Staley Rye Whiskey

Part of the recent wave of micro-distilleries claiming a familial connection to the "pioneering spirit" of distillation, Indian Creek actually uses two-hundred year old copper pot stills from the original distillery. They produce a distillate that blurs the lines of what legally constitutes "rye whiskey" (note that the bottle specifies that it is "Distilled from a Rye Mash," whereas "Rye Whiskey" is part of the brand name), adding hops to the mash, salt and wood chips in the still, and inner-staves of hickory to their quarter-sized barrels. Some of these practices do have roots in American whiskey tradition: hop-teas were long used to clean out still due to the anti-microbial properties of the plant (ever wonder why hops ended up in beer in the first place?), and virgin oak casks have only been a requirement since 1964. The mash itself is a family recipe of 60% rye, 25% corn, and 15% malted barley. Bottled at 40% ABV.