One World Spirits Golden Rye California Whiskey 750 Ml

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.

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.