San Francisco’s Old Potrero, as we’ve written in the past, was one of the early pioneers on the American craft distilling scene, dating back to 1994, when Fritz Maytag—at the time a pioneer in the craft beer scene at Anchor Brewing—started experimenting with small-batch distilling. Maytag eventually decided to focus on malted ryes, a still-unusual style of whiskey that he says resembles what early European colonists in North America would have been drinking. Malted rye, like malted barley, contains enough naturally-occurring enzymes that none need to be added to help convert the grain’s starch into sugar during fermentation.
I don’t know enough about distilling history to know whether Maytag’s claim that Old Potrero’s whiskeys resemble what people drank in the 18th century checks out; I am, however, very into the concept of a distillery that specializes in variations on one very specific niche in the whiskey world. Earlier this year, I had the chance to try Old Potrero’s 18th Century Style Whiskey, a malted rye expression aged in toasted barrels, which the distillery says are more similar to what old-timey distillers would have used than the heavily-charred barrels most modern American whiskeys are aged in. I’m excited to see how this one compares.
Hotaling’s 11-Year-Old is a higher-end expression that’s aged 11 years in barrels that once held Old Potrero Straight Rye Whiskey. It commemorates the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the A.P. Hotaling & Co whiskey warehouse, which survived the disaster. It’s a limited run, with just 200 bottles available in California, Illinois, Massachussetts, Texas, and New Jersey.
Tasting notes: Old Potrero Hotaling’s 11-Year-Old Single Malt Rye
Vital stats: 100% malted rye, 11 years old, aged in used straight rye barrels, pot distilled, bottled at 50% ABV
Color: pale gold
Nose: Grain and stone fruit predominate at first—whole wheat toast with apricot jam. Opens up to warm cinnamon and ginger, alongside caramel.
Palate: Fairly fruity at the front of the palate, with dried apricot. Caramel is balanced out by oak. There’s a faint nuttiness at the back of the palate, with ginger and allspice on the finish. Slightly drying, texture-wise.
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