Copper Fox Rye Spirit

Rick Wasmund, the owner of Copper Fox, did a 6-week internship at Bowmore on Islay before returning to Sperryville, Virginia to establish his distillery there. He has been active since 2005. In 2015, he even bought a second site in Williamsburg – also in Virginia – for a second distillery. Copper Fox is the only distillery in the States that prepares its grain for use via its own malt floor. They distill in pot stills and make clear spirits, a botanical gin, single malt and rye. The whiskey matures for at least 12 months, but Wasmund also adds a bag of wood chips – something that is not possible in Scotland – to speed up the maturation process. They also sell a Barrel Kit – both Wasmund's Single Malt Spirit and Copper Fox Rye Spirit – which contains a small 2-litre oak barrel and two bottles of spirit, with which you can then get started yourself. Gunther V, a good friend, bought himself such a rye kit and came up with this sample after 3 months.

Spicy nose with a lot of toasted oak – well, it’s a very small barrel, of course – and baker's herbs with cinnamon at the head. Hint of maple syrup and a single lost raisin. But the wood dominates, that much is clear. After adding a good splash of water – I estimate diluted to about 45 to 50% ABV – it becomes softer and rounder and the wood gives way to kanelbullar and raisin bread.

Boom! That's a kick against your teeth. The alcohol content does not lie. And the spiciness is enormous. Coarse bread, jam of dates and a workshop full of wooden planks of all kinds. The tannin makes it very sharp and dry. Oddly enough, it loses some of his sweetness when I add water to it. It flattens out a bit. I may have added too much water to it.

Warm and very spicy, but at the same time very dry finish. Diluted, the aftertaste disappoints a bit.

A fun experiment, but not easy. Gunther told me that his freshly toasted barrel easily absorbed half the spirit and after three months there was barely half a liter left in his barrel. But... the other side of the coin, of course, is that he now has an impregnated vessel to experiment with again with other liquid. So I'm expecting to get a new sample soon (hint, hint).