The founder of Old World Spirits, Davorin Kuchan, is a third generation winemaker and distiller who grew up around vineyards in Croatia and subsequently studied distilling at Michigan State University. This product, Goldrun Rye, attempts to fuse Davorin’s Croatian distilling heritage to the forward-thinking ethos of his new home in San Francisco. It’s an interesting idea, but the whiskey, unfortunately, is not so exciting.
Made from 100 percent American rye, Goldrun Rye is supposedly more like an eau de vie in the style passed through generations of Davorin’s family. Learning from his father and grandfather, Davorin began dabbling with fermentation as a child in Croatia, where he grew up among family vineyards.
Using this fermenting and distilling style with rye, Goldrun is made in a customized alembic copper still. Using rye from North Dakota, the spirit is aged for at least a year in new American oak barrels.
The name itself, Goldrun, pays homage to 49ers who descended on California for gold in 1849, according to the bottle.
Tasting Notes: Goldrun Rye
Vital Stats: 100 percent rye, distilled in a alembic copper pot in small batches and coming out at about 90 proof. No age statement. Sold in 350 and 700 milliliter bottles.
Appearance: Slightly darker than average golden amber.
Nose: Wafts into the nose with a tropical aroma with notes citrus and sandalwood, evened out a bit by allspice and a touch salty, near-the-sea air. That mellows out into a smoky vanilla and earthy oak with notes of rye.
Palate: Hits the tongue with a honey flavor with mellow, non-citrus fruit flavors with just a hint of earthy nuts. That grows into a semi-sweet spiciness of cloves and freshly ground pepper, but the spiciness intensifies and gains a rye flavor as it sits in the mouth. Once swallowed, the mouth is blanketed by a slight burning sensation, particularly and almost overwhelmingly in the corners of the mouth, with a bit of honeyed rye flavor.
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Final Thoughts and Score:
To be honest, I had to pour myself several glasses of Goldrun Rye as I tried to discern if it was just bland or I was missing exceptional subtlety in the times when the spiciness wasn’t overwhelming. While yes, there is some subtlety and flavors that I find unusual in a whiskey, I personally appreciate a whiskey that’s firmly guiding the taster while still leaving some room for individual interpretation.
Unless you’d like to get drunk in order to find its complexities, I’d classify Goldrun Rye as the minimum baseline of what a whiskey should be: it starts out sweet, gets spicier and leaves a spicy-sweet tingle in your mouth as it goes down – not much more.
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