Cedar Ridge American Single Malt
Batch No. 006 | 46% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Cervantes to sourdough to a solid single malt
With apologies: Where there's whiskey there can be no evil.
I’ve made mention (read here: lamented and complained) about the inability to find many different American single malts in my area.
I live in the United States, but it would seem clear that my corner of the nation has had some sort of witch’s hex of malt repellant placed on it to make it difficult for the great new wave of American single malt to reach me. You laugh at the thought of a curse? Think about this: recently, Hamish provided us with a great review of McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt. McCarthy’s is a brand I’ve been longing to see, but I can’t find it anywhere - yet Hamish has a bottle and he’s in the UK. A hex, indeed.
Witches and hexes aside, I’m a rusty nail and don’t give up easily - I’m persistent. American single malt is around and I need to overcome the hexes and find these bottles. And so, I continue my Quixote-esque search, tilting at American malt.
As I’ve mentioned in prior reviews, there are no large liquor stores or outlets near me. As far as I know, there are no American-based online whiskey auctions for single malt (sure, I can log into European-based auctions, but the surcharges and delivery fees make any purchase well beyond the line of reasonableness). Yes, there are a few online merchants, but too often after finalising a purchase, I hear back from the merchant that there is some problem in locating or sending the bottle that I was supposed to be able to buy with ease.
My search, however, brings great opportunity. I’ve had the great experience to visit many small, local liquor stores and chat with the owners. I’m that type of guy who will talk to a tree stump, so I relish the opportunity to walk into a shop and chat to the owners. This is not always reciprocated, especially store owners that are still not versed in single malts. However there are more and more in my neck of the woods that do speak the language and have an appreciation for single and blended malts.
It usually doesn’t take long to recognise a whiskey enthusiast. Let’s be honest, there’s a certain vocabulary used and a certain twinkle in one’s eyes that shows the true whiskey colours. Usually we can identify an enthusiast in less than 10 seconds. Once we recognise this in each other, we are off to the chatty races.
When I chat with a store owner that’s knowledgeable and interested in malts, we talk about our whiskey journeys. We talk about brands, problems of distribution they encounter, what new routes and avenues to explore. Even if I walk out of a small store empty-handed, if the owner is a fellow whiskey enthusiast, I still have a smile on my face and, no doubt, I’ve had a good chat.
So, when Ogilvie galloped into a new-to-me locally-owned liquor store, I was glad to have a good chat with the store owner. We had never met previously, but someone looking in on the conversation would have thought we were long-time acquaintances. Whiskey magic, as it were. And, lo and behold, he had an impressive spread of American single malts.
He asked what I was looking for and I showed him a list of distilleries on my phone that make up the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission. I’ve been looking to taste/find/buy expressions from each of the supporting members of the ASMWC, and this is no small task as there are north of 80 distilleries in the association. A crusade for Ogilvie to be sure… to dream the impossible dream, that’s my quest.
He had four labels that were of particular interest and we talked for quite a while - and there was at least one customer who put down their bottle and instead grabbed the bottle I’m reviewing here. That customer told us: “If that bottle generates that much interest, I need to try it.”
As I departed – after having shared a good slice of time with a fellow enthusiast and having found an elusive bottle – it turned a good day into a great day. I think everyone who has taken more than a few steps on their whiskey journey knows exactly what I mean.
Review
Cedar Ridge, American Single Malt, The Quintessential Signature Blend, 46% ABV
USD$58 paid
Although I should heed the statement “Authentic by Nature” on the bottle, there’s no specific indication stating this has natural colour or non-chill filtered. Between that statement and what I can glean from their website, it does appear Cedar Ridge provides an all-natural presentation. I reached out to the distillery and received a message from head distiller Murphy Quint who confirmed their single malt is not coloured nor chill filtered.
Nose
Raw unprocessed honey. Peaches in heavy syrup. Malt and a waft of spelt bread lingers. Going back to the nose brings more fruit and peaches, banana and white grape juice. Oak and a hint of port and brandy. Quite inviting.
Palate
Crème brûlée, but not overly sweet. Rich barley and cereal notes along with raisins and peaches. Mid-palate, the 46% ABV makes itself present and my tongue tingles a bit. The hint of malt comes with a spice note, but it’s not baking spices. Ginger? Having read how Cedar Ridge utilises finishes in their single malt, I can’t escape the thought of the spice coming from a rye cask. Is this the power of suggestion from my research on the bottle? Not sure, but the flavours are quite good. The mid-palate tingle gives a bit of edge, but it’s not off-putting. The finish is not long. This is a layered flavour experience that’s interesting and tasty.
Adding a few drops of water removes the ethanol and tongue tingle. The flavours are still good, but they become a bit flattened. It’s like moving your sight from a Jackson Pollock painting to a Georges Seurat. Still good, but a different level of vibrancy. I prefer this neat.
The Dregs
One of the great things about American single malt is the variation and experimentation we see throughout a range of labels and expressions. Though there are no formalised regulations for American single malt, the vast majority of single malt producers are adhering to the parameters outlined by the ASMWC. However, those parameters don’t result in a straight-jacket, as sometimes it appears so with the more rigid regulations from the Scotch Whisky Association. Whether due to more leeway or due to the fact American distilleries are not wed to certain centuries-old traditions and processes, single malt distillers on this side of the Atlantic appear to utilise a wider variety of techniques and methods. With the notable exception of Loch Lomond, to my knowledge it appears there are more examples of innovative techniques and methods used in creating single malt in the US. I appreciate tradition, but I also enjoy thinking outside of the box.
Cedar Ridge distillery is from Iowa – corn country. It has a range of bourbons of which I hear great things. They also have a taste and love for single malt and they source their two-row pale malted barley from Canada – the barley growing region between Winnipeg and Edmonton. From there, the malt yields its magic with a rather unique process done in Iowa.
Reading about the process I learned about the distillery’s use of a solera vat - a huge tub or basin containing liquid from different vattings and distillations over time. It’s depleted for a certain bottling run – never emptied – and then replenished with new stock. This is not unlike the use of a starter for sourdough bread. A solera vat is never emptied and most often is kept at least half full to ensure each new bottling run receives a portion of older stock.
The bottle in my hand doesn’t have an age statement on it, nor a bottling date. That said, I know from information gleaned from the distillery website that the distillate spends a minimum of two years in American oak barrels (no indication of virgin oak or level of char) and then the whiskey is transferred to various finishing casks for an additional two years. Cedar Ridge divides its stock to finish whiskey among six different casks – rum, brandy, sherry, wine, port, and rye. From there the master distiller marries distillate from various finishing casks (proportions are no doubt proprietary) together in the solera vat. To me, this outside-the-box process is fascinating.
It’s not only fascinating, but delicious. As noted, I have a dram with a mixed flavour profile that has some richness and an interesting layer of fruit, barley, and spice. It’s not heavy nor light. It has a balance and is interesting. No doubt the mix of old and new and the combination of six different barrel finish profiles provides a bit of complexity, and the resulting flavour profile is much appreciated.
As part of the effort to be as transparent as possible, I initially scored this as a 6 on the Dramface scale. However, in the weeks since I first drafted this review, I’ve returned to the bottle a few times and it has opened up beautifully. Enough so that I must bump the score up a notch to a 7. This Cedar Ridge has given me real pleasure and I believe it is very worthy of your time.
Cedar Ridge – as with many of the ASMWC distilleries – presently has limited distribution, but will be expanding over time. If you can get your hands on a bottle, do so.
Off to tilt at more malt.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS
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