By K.D. Norris
In the mood for a little somethin’ somethin’ to get you going on our upcoming frigid winter days?
Gray Skies Distillery will release its first rye whiskey — Breakfast Rye — on Sunday, Dec. 3, at their Grand Rapids tasting room, and retailers, bars and restaurants across the state.
Not that I am advocating it first thing in the morning, as the name implies, but a little touch of maple-flavored whiskey in your Sunday morning coffee doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
Breakfast Rye whiskey was initially aged in charred new, oak barrels then finished for six months in maple syrup casks, according to supplied information, “imparting a subtle, sweet finish to the otherwise spicy rye spirit.”
The Breakfast Rye is the fourth spirit released by Grey Skies, following their Utility Vodka, Barrel Finished Gin, and Spiced Rum — after a tasting a fall event at Fulton Street Market, I can vouch for the uniqueness of the gin.
According to the distillery, the rye was created in collaboration with Grand Rapids’ BLiS Gourmet, which provided the maple syrup casks used to finish the whiskey. BLiS Gourmet makes Bourbon Barrel Maple syrup by aging raw Michigan maple syrup in old, rustic Kentucky bourbon barrels. After BLiS emptied the maple syrup, Gray Skies Distillery filled the barrels with rye whiskey to impart the maple character responsible for name Breakfast Rye.
“Breakfast Rye was named after someone remarked ‘it smells like breakfast’ while trying a sample,” Steve Vander Pol, co-owner of Gray Skies Distillery, said in supplied material. “We distill our rye whiskey from a high rye mash-bill consisting of 85 percent rye grain and 15 percent malted barley. The abundance of rye produces a spicy whiskey and we were thrilled to taste how maple compliments the spice to provide a complex spirit with a velvety mouthfeel and long, smooth finish.”
Vander Pol said that additional whiskey releases are planned next year, including Michigan Straight Bourbon whiskey and Michigan Straight Rye whiskey.
For more information about Gray Skies Distillery visit: grayskiesdistillery.com
Do you have Western Michigan brewery or distillery news? Email ken@wktv.org .
