The White Dog Craze

[EvergreenDan]

(Bacardi excepted.)

Back at 'cha

[scubadoo97]

Whisk(e)y and other flavorful spirits are distilled to a much lower proof, which is why white tequilas and rums taste like, well, tequila and rum, and not vodka. (Bacardi excepted.)

Funny but true. I once filled 2 flasks, one with Bacardi white the other with vodka, so my wife would have something to mix a drink with on a short trip. I didn't label them because I figured it would be easy to tell by smell and taste. Wrong!

[Chelseabun]

Many thanks for explaining.  I have not seen white dog here in the UK yet.  We have many distilleries of course but if it becomes successful in the US, then we might see it marketed here.  I would buy it. 

[Czequershuus]

Had a little more fun with my Buffalo Trace White Dog, mad this last weekend - 

 

The Deadline (Link)

1.5 Oz White Whiskey

0.5 Oz Benedictine

0.5 Oz St. Germain

0.75 Oz Lime Juice

Shake, strain, up, lemon twist

 

I continue to be impressed with this product. Something about the herbal/floral mixture in this drink brings out some notes of dried fruit in the whiskey. A really worthwhile combination. 

[brinza]

Could this not be transformed into a Gin style spirit by infusing with Juniper or other spices (pepper even)? or is that not the point of white dog? 

Something does exist along those lines: https://www.wiglewhiskey.com/store/organic-ginever

[lesliec]

I have plans along these lines.  I started a ferment to make some rye whisky last weekend, mainly because I want some rye.  But it's also occurred to me to use the 'slush' from the completed fermentation to make a rye vodka, which I'll then distil again with flavourings to make a rye gin/genever.

 

I shall report results, probably in the Infusions topic.

[EvergreenDan]

The Deadline (Link)

1.5 Oz White Whiskey

0.5 Oz Benedictine

0.5 Oz St. Germain

0.75 Oz Lime Juice

Promising, but didn't the Benedictine get lost? (I sub'd other ingredients.)

[Czequershuus]

Promising, but didn't the Benedictine get lost? (I sub'd other ingredients.)

Oddly no, it blended with the St. Germain quite well, and the herbal quality was very much present. 

[EvergreenDan]

Oddly no, it blended with the St. Germain quite well, and the herbal quality was very much present. 

I used St. Elder. I wonder if it is more elderly than St Germain.

[Czequershuus]

I used St. Elder. I wonder if it is more elderly than St Germain.

Quite possibly. My bottle of St. Germain is also over 2 years old, so it may have mellowed as well.

[scubadoo97]

I was at the Total Wine today to pick up some wine. Saw they had Jack Daniels white dog for $49.99.

Just had to laugh out loud. Even the Willett 4-5 yr old rye at $40 is a lot for a young LDI rye but $50 for an unaged rye was laughable. I understand it may be a great addition to a cocktail but the price is ridiculous

[EvergreenDan]

I have a bottle of Redemption white rye. The stuff reminds me much more of a white agricole like Rhum JM than it does a regular aged rye, including Redemption. Am I crazy?

[Hassouni]

I was at the Total Wine today to pick up some wine. Saw they had Jack Daniels white dog for $49.99.

Just had to laugh out loud. Even the Willett 4-5 yr old rye at $40 is a lot for a young LDI rye but $50 for an unaged rye was laughable. I understand it may be a great addition to a cocktail but the price is ridiculous

 

There are gins that cost nearly that much, and they're unaged as well. I too find it laughable.

 

My benchmark for unaged spirits is Wray & Nephew overproof - 63%, pot-still product, complex and brilliant as anything, and a cool $18 a 750mL here. I don't pay more than that for London dry gins, either.

 

As for unaged whisky....I was so repelled by the no-fuckin-around Kentucky moonshine my erstwhile roommate brought back from a bourbon booze cruise that the thought scares me.

[tanstaafl2]

I have a bottle of Redemption white rye. The stuff reminds me much more of a white agricole like Rhum JM than it does a regular aged rye, including Redemption. Am I crazy?

 

The Redemption White Rye is the basic MGPI (formerly LDI) rye found in the regular Redemption Rye that is aged for 2 years. This is the same 95% rye mashbill base spirit found in many other NDP ryes like Willett, Bulleit, Templeton, Dickel and some of the High West ryes only of course it hasn't been aged. I haven't tried it yet and am in no great hurry (although I wouldn't turn down a taste if offered!).

 

I rather liked the JD rye although the price was indeed absurdly high. The 2yo version of this same JD rye is now about to hit the market at supposedly the same price. So I guess those 2 years of aging had no value! Or maybe it is the tons of JD white that still fill up the shelves that impacted the price...

[scubadoo97]

There are gins that cost nearly that much, and they're unaged as well. I too find it laughable.

Vodka and tequila too

My first taste of white dog was Four Roses bourbon right off the still. I was expecting what I thought was moonshine but instead it was sweet and flavorful but not very complex. I only had preconceived ideas of what moonshine would taste like

I have never had real moonshine even though it's been available. Just too many better things to drink

[Hassouni]

Tequila I can sort of see given that agaves have to mature for years and years and require a lot of care, etc, etc. But vodka and gin and American whisky, stuff made from mass-produced grain? Ha! The unaged stuff should be way under 20 bucks.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Hassouni (log)

[scubadoo97]

True, yet some tequila is not all agave but agave flavored vodka

[Hassouni]

Yeah but that stuff is usually quite cheap indeed

[Rafa]

Dammit, and I was all revved up to call you out on the agave spirits exception to the "no expensive white spirits" rule. 

 

I'm biased, though, as I too often pay too much for eaux de vie (pisco, pear, apricot, etc). I somehow draw the line at white dog, though, much as I enjoy it in the mixed drinks of artists like bostonapothecary (and also, like Checkersaurus above, on its own from time to time). 

[Plantes Vertes]

I somehow draw the line at white dog, though,

 

Easier not to overspend when the potential purchase is called dog. Just puts things in perspective.

[Capn Jimbo]

Hassouni is absolutely right.    White dog is simply the same new make that JD and others then age and sell to for far less money, and it's the same distillate, just bottled before aging.    Anyone that spends $50 for it is well, nuts.   Further, it is NOT the near pure alcohol that vodka is, but rather simply a new make - full of all the developable flavors of any new make whisky, simply not aged.

[brinza]

I think it's a novelty and a fad.  They are simply taking advantage of buyers who don't know any better and think they're getting something unusual and special.  It's definitely a low-cost/high-profit product, but it's not going to replace any distiller's flagship product line.  People will get tired of it, and it will fade.  I can't imagine that there are that many drinkers who love the stuff so much (and who are willing to pay the artificially high price) to keep it around as a competitive product in the marketplace.

[Rafa]

Marketwise, I agree, I think interest will fade. Unaged grain spirit is a niche taste, just as any other eau de vie is, and no one to my knowledge has yet made a white dog with the deliciousness or complexity of an unaged agave spirit or rum or fruit brandy. (Again, to my knowledge and taste.) That said, some really inventive people have made tremendous mixed drinks with them, so they have their place. 

[Adam George]

I tried Chase Distillery's Beer Mash New Make and thought it had real potential.  I can't wait for the aged product.