the Art of Flavor Grains

Bourbon+ Magazine | February 2019

Excerpt:

“…Five years ago, Greg Metze was still at MGP, when Old Elk Distillery - founded by entrepreneurs Curt and Nancy Richardson - contacted MGP with a straightforward request: build a customized recipe that would produce a “smooth and easy” bourbon. Right away, Metze knew malted barley was the key.

Starting with the mash bill of 51 percent corn, the minimum allowed by law to qualify as bourbon. Metze added 34 percent malted barley and spiked the mash with 15 percent rye. The result is a gentle whiskey imparting flavors of nut and amaretto.

“The firs think I did was make the accountants angry,” Metze jokes. “Malted barley is more expensive than corn, and I took the corn down and brought the malted barley up. There isn’t much out there like it. It’s in a category all by itself.”

Metze laid down 13,000 barrels of Old Elk Bourbon, which launched in November 2017 in 22 states, with the goal of being in all 50 states by 2019. He eventually left MGP to join Old Elk Distillery full time.

“We have four more products coming out,” he hinted, while giving no clues about flavor grains. “It’s going to be nice stuff, so stay tuned.”…”