Perennial Oregon brewery Rogue Ales took their avant-garde ways to the world of spirits in 2006 by tagging the release of their flagship Dead Guy brand to a whiskey. Since then, Rogue has been furthering their “Grow Your Own” philosophy into their distillery with in-house grown, malted, roasted and smoked malting barley for their Oregon Single Malt Whiskey. A subtle but nice touch, twelve percent of the malt used in the whiskey is hand-smoked and then the spirit is “ocean-aged” where it sits on a ship to soak in the barrels (supposedly the oceanic pressure, high heat levels and fluid movement ages the whiskey faster). The repercussions? A nose of salted caramel, smoked alder plank, orange peel, pear, cinnamon and banana cream and a medium-bodied palate showing smokey and earthy Scotch-esque flavors, with a cinnamon spice and vanilla in the finish.
