the rocks drinking is that it's too oaky for me, but that's where Zuidam Oude Genever (unaged) comes in. I should probably try few moonshine-style spirits ...
- european bourbon
  I know what you're getting at, but bourbon whiskey is a protected designation of origin. By definition it can only be made in the US.
  
  I know. But the US doesn't really give a shit about protecting european PDOs, either. I'd call it 'corn whisky' (much more descriptive than 'bourbon'), but american whisky is just as much about the specific cask aging techniques as it is about how the unaged spirits are made. Which might make the endeavor a fool's errand, since europe isn't exactly flush with american oak trees.

Kyrö is damn good. Very woody, which is very unlike what I usually like, but also very enjoyable. Kudos to Finland.

7 comments