Rogue Spirits Oregon Single Malt Whiskey

A no-BS Single Malt the Rogue way.

The Rogue story begins with three friends opening a small craft brewery in 1988. They were searching for a proper place when founder Jack Joyce found himself stuck in an epic snow storm in Newport. There he ran into local legend "Mo" Niemi, famous for her clam chowder restaurant chain. One thing led to another and Rogue found its new home in the nice lady's commercial building, so long as he promised he'd keep an oldschool black & white photo of her sitting naked in a bath tub stuck right above the bar at all times. You can't make this stuff up. But ales and lagers weren't enough, no sir. They soon branched out and started distilling Whiskey and Gin as well. These guys aren't playing when they call their stuff "handcrafted." They grow their own grains, brew and distill as well as age and bottle everything on their own. They even have their own cooperage!

It's reassuring to know that their Single Malt Whiskey is just as true to their from-scratch mindset as their other expressions. Perhaps the most serious of the bunch, it's pot distilled in small batches from malted two row that's 10% smoked with alder and cherry wood. As you'd expect, the wash is brewed in their brewery, basically a stone's throw away from the distillery. It then spends at least 5 years in new American Oak barrels. For all you cooperage nerds: They stop short of an alligator char, opting for a cool no. 3.