Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Wasmund's Single Malt Review


The above picture isn't a publicity shot... it's a picture that my friend took behind Wasmund's distillery, where they have a small table and chairs
set next to the local stream.

If you're tired about hearing me talk about Wasmund's Whisky, great! Because that means you've been reading my blog. This will be one of my final posts concerning their products. There are just too many things to say about them. But today, at least momentarily, I will be shedding my fanboyism and will try to soberly review one of their products.


The Whisky
Wasmund's Single Malt

Wasmund's Single Malt is the only whiskey in the United States that is malted and distilled under the same roof. The enterprise rests on the foothills of Appalachia in a small town called Sperryville in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The small distillery is run by a half dozen people, most of whom are family. They take local barley, malt it with local water, smoke-dry it with local fruitwood, mash it with more local water, distill it, age it in local barrels, and bottle-proof it with more local water. The whisky itself is usually less than a year old in age; the small barrels and fruitwood chips present in each barrel accelerate the maturation. The final product is a unique whiskey and does a fine job of turning professional heads. I'm sorry for the inconsistencies in spelling "whiskey". Rick Wasmund, classically trained in Scotland, insists the absence of the "e" when referring to his specific whisky. Thus, I will attempt to walk this tight rope.

In the Glass

Wasmund's whisky is of a color much more dark and red than your average whiskey, or even single malt. It's like some old Scot poured a glass from his favorite bottle and threw in a dash of coffee and red wine. It swirls readily and its legs are minimal; this is just too young of a whiskey to wow you with texture.

Smell

The first thing you notice is smoke, but instead of a slight peat smoke like that of Scotch, you get an assault of wood smoke on the nose, like walking into a restaurant that sells BBQ, or Wasmund's own distillery, for that matter. Continuing on, there's a warm presence of dried leaves, and an earthiness so earthy that it borders on dirt (in a good way). A long sniff reveals foundations of subdued malt/barley and dried apples(probably because of the applewood used to smoke the malt). Lastly, you finish with the hard-to-describe smell of fresh running water, often found near a stream or in a wet cave.

Taste

Much like your nose, your tongue will be overwhelmed with smoke. But this time you'll be able to discern the flavor of dried cherries in it(because the malt is also dried with cherrywood). Again, you'll notice flavors of dried leaves as well, which is my personal favorite. You'll taste more earthiness in a slight flavor of moss. Lastly, you'll find the maltiness, and finish with a sweetness that's not unlike the taste of marshmallows.

Conclusion

Wasmund's Single Malt is unlike any other whiskey, stylistically. Its sometimes-rough and thin mouth feel will confuse you when the incredibly complex flavors and aromas hit you, perhaps to its detriment. This is neither a whiskey with which to become inebriated nor something to hold in your hand as you socialize with friends or family at some party; it's to be drunk alone, in the quiet, in contemplation and concentration, where all of its flavors can be noticed and recognized. Drinking Wasmund's is like cracking open a textbook and learning something, then having your opinions challenged and again reinforced... it's a didactic and introspective experience. Although I have to say, making Wasmund's Old Fashioned doesn't hurt the whisky's character. At a price cheaper than most Scottish 12-year Single Malts, Wasmund's Single Malt is invaluable as a conversation piece and a study of spirits in general, and a bold statement on what an American single malt can be. Word has it that Wasmund's products are available in most of the eastern Midwest and mid-Atlantic East Coast, and their distribution is spreading. If your local store doesn't have it, they can probably order it.

With the review over, I'm going to add a few more points on why I think this product is so important to the culture of spirits today:

1) Innovation. Though Wasmund uses old methods that are tried and true for inspiration, his product mimics nothing. While its geography is American and its style is European, it does not taste remotely like either. Even better, the uniqueness of his product is not a gimmick. Brush your gaze across the vodka shelf in your local liquor store and you'll see plenty of recently-launched and soon-to-be-discontinued brands that were forged completely on a business model powered by brand marketing and not product quality. Wasmund's accolades and admittedly humble popularity come from the fact that he's making a product unlike any other, and a good one at that. In a land where Bacardi and Jim Beam dominate the industry... this is a breath of fresh air.

2) Local economy. I won't harp on this, because I myself tire of hearing it sometimes... Wasmund creates his products using completely local ingredients, which not only guarantees freshness, but displays a preference of quality over price; local ingredients aren't always the cheapest anymore, what with today's age of Walmart-style transportation networks. It also makes sense to help energize the economy around you and not one far away... after all, when everyone around you is living well, you probably will too.

3) Terroir. This is the most important, and a result of reason #2. Terroir is the effect that a landscape has on the taste of a food product. For instance, if a winery in France packed up and moved their personnel, equipment, and grape seeds to California to reestablish their enterprise in exactly the same way... their wine would taste different. Maybe not much, but it would taste different. The difference in soil composition, rainfall amounts, and even the chemistry of the air would impart slight variables that would ultimately change the character of the wine. Many people claim that the water in New York City is what makes the pizza there so delicious... I for one think that claim is a bit exaggerated, but nevertheless, it's still terroir. Wasmund's whisky is packed with terroir. Every single input ingredient in the process is strictly local... and by "local", I mean within about a 50 mile radius, if I'm not mistaken. Even though it might sound crazy, the taste of Wasmund's whisky transports me to the Appalachians in the fall, and I suppose that's no surprise. Their whisky doesn't let you forget where the product was made, and that's something exciting. The 2009 International Review of Spirits commented that Wasmund's "finishes with a very long, slowly evolving, mossy river stone, peat, cocoa, cereal, and pepper fade." So in the end, the word "earthy" manages to describe this products taste, ingredients, and process.

Wasmund's went on in the aforementioned contest to score 93 out of 100 points.

11 comments:

  1. Wasmund's is in New England as well and in plenty of stores here in Massachusetts. Rick made a tour of the area with tastings of the raw and aged spirits. I definitely enjoy my bottle and it's one of the few spirits I will drink straight when at home.

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  2. Wasmund's is the bomb. So glad to see other people love and respect it also!

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  3. Usually when one hears innovative and novel, they think gimmick and low quality. Wasmund's is innovative, novel AND high quality. Keep up the good work!

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  4. I live nearby, bought a cask from them and filled it up for my own "experiment". I like what they do so much, I have a smaller cask that I placed 2 bottles of Wasmund's in to let them age another year just to see what that'd be like... another experiment. What a great family, what a great guy and what a great product!

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  5. Hey Rob! Thanks for commenting.

    I want to warn you... Wasmund's white whiskey aged in my 2L barrel (which is the size you have) for only about 5 months before it had matured MORE than your average whiskey on the liquor store shelves.

    Aging something in that small a barrel for a whole year is a recipe for disaster... I fear that it would be undrinkable after so long a time, assuming it doesn't all evaporate!

    My biggest piece of advice would be to tap the barrel every month for just a bit of the whiskey in order to sample it every so often as it ages. Then, drain it when you find that it tastes to your liking.

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  6. Sorry to disagree but Wasmund's is about the worst spirit I have consumed in 20 years. My father-in-law bought a bottle and we complained to the liquor store that they were selling crap and pushing it as quality. This is in the Washington DC area. By the stores account we were not the only complainers and they have ceased to carry it. Maybe we got a bad bottle but it was truly axle grease remover in my opinion.

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  7. Sorry you feel that way.

    It is possible that you got a bad bottle, but I would say improbable. With that said, Wasmund's isn't known for consistency: their product can vary widely from batch to batch.

    Whoever tries Wasmund's expecting that it will be similar to anything they've ever had before is in for a rude awakening. It's an age-accelerated young whisky, and it doesn't purport to be anything more.

    I appreciate your opinion!

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  8. Everytime I get a bottle of Wasmund's (all of their whiskys are awesome in my opinion) I think of when I lived in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I believe the part of the review talking about the terroir is correct. When I was in college there I had a neighbor whose uncle ran a moonshine still...I swear the first time I took a sip of Wasmund's unaged spirit it took me back to that first time I had VA 'shine. Truly this special whisky takes one back to a different time and place in distilling history. Despite what some critics say, this is good stuff...I wish Rick Wasmund and family the best of luck and can't wait to see what they do next!

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  9. Everytime I get a bottle of Wasmund's (all of their whiskys are awesome in my opinion) I think of when I lived in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I believe the part of the review talking about the terroir is correct. When I was in college there I had a neighbor whose uncle ran a moonshine still...I swear the first time I took a sip of Wasmund's unaged spirit it took me back to that first time I had VA 'shine. Truly this special whisky takes one back to a different time and place in distilling history. Despite what some critics say, this is good stuff...I wish Rick Wasmund and family the best of luck and can't wait to see what they do next!

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  10. I've just cracked open the 42 month old one and I really like it. BIG malt - maltier than any Scotch I can think of (reminds me a bit of Tamdu, but not boring). There's significant wood influence, like a good bourbon and those weird and wonderful smoke flavours are definitely discernible on the palate. It's a rich tasty whisky and its out there on a limb - like Old Poterero as something I feel all whisk(e)y polymaths will enjoy.

    Cheers,

    Bamber

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  11. We planned an early spring "men's getaway" to a rustic cabin in the Shenandoah mountains. Stopped by Copper Fox on the way to tour the distillery and buy a few bottles, which we brought to the cabin. Spent the weekend playing cards, sipping the single malt and Belle Grove 1797. Now drinking a glass in my capitol hill townhouse brings me back to the smoke of the wood stove, the calm and quiet wooded mountainside, the coating of early spring snow we got that weekend, the unfiltered and untreated mountain spring water we drank for 2 days, did I mention the peace and quiet? This whiskey will always be an experience of a time and place for me.

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