Catoctin Creek Ragnarök Rye Whisky

D.C. Rye Whiskey imagines apocalypse with GWAR.

D.C.'s wine country, Loudoun County, neighbors the U.S. capital, and their distilleries were silent from prohibition to 2009, when Becky and Scott Harris founded Catoctin Creek. (It's pronounced Ka-TOCK-tin, and it comes from the Indian tribal name "Kittocton.") The microdistillery, housed in the historic 1921 Case Building in Main Street in Purcellville, produces organic and kosher Brandy, Gin, and of course, Rye Whiskey.

In 2021, Catoctin Creek teamed up with GWAR, a heavy metal band from Richmond, VA, known for their over-the-top performances and sick riffs. They conjured a new brand of Rye Whiskey, appropriately called Ragnarök (after the end of the world in Norse mythology). It's a 92 Proof offering matured in barrels from new white oak, sugar maple, and cherrywood. The official story involves comet fire and the coldness of the Moon, but what we know for sure is this Rye Whiskey is something else: aggressive, with notes of well-roasted grains, coffee, tobacco, and chocolate. It's like the most insane moshpit but in your mouth. Sure, every celeb and their cat has a Spirits brand now, but give it to horned and growly metalheads to create a unique and crazy concoction.