Distilling Rice Whiskey In The American Style

Cocktails Distilled

We're all used to whiskey being made from barley, corn, rye, and even wheat. But what about rice?
Rice is the world's third most abundant cereal crop, and yet historically, you would be hard-pressed to find a whiskey distiller that used it as the base of their spirits outside of Japan.
But recently, that has all changed. Distillers like Louisiana-based JT Meleck are amongst a small number of US producers who are crafting a contemporary image of what rice whiskey can offer.
And the subsequent liquid is distinctly different from what is being created by their Japanese counterparts.
To find out more, we talked to Mike Fruge from JT Meleck about fermentation, flavour and the future of rice in a country where corn is king.

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1. Distilling Rice Whiskey In The American Style (00:00:00)

2. Now, you are fifth generation rice farmers. What made you think to start producing whiskey with your grain? (00:01:38)

3. And what took you from researching vodka to whiskey? (00:02:16)

4. And what is the reaction to the spirit being amongst consumers? (00:04:01)

5. I would assume that the character of the whiskey would be relatively soft and light. Is that actually the case? (00:04:59)

6. How are you finding that the liquid is changing with age? (00:06:54)

7. How different is it to distill rice whiskey than it is any of the more common grains? (00:08:27)

8. Take us through from harvesting to finally bottling, (00:10:39)

9. Now talk us through the ageing. So you're using new American Oak. (00:15:39)

10. Are you going to start experimenting with other barrels? (00:16:26)

11. You do come from a country where Corn is king. How difficult is it going to be for Rice whiskey to make an impact? (00:17:48)

12. How are you going to go about that then? (00:18:58)