Ep. 96: OH Ingram River-Aged Whiskey with Scott Beyer

Plenty of distilleries and NDPs take someone else's distillate, slap a label on it, and sell it. I hate that. Others take the distillate - aged or new make - and do something with it, either a weird finish or some new maturation technique to differentiate themselves from the pack. 

OH Ingram fits into the latter category, though not derisively. Their proposition is pretty simple, honestly: take new make that would be aged in a rickhouse on land and age it in a floating vessel (read: a barge without an engine) on the Mississippi. 

Yes, this could be a little gimmicky. They'll admit that themselves. But the question is interesting: so much is made of maturation and anywhere from 50-90% of flavor coming from barrels. What happens then if you alter the environment enough to increase wood-liquid interaction and, to a smaller degree, more oxidation. 

At this point, I think it's too early to make a firm determination (for me, at least). The pieces are all there, though. They have the right team assembled and have switched to a more consistently available source for their distillate (switching from MGP to Green River in Owensboro, KY). Scott, as it happens, was at Nelson's Green Brier when they switched from MGP to their own distillate, so he's no stranger to that kind of shift. 

This is a brand to keep an eye on, for both the process and the result. At worst, they'll be putting out a very good whiskey at a reasonable price point. At best, they'll explore some new terrain and a new(ish) method that yields new flavors. Only time will tell!

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Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

The first WRP barrel pick is coming! I'm back from Tennessee after picking two barrels - that's right, two! - of Jack Daniel's Barrel Proof Rye. There are also upcoming picks of KO Distilling, Barrell Rye, and Spirits of French Lick (trust me - Alan has picked out some funky things for us to try!). $25 members get the chance to join me on picks: one of your fellow Patreon members joined me in Lynchburg, one is on the Spirits of French Lick team, and I'll be picking one or more for the KO pick once samples come in!

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