There you are cruising down the aisle at Binny’s, shopping cart piled high with whiskey when you see an empty bottle for sale. What weirdo sells an empty bottle of whiskey? But then you get closer, and it turns out this bottle isn’t empty; it’s full of a clear liquid, and that clear liquid, my friend, is whiskey. White whiskey.
White Whiskey is the whiskey that’s never even seen a barrel.
Much less been aged in one. White Whiskey is the young, unaged version of your favorite bourbon or rye. It’s a little raw and a little hot, but it’s also a little raw and a little hot. It won’t have the same flavor as a barre-aged bourbon or rye, but it will have most of its flavor notes. No oak, because you get oak from the barrels but the grain is there. The…actually almost all the most important flavors come from the barrel so White Whiskey tastes like corn.
Which is fine, corn is good
Corn is the basis for bourbon, and bourbon is one of the great spirits. Rye ain’t terrible, and wheat is just fine. Even without being aged in a charred barrel, these spirits are good. White whiskies have their own flavor profile. Are they just moonshine with a fancy label? Kind of. Like white whiskey, moonshine is an unaged ‘naked’ spirit. But white whiskies are regulated, and moonshine is moonshine. It’s illegal. Principle difference.
White dog Whiskey is not compositionally different from white lightning.
Just, you aren’t gonna get caught by the revenuers. And it doesn’t come in mason jars. It comes in the same damn bottle as its older, more refined sister, bourbon. Or rye. Drinking white dog is a lot like drinking moonshine, except you’re less likely to go blind. Or to prison.
Here are four white whiskies
High West Silver Whiskey Western Oat
I was at an upscale whiskey bar in Savannah when I first tasted this remarkable whiskey. It’s made of oats and barley, which smooths out the usual harshness of white dog whiskies. It’s a beautifully balanced clear spirit that works well in most cocktails as an alternative to tequila and vodka. I had a classic marg made with High West Silver Whiskey Western Oak, and it was a revelation.
Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash #1
We don’t usually cover brand names, especially household names like Buffalo Trace, because they don’t need our help. However, White Dog is very good. And, more importantly, I kind of like the idea of asking someone if they want a shot of B-trace, then whipping out this perfectly clear whiskey.
Koval White Whiskey
Chicago’s first indy distillery is still putting out incredible bottles. Their clear spirit is as good as everything else they do. You should buy it right now. If you’ve never heard of Koval, then baby, are you in for an education? They are brilliant technicians and accomplished flavor makers. Their whiskey is underrated and still unknown in many parts of the country which is criminal. Fix that.
Journeyman’s W.R. White Whiskey
Journeyman makes some of the best whiskies in American. Their Last Feather Rye is a house favorite here at casa de toro Their white whiskey is a standard defining work which ought to be part of every home bar.
