gillmang wrote:The original Maryland ryes I tasted, just two or three, did have a fruity-like taste and Todd captured it perfectly.....
........In Todd's case, he got the effect from allowing the ferment to undergo an intentional bacterial secondary ferment, I believe using acetic acid bacteria. (I should add, the whiskey isn't sour in the least, au contraire).
Gary
I glad you and Mr. Veach enjoyed it. I'm surprised, actually. I thought that the upcoming BIB would be the only one you'd care for.
The reaction to make that strawberry note is acetic acid and isobutanol (isobutanol is formed in carbohydrate fermentation) combining with oxygen in the barrel to form Isobutyl Acetate, which smells and tastes like strawberries. It was fun coming to the conclusion that I'd use naturally produced acetic acid bacteria to create the strawberry note, rather than added sherry or fruit or whatnot. I can tell you that my assistant and I were quite pleased checking a barrel at about 18 months to find the strawberry note that we only theoretically (at that point, at least) trying to create. A bit of a eureka moment, if you will.
We do our best to target specific esters and phenols in our whiskies, rather than just making alcohol and oak. It's very nice to see that you found the notes the we were trying to create.
The new plant we're building will have a 8,000 square foot barrelhouse, so we'll really be able to make quite a bit of BIB and 10's and 20 yo's. I think that you'll both prefer the BIB to the NAS Maryland Rye. We'll see soon enough. Cheers!