Doghouse launches London’s first ‘Bourbon-style’ whisky
London-based Doghouse Distillery has released the city’s first ‘Bourbon-style’ whisky, called Debt Collector.
According to Doghouse Distillery, the limited release Debt Collector Whisky is the only ‘grain to bottle, Bourbon-style’ whisky made in London that is currently available in the UK.
Said to be seven years in the making, every step of the production process, from milling, mashing, and fermentation to copper pot distillation and maturation, took place at the Battersea-based distillery.
Debt Collector whisky is made with a mash of 75% corn, complemented by malted barley and rye.
Braden Saunders, founder and managing director of Doghouse Distillery, said: “High corn produces an easy, mellow whisky. Looking at cocktails, very few are made with Scotch. Bourbon is much more approachable and inclusive and fun in that sense.”
The spirit is aged for a minimum of three years in virgin, charred American oak casks, resulting in notes of vanilla, caramel, and warming spice on the palate.
The production process follows traditional Bourbon methods, but with two notable differences: it is made in London instead of America, and, secondly, the distillery lauters the mash for ‘off grain’ fermentation while using a sour mashing process.
The latter approach is said to enhance flavour consistency and help the distillery meet its sustainability goals.
Saunders continued: “I love Bourbon. The Scots do Scotch so well; the Irish have their own style and have been doing it for centuries. If we were in Europe, making a Scotch-style whisky would entice me, but in London, I don’t have that same feeling.
“Making something multi-grain, taking inspiration from America, is much more interesting. Particularly when most other new distilleries are also making single malts, it gives us a level of differentiation in the space.”
Debt Collector Whisky is offered at 50% ABV and is available now on the distillery’s website in 700ml bottles for £49.95 (US$64) and a 50ml sample size for £7.45 (US$9.50).
In other English whisky news, last week, an application to register English whisky as a geographical indication (GI) entered the consultation stage after four years in development.
According to The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), the proposal could be “very damaging” to the reputation of UK-made single malts.
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