Chief distiller Tom Lenerz: “We take a winemaking approach to distilling and this is the closest we could come to a vintage date for bourbon.”
A century-old set of federal guidelines designed to assure the purity of distilled spirits is being resurrected by an increasing number of craft distillers interested in guaranteeing the integrity and origin of their whiskeys. Wollersheim Winery & Distillery, located near Prairie du Sac, is the latest bottler to boast that its new bourbon, set for public release at a distillery open house on Nov. 16, is “bottled in bond.”
The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, designed as a consumer protection measure, offered government guarantees and tax incentives to distillers who followed strict standards for bourbon whiskey production. At the time, cheap spirits marketed as bourbon were being adulterated with everything from tobacco to iodine to achieve the desired color and flavors at a fraction of regular distilling costs. The government sought to control production standards in order to improve public safety.
Bourbon production already had its own criteria. To qualify as bourbon, a spirit must be distilled from at least 51 percent corn and aged for at least four years in new oak barrels charred on the inside. For that same bourbon to be bottled in bond, the grain used must come from a single year’s harvest and be produced by a single distiller in a single distillery, all of which must be listed on the bottle’s label. In addition, it must be distilled at 100 proof.
Wollersheim’s Wisconsin Straight Bourbon Whiskey hits all those marks, says chief distiller Tom Lenerz. It’s also only the second Wisconsin-made bottled-in-bond spirit since Prohibition, having been beaten by Milwaukee’s Twisted Path Distillery, which released a limited run of bottled-in-bond rye whiskey in June.
“We take a winemaking approach to distilling and this is the closest we could come to a vintage date for bourbon,” says Lenerz, who is married to Celine Coquard, daughter of Wollersheim owners Philippe and Julie Coquard.
The bourbon’s grain content is 75 percent white corn, 15 percent malted barley and 10 percent rye, Lenerz says. The corn and rye were grown in 2014 on a single farm about a mile from the distillery. The malted barley comes from Briess Malt & Ingredients Company in Chilton, Wisconsin. And the bourbon was aged in barrels made of Wisconsin oak.
The bourbon, bottled Nov. 7, has good viscosity and a pleasing mouthfeel. The flavor is rich and intense, but the local oak mutes any excessive sweetness.
“I get some citrus notes on the nose, as well as aromas of cloves and baking spices,” Lenerz says, “but it’s not as caramel-y sweet as some bourbons.”
Lenerz bottled roughly 1,200 750ml bottles from the five 53-gallon barrels of bourbon he produced. The retail price is $49 per bottle.
Wollersheim will release another batch in June and eventually market three different bourbons.
