Corsair Ryemageddon Whiskey

It’s a high-Rye Moonshine aged and dressed up in a tuxedo.

Andrew Webber and Darek Bell own and run the Corsair Artisan Distilleries (there are two of them) located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee. Friends since childhood, Andrew and Darek began as beer brewers out of their garage and later hit a snag while working on a prototype bio-diesel thing-a-nabob. Darek turned to Andrew and said something like, “You know, distilling Whiskey is a lot more fun than bio-diesel.” Bell had attended Bruichladdich Distilling Academy in Islay, Scotland, so soon after they opened up Corsair — a distillery dedicated to producing a range of small-batch spirits through relentless experimentation. And quite a range it is. They currently have seven “official” releases and no less than seventeen seasonal and experimental products.

Corsair Ryemageddon is a clever name, but we can think of a better one. How about “Franken-Rye” instead? That because this is high-Rye Whiskey monster made from two types of Rye grain bolted together. It uses traditional malted Rye spirits as the base and adds a bit of “chocolate Rye” to build body and depth of flavor. Chocolate Rye is a popular, un-malted brewer’s Rye that has been dark-roasted like espresso beans. Then the distillate is placed in relatively tiny, fifteen gallon charred oak casks to age a bit (smaller casks age spirits faster) and bottled at a proper 46% ABV.