Red Keg Distillery Whiskey
I would venture to guess that most visitors to Midland, MI are there for a handful of reasons. Either they work for one of the "Dow" companies (Chemical or Corning), seeing a show at the Center for the Arts, catching a ballgame at Dow Diamond, or walking through one of the gardens that the Dow family established years ago.
It's probably pretty rare that many of them find themselves heading west on Saginaw road towards the small town of Sanford. Even more rare that they would notice the lost town of Averill. It's definitely one of those places where if you blink you miss it. There is nothing there anymore besides a couple of empty storefronts and a Mexican restaurant called Elvira's.
That's not what this post is about though.
Back in the day, there was a saloon in Averill called the Red Keg.
Midland Brewing company has decided to pay homage to that Saloon by distilling their own line of whiskey under the Red Keg name.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
While Midland Brewing Company is obviously most well known for their beer, I have to respect their willingness to branch out into other spirits like rum, vodka, and whiskey.
As you can see from the picture of the bottle above, this whiskey is aged for two years. That immaturity definitely comes through while drinking it. It had a pretty harsh taste that you don't find with some of the more aged and refined whiskeys.
The alcohol content is pretty high at 110 proof. I wasn't able to find any indication on the bottle that this is blended. Which doesn't really surprise me given the fact that it is likely a barrel proof whiskey.
I have to believe that given time and a bit more aging, this will likely be a pretty decent whiskey. For now, I think I am going to reserve it as a mixer for other drinks.
That isn't to say it was horrible. I just don't think I can recommend you spend the money on this one... yet.
Part of it is my fault. I think if I had realized it was such a high proof, I likely would have approached it with a different attitude. It's not really common that you see an upstart place like this come right out of the gate with a barrel proof whiskey.
Usually, they source their juice from other distilleries that are more established. Then they blend those whiskeys until they have the flavor profile that they are looking for. This allows them to bottle and sell stuff while their own recipe is aging in barrels.
As I said, I have little doubt in five more years, Red Keg will likely have a nice 7 year whiskey that could match step with Knob Creek or some of the more well know brands.
Until then, I'll stick to the beer thanks!
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
I agree with you, Bozz, 2 years of ageing is far too little for it to be really ready. IMHO i think I'd prefer a mininmum of 10 years ageing. I noticed it said Distilled in Michigan on the label, which suggests to me that they did it themselves, and it's not a blend so that's a plus point for me.
Thanks for sharing
Yeah, I agree with your assessment on it not being blended. This place has some pretty decent beer, so I think if they just keep working on it and give it time it should be pretty good.
Thanks for the honest review Bozz. We will keep this out of the Whiskey room for now.
Probably be difficult to find in your neck of the woods anyway! :)
Dow! Guess they have a big presence there.. hahaha. It's Dupont around these parts.
If I was buying this on the design of the label alone, I would have passed it up. I'm not a fan of the simple like design, but if there's a sample I would try it out. Aged 2 years and it has a bit of a bite? I'd say your right.. let them work out the kinks, age that puppy longer and then try in another few years.
Yeah, just a little bit. I feel like Dupont is part of that too. They combined and then split a while ago. It's hard to keep up with them. People around here used to be so maxi about who they worked for. For example if you talked to a Dow Corning person and you said oh, you work for Dow, they would be very quick to correct you. Now, it's all one company.
Dupont owns them all but split them all up a while back, maybe in 2019 (I only know this because I own the stock). They spun off the two (Dow and Corning) from Dupont to benefit the bottom line for the share holders who now own three companies instead of one. Whatever! I say lawsuits played a big role in those decisions. Split the companies and limit your liabilities.
People get weird about things like that. I just say "okay" and move along to another subject. haha.
We live right around the corner from what used to be the Corning headquarters. A bit further down the road is the new world headquarters for the whole thing. We also live east of the plant, so if there is ever a major chemical leak (small ones happen all the time), wave goodbye to us!
Oh Heck Yeah! I say that to my wife all the time about the Nuclear Power Plants surrounding us..
And the wind blows East!!! lol. I tell her all the time we need to move to the beach and buy a really fast power boat. She says I just want a fast boat. lol.
Haha, I am actually a pretty big fan of Nuclear energy. Some of this new tech they are coming out with is really impressive. These meltdown proof SMR's are really exciting. Until they melt down I guess. Looks like the map is off. Last I knew Dow had a small reactor on site. Supposedly anyway...
It's probably old map. I know there's one in Ocean City nj too. Yeah I'm a fan too. I've been watching the situation in Ukraine and hoping that doesn't end in disaster.
Yeah, it is kind of scary.
Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day.
Thanks, you too.
What a great place to visit. Sorry, the whiskey wasn't that good but like you said in 7 years it will be better.
I don't know the beer, but good whisky takes time to make. I guess they may be cashing in on their brand. Sounds like you may not buy it again, but sometimes you need to try things.
!BEER
For sure, I really wanted to try this since it is local. It might be ten years before I buy it again. Assuming they are still open then.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @bozz, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @steevc for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Not a big Whiskey fan and do prefer my Gin. Funny how you either like something or you don't.
Isn't it though? I can't stand gin. Tastes like drinking a pine tree to me.