Purple Tibetan Ancient Grain Straight Rye Whiskey

TASTING NOTES:

Assertive honey nose, fruit, lingering vanilla

GRAIN BILL:

80% Rye and 20% Malted Barley

VARIETAL(S):

Dark Northern Rye, Purple Tibetan Karma Barley (PTKB)

GEOGRAPHY:

Willamette Valley, Oregon and Skagit Valley, Washington

DISTILLERS NOTES:

It has been our pleasure to work with this special rare grain; first described in 1924 by J. F. Rock of the National Geographic Society, collected at the 9000 foot level in the Tibetan Steppes.
Purple Tibetan Karma Barely (PTKB) is grown in small plots in the Willamette Valley, OR and now, also in the Skagit Valley, WA. It is an heirloom grain, not genetically modified (non-GMO) nor hybridized. At its source in the Himalayans, this nourishing grain is the cornerstone of national dishes; widely used in soups, noodles and other Tibetan meals.
We acquired PTKB from Hunton Farms in the Willamette Valley in 2012 and sent it on to Wayne Carpenter. Carpenter, founder and visionary behind Skagit Valley Malting, was developing radically new techniques for malting, an industry changed little since 1880. Our PTKB was an early “test” during his design & development phase. Soon, our Barley was delivered back to Mischief Distillery, in both toasted and malted forms. From these, Purple Tibetan Ancient Grain Straight Rye Whiskey was born.

We made the Whiskey according to our high-rye formula (80% rye & 20% PTKB) in 400 pound mashes; then fermented with whiskey yeast developed specially for us by White Labs (organic). After fermentation, we transfer the entire mash (grain & liquids) to the still.
Unique to this Whiskey, we added 5 pounds of toasted Purple Tibetan directly to the still prior to distilling. We wish we had some distillate for you to taste – the toasted barely contributes distinctive and positive differences to the “white dog” when added at that point.

Barrel Aging:

Purple Tibetan Ancient Grain Straight Rye Whiskey aged in new American White Oak barrel, #3 char and aged traditionally.
We decanted the barrels, filtered (not chilled-filtered), then bottled at 101 proof, for a limited release.

Awards:

Silver Medal  – 2018 Blind Tasting World Spirits Competition, San Fransisco

Bronze – 2019 Blind Tasting World Spirits Competition, San Fransisco