The thrill of white whiskey

I was burnt out running nightclubs and looking for something new, so I turned to distilling and wanted to know everything I could.

I had many spirits that I could focus on but something about white whiskey was very interesting to me.

I have always had a deep love for illegal things, and loved that white whiskey has a dangerous side. This danger had nothing to do with the legal whiskey made at taxed distilleries, but the illegal whiskey being made in the woods. The connection was burned deep in my psyche. I became an avid connoisseur of the legal white lightning.

This hunger to know everything brought me to a deeper appreciation for this liquor.

You see whiskey is a great category and oak plays a leading role.

In white whiskey you don’t have oak to smooth your spirit and your distillery’s real talents hang out in front of the beverage for everyone to see. The truthfulness of the spirit was overwhelming to me.

This small fact that white whiskey was without deception helped me understand what is the difference between good distillation and bad distillation. Some distilleries unable to make smooth white whiskey turned to producing neutral grain (aka vodka) to showcase their white whiskey category. This act of trying to pass off vodka as white whiskey is a growing trend that upsets me and showcases the true lack of distilling talent. So, because I wanted the consumer to see for themselves that real legal white whiskey has much more flavour than the knockoff, I put together the world’s first white whiskey expo.

This very well tabled event had almost every brand of white whiskey on the market, and was judged by the wonderful women of the Boston United States Bartender’s Guild (USBG).

In the end after sampling many white whiskies the one that came out on top was the Trybox Rye made by Heaven Hill Distilleries.

This 125 proof flamethrower has all the flavour of its illegal cousins, but won’t make you go blind drinking it. Its flavour is awesome and bright and showcases the raw talent of the people behind the stills at Heaven Hill. I’m not surprised that the girls at the USBG chose this product. After sampling many traditional white whiskies and some fake vodkas in sheep’s clothing it was easy to see how this product stood out on top. It was easy for them to pick out the vodka brands and in the end it came down to flavour. They told me that this white whiskey had all the flavour they could ever want, and trust me when I say that a few bartenders took notice due to the statement. When you want a real deal white whiskey this Trybox brand of white whiskeys is a blue ribbon winning spirit.

So hopefully I have implanted a small seed of wonder for white whiskey.

White Whiskies

You may have already got a bottle and can’t seem to understand the passion for such an overpowering product. The truth is you need to look deeper at what makes it so intense. You are getting all the oil congeners and raw ethanol right up front. This may seem like overkill for your taste buds, and drinking it straight up may be the wrong avenue to go down. I have always suggested converting your favourite vodka cocktails with white whiskey. The extra proof and the extra flavour from the oil congeners will give you a completely different view on your favourite cocktails. In the end it’s not an expensive science project to see if you enjoy converting your vodka cocktails into white whiskey cocktails.

See the Alabama Alligator feature box for my favourite white whiskey cocktail.