Coming soon to a whiskey near you: Mash from Ommegang's Hennepin ale. Photo from the Ommegang website.
The up-and-coming Catskill Distilling Company in Bethel has struck a deal with Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown to make Catskill whiskey with Ommegang mash.
The product of the exclusive deal will be a malt whiskey made with mash from the production of Ommegang's Hennepin, a Belgian-style farmhouse saison ale "flavored with grains of paradise, ginger, coriander and orange peel."
From an announcement of the deal:
Monte Sachs, Catskill Distilling Co. owner - distiller: To partner with Ommeganag a Brewery grown in NY producing some of the finest beer anywhere, was a natural. When the distillery hosted an Ommegang tasting and Distiller met Brewer it was a plan hatched out of the passion for creating the Best Brew and Spirits. We are thrilled to be creating this unique product together and to be working with Ommegang for a malt whiskey that will be the first of it’s kind.
Phil Leinhart, Ommegang brewmaster, says, “Beer and whiskey are close cousins and I love them both. While we’ve talked wistfully about the possibility of distilling at Ommegang, the demands of our ongoing growth have made it impossible to do more than talk. Now Catskill Distilling steps in and we are delighted to discover we can enjoy the best of both worlds: fine whiskey distilled from our mash, yet with another party of great skill doing the work. It’s about as perfect as it can be.”
Below: Dr. Monte Sachs, owner and disitller for Catskill Distilling Company, stands next to a vat of the Ommegang Brewery Hennepin mash to be used to create a new malt whiskey.
