Tasting notes

nose

deep florals with ripe dark fruit, baking spice and a delicate fruity lift

palate

silky and lively; forward black pepper gives way to port-soaked fruit, cinnamon and clove, coating the tongue

finish

warming; black cherry lingers with toasted fruitcake, cedar and exotic spice, drying to a mineral edge

Mash bill

80% rye, 15% barley malt, 5% rye malt. Dad's Hat buys the grain from farms in Pennsylvania and worked out the recipe over two years with Michigan State University's Artisan Distilling Program, modeling it on the state's traditional rye whiskey. The mash ferments for a full week before it is distilled.

Awards

• Gold — Beverage Testing Institute 2015

Why it's craft

This bottling takes Dad's Hat's young rye from small charred quarter casks into barrels that held red port wine for three more months. Dad's Hat mashes, ferments and distills the rye in Bristol, Pennsylvania, from grain bought from local farms, using a recipe built with Michigan State University's Artisan Distilling Program to follow the state's traditional rye. Herman Mihalich and John Cooper founded the distillery in 2010, and it remains independent.