“Everyone there drinks it out of reused plastic water bottles,” Estrada says. Cofounder Marie Estrada, who used to work in publishing, tasted her first rice spirit when her business partner, Hagai Yardeny, brought some back from a motorcycle trip through Vietnam. It was amber-colored, and it was delicious, and we realized it was a whiskey.”Īt Moto Whiskey in Brooklyn, it was travel, and a dispute between palates, that gave rise to its rice whiskey. “A year later we were tasting it at the distillery. “My sister was at a garage sale and bought a few gallon-sized oak barrels to age baijiu in,” says one of his daughters, Michelle, who helps with the business. After Ly retired, he decided he wanted to put his homemade rice spirits on the liquor store shelf and started Vinn Distillery. Phan Ly and his wife, Kim Trinh, were moved by war, work and hope from North Vietnam to China to Hong Kong, and eventually, to Oregon. Plus, the path to making this sort of drink often involves an epic journey between Asia and America, intentional or otherwise.Īt Vinn Distillery, two generations and a history of diaspora conspired to make whiskey using rice. But this new class of spirits speaks for itself. Skeptics could say the pairing of rice spirits and oak barrels is a great way to put the magic “w” word on a bottle. So, throw one of those rice spirits in charred oak and you have rice whiskey. Whiskey is a grain-based spirit aged in wood barrels, and rice, of course, is a grain. Baijiu, much of which is made with rice, is the best selling liquor in the world in 2016, more bottles of the stuff were sold than vodka, gin, rum, whiskey and tequila combined. Whatever you want to call it - “rice wine” or “white liquor” - it’s used a ton, for medicinal purposes, to honor ancestors or just to get lit. Various Asian cultures have been using rice and its mold (the Japanese call it koji) to make distilled spirits called shochu, soju, baijiu and ruou gao for hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of years. But let us start with the part that’s not. ![]() ![]() Cooked Calrose rice ferments for several months with jiu qu, an enzyme and yeast blend, before being pot-distilled and aged for 3 years in new charred oak barrels.Rice whiskey might sound like something entirely new. Vinn Distillery-Portland, OregonThe Ly family emigrated from Vietnam by way of China in the 1970s, and the five siblings use a seventh-generation family recipe for baijiu, a Chinese rice spirit, to craft their rice whiskey. Now he's using California sweet rice to make unaged and roughly 10 month old whiskey in the distillery he co-founded next door to a motorcycle shop in Brooklyn. MÔtÔ Spirits-Brooklyn, New YorkHagai Yardeny journeyed by motorcycle through Southeast Asia, where he gained a taste for homemade rice spirit. The high-proof unaged spirit is strong and spirituous, while the aged version, sold as laoLao Style whisky, has notes of umami and spice. as a child, convinced his mother to teach him how to make traditional laoLao (literally “the alcohol of the Laotians”) from sticky rice. White Tiger Distillery-Stevensville, MarylandItsara Ounnarth, who emigrated from Laos to the U.S. Would pair well with dishes that don't often go with whisky, like olives. Fukano 2017 Edition-JapanFruity and earthy on the nose, the creamy palate is a tug of war between sweet and savory with a clean, citrus finish packed with umami. The flavor is nutty, with raisins, raspberry jam, and a rancio note that continues through the leathery, fruity finish. Ohishi Brandy Cask-JapanA delicate, floral nose full of nectarines, berries, and plums. ![]() The finish is delicate-vanilla, cooked pears, and savory pie crust. Rice to Riches-Taste the Variety of Flavors Found in Rice Whisky Kikori-JapanAromas of banana bread batter, wet clay, and sugar cookies give way to a fresh, mineral palate with poached pear, dried ginger, and chestnut honey. While the Japanese variants use koji, a kind of mold, American craft distillers working with rice are drawing on the traditions of Chinese baijiu, Laotian lao-lao, and other Southeast Asian rice spirits. You've had whisky made from barley, corn, rye, and wheat-but have you tasted rice whisky? Several distilleries in Japan and the United States are distilling with rice to create unique and intriguing new whiskies.
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