One Eight Distilling’s Unique Spin on Aging Whiskey
What do you get when a lawyer and a scientist, both who have a penchant for good drinks, go into business together? A kickass distillery. Well, maybe that isn’t always the case, but luckily for us DC folks, it is. Enter: One Eight Distilling.
Alex Laufer and Sandy Wood, who met in college and bonded over good cocktails, food, and whiskey, abandoned their day jobs to chase their true dream: opening their own distillery in Washington, DC.
Opened to the public less than two years ago, One Eight takes its name from the Constitution – article one, section eight. In true Washingtonian fashion, the “grain to grass” distillery’s liquors scream DC pride: There’s the DMV (District Made Vodka), which somehow manages to be clean, smooth, and spicy; the Ivy City Gin, made with traditional juniper and hints of American spicebush tannins; and the exceptional Rock Creek White Whiskey with notes of pepper and honey.
One Eight also offers a collection of untitled whiskeys, aptly dubbed the Untitled Whiskey series. The neat thing about the Untitleds? One Eight sourced three different matured whiskeys and put its own spin on them by experimenting with unique, distinct finishes. About 300 of One Eight’s 700 barrels are sourced whiskeys, allowing ample opportunities for the distillers to experiment with new finishes. Untitled Nos. One and Six exclusively use Seagrams High Rye Bourbon, from the former Seagrams distillery in Indiana. “When we first began to empty barrels, the whiskey was eight years old. Now most of the barrels are 10,” said Alex Laufer, the cofounder, head distiller, and former biotechnology master. One Eight also uses a 4-year-old Tennessee whiskey and a 6-year-old wheated bourbon in its Untitled series. “It’s great for us to use the mature whiskey because we have a learning experience with it before ours is ready. We can have some fun and experiment with different finishes this way,” said Laufer.
So far, the One Eight team has aged its sourced whiskey in 30-year-old sherry casks, Sandeman tawny port casks, cognac casks, previously beer-filled barrels, and even barrels once filled with coffee beans, just to name a few. One way the distillery is able to create such interesting, experimental finishes is by loaning out their barrels to businesses around the DC area, whether they be breweries, coffee houses, vineyards, or other establishments.
Right now, One Eight has a beer-finished whiskey that is about to make its grand premiere, and there will be a limited release of this new Untitled whiskey. “The wheated bourbon spent four months in a barrel that had held Hellbender brewery’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale,” said Laufer. “We’re currently tasting it at different proofs and it’s amazing how changing the proof accentuates the spectrum of beer-whiskey characters.” One Eight has also distilled four other beers from DC Brau, Atlas, and Hellbender breweries. They are still aging in their barrels – which include beer barrels, bourbon barrels, and brand new oak barrels, each offering unique tastes – awaiting their debut.
On the other end of the spectrum, Untitled No. Three blends the 4-year-old Tennessee sour mash with a coffee finish. Vigilante Coffee, a DC-based coffee company, borrowed some of One Eight’s barrels and stored coffee beans in them: “We empty a barrel, loan it to them, and they age generally two or three batches of coffee beans in the bourbon barrel for one or two weeks each. Usually it’s about a month before we get the barrel back,” said Laufer. “Then we refill it with the whiskey.”
Be on the lookout for a new batch of Untitled No. Three coming out next month, this time with the 6-year-old wheated bourbon. “We have another batch of Untitled Three in the works now and hope to continue this collaboration [with Vigilante Coffee] in the future.” In the meantime, check out the cold brew coffee Vigilante is making right now with the beans aged in the bourbon barrels.
In addition to beer- and coffee-finished whiskey, One Eight has several rum-soaked barrels up and down the mid-Atlantic. Laufer said, “we’ve loaned barrels out to a lot of folks. We’ve worked with three different rum distilleries – two in Maryland, one in North Carolina – and we can’t wait to get those barrels back. It could be by the end of this year, or it could be in three or four years.”
Once the One Eight team fills the returned barrels with their matured whiskey, it can take anywhere from a couple months to nearly a year to age and finish. Untitled No. Three Batch One aged for two months, and another matured whiskey aged in a Muscat barrel for 11 months. While One Eight is concentrated on experimentation and trying out new finishes, the distillers all know that the initial flavor of the whiskey is just as important, too. “Aging the whiskeys for however long means they pick up a lot of that finished flavor, but just as a finish – we don’t want it to overwhelm the flavor of the bourbon,” Laufer said.
As for other finishes? Who knows what One Eight will come up with next. Based on what the distillery has done so far, we can’t imagine anything less than stellar.
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On October 9, the Whiskey Library will host a tour-and-taste event at One Eight. Alex Laufer, the head distiller, will lead the tour and discuss everything from the grains One Eight uses to the science behind fermentation. All guests will get to taste the most of the Untitled series (even the sold-out ones) throughout the tour. Tickets will also include small bites from local businesses that will be specifically paired with the whiskeys, and a branded One Eight glencarin glass. The event begins at 1pm and tickets are $40 per guest!