Tasting notes

nose

grapefruit peel, burnt butterscotch and mocha, with pickled ginger, caramel corn and a damp, earthy yeastiness

palate

baked apple and honey over bready rye grain, with sage, nutmeg and a peppery walnut edge

finish

dark chocolate and cocoa-dusted rye linger with black pepper, drying to wet stone and earth with a little heat

Mash bill

100% rye, from three rye varieties including a chocolate malted rye. Mad River ferments local and organic rye and uses no corn or barley in the mash. A portion of the rye is toasted to a chocolate malt, which carries cocoa and mocha notes into the spirit, while the rest gives the earthy, peppery side.

Awards

• Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2021
• Gold — Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America 2023
• Winner — Good Food Awards 2021

Why it's craft

Mad River makes this rye from start to finish in a converted horse barn at Cold Spring Farm in Warren, Vermont, where it has mashed, fermented, distilled and aged its own spirits since founding in 2011. The chocolate malted rye in the mash sets this bottle apart, adding cocoa and mocha notes to the spirit before it reaches a barrel. The rye comes from local and organic growers, and the fermenting water comes from the farm's spring.