The cocktail world is a land of trends and one of the hottest right now is the use of white whiskey in cocktails. White Whiskey is a term for unaged whiskey – some might call it moonshine, others white dog. But what we see used in fine cocktails isn’t rough backwoods hooch, but merely a fine whiskey that has not yet been aged. Since aging in wood barrels is what gives whiskey its color, an unaged whiskey is clear.
In recent year craft whiskey distilleries have been releasing small batches of their unaged whiskey for sale to the public. The small batch sales mean that the whiskey isn’t usually cheap, despite not having been aged. Flavors vary widely, but are very clearly influenced by what grains were used. White whiskey tends to be sweet and lack the depth of their relatives in the whiskey world.
Some good examples of unpaged whiskey are Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash, Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson New York Corn Whiskey, Death’s Door American White Whiskey, and Charbay’s Doubled & Twisted Light Whiskey.
The best thing about a new base spirit coming to prominence in the cocktail world is that it opens the door for experimentation in cocktails. My favorite white dog cocktail is by Dan Searing of DC’s Room 11. It’s a variation on a Manhattan that uses a blanc vermouth instead of sweet vermouth. The floral, light character of blanc vermouth works well with the sweetness of the white whiskey. Most any liquor store will carry a blanc vermouth (usually Martini & Rossi), but I prefer the artisanal Dolin Blanc.
Ghost Manhattan
3 parts Death’s Door White Whiskey
1 part Dolin Blanc vermouth
Angostura Orange Bitters
Build in an ice-filled mixing glass, stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a white grape
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White Whiskey is expensive due to its limited availability.
I hate the stuff. I dont get the trend to drink something that doesn’t taste very good.
I love some good moonshine…
Especially if it’s homemade, it’ll make you go blind on the first sip
Moonshine is the new trend for 2012–be on the lookout.
un-charred barrels whiskey- interesting. I need to try this out.
I like the charred barrel taste in bourbon, I’m a little weary about this trying this, but since you guys recommended it, I must if I want to me in the know
Its unaged, just-off-the-still whiskey – perfect.
If you want to try some real shine… you have to go to the back wood of the deep south.
just go south of the Mason Dixon line and you can find shine real easy
Is this the new hipster/yuppie trend?
Only is they start making Cosmo’s with it
It’s a Man Trend.
Gonna have to try this.
It’s great–and a change up to your dark.
Oh yeah bitches your website has made my day again , all I can think about is drinking some good white whiskey. Keep up the great work prz man.
Franklin County, VA, Moonshine capital of the USA
What makes Franklin County the moonshine capital? I think most people think of Tennesse or Kentucky when discussing moonshine… I’m just asking
It’s on the VA- TENN border and has lots of old rich people that love there moonshine
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I had no idea white whiskey even existed.
There’s an excellent white whiskey I’ve tried at this artisanal distillery in West Virginia:
http://www.smoothambler.com/products/
http://www.facebook.com/SmoothAmbler
They are making good inroads in terms of getting distribution for their products in the DC area. The owners are great guys and I will tell them about przman.com.