明尼苏达州的酿酒厂正在改变有关威士忌的对话

Just shy of the Canadian border by 25 miles,Far North Spiritssits under a sprawling sky that fades deep into the horizon, uninterrupted save for fields of windswept grain. As micro-distilleries across the U.S.coalesce around cities，远北的所有者切里·里斯（Cheri Reese）和迈克·斯旺森（Mike Swanson）在明尼苏达州的哈洛克（Hallock）附近制造了908年的Hallock，这是其酿酒厂的基地，这是美国最北端的最北端。

The distillery's pastoral location doesn't just set it apart geographically—its rural setting has enabled Reese and Swanson to make a groundbreaking discovery about the impact of rye variety on whiskey flavor.

In mid-April, Far North released研究结果that Swanson conducted in conjunction withJochum Wiersma, a renowned small grains specialist at the University of Minnesota. After five years of research that involved planting, harvesting, fermenting, and distilling 15 varieties of rye, which were then blind taste-tested, results show that rye variety determines the flavor of whiskey.

斯旺森说：“世界上的大vwin德赢ac米兰酒与它们制造的各种葡萄相关。”“但是，对于从谷物中发酵和蒸馏的威士忌而言，这种品种信息和与之背后的农业的关系通常会丢失。”

现代谷物交易应归咎于。作为商品买卖的黑麦品种，由数十名农民种植，通过将它们混合在带有vns的谷物电梯中，并没有说明。该过程是有效的，但它失去了品种之间的风味区别。虽然有些工艺酿酒师以直接从农民采购谷物为荣，但它更多地是关于购买当地而不是探索风味的价值的声明。

为了令人耳目一新的步伐，远北部从斯旺森的家庭农场种植的黑麦将其威士忌蒸馏出来。这使他们能够追踪谷物品种如何影响最终产品的风味 - 否则这种信息长期以来损失了谷物电梯。

斯旺森（Swanson）在缅因州农民向他询问斯旺森（Swanson）在2013年开始时种植的种子（ac hazlet）的可用性后，开始考虑黑麦各种。香草笔记提供的辣椒味较少。这让斯旺森思考。

"There are all these different rye varieties out there and nobody really thought to take a look at whether or not they taste different," he says. While the flavor of barley had been considered, "rye and corn didn't really have that. When I looked into this in terms of rye varieties, I came up with just nothing everywhere I looked."

他与威尔斯曼看看他失踪了something, but Wiersma confirmed that he, too, had never heard of anyone looking into how rye varieties impact whiskey flavor. So, the duo teamed up on a first-of-its-kind, multi-year crop study.

Wiersma helped Swanson identify varieties that were likely to grow well in far north Minnesota, sourcing rye near and far—from Minnesota's Rymin to Germany's Triticale. Each variety was planted in a 44,100-square-foot plot with similar soil between 2015 and 2017. The plots were distanced at least 66 feet from the others to prevent contamination from pollen drift.

Once harvested, the various ryes were processed identically through towering copper stills into separate white whiskey distillates. Finally funneled into clear glass bottles with a simple cork top and labeled with only a number scribed on green masking tape, the distillates were blind taste tested by 190 participants ranging from industry experts and agricultural professors to bartenders and the general public.

Through sensory questionnaires, participants evaluated the flavor of the distillate across characteristics like chocolate, mint, earth, wood, and more. Aggregated and presented in flavor wheels, the graphic demonstrated enormous differences among the distillates. Varieties like Aroostook and Dylan were found to be floral and vegetal with notes of grass reigning supreme, while Hazlet featured toasted nut flavors and Prima evoked nut, fruit, and vegetable.

这项研究远非全面 - 它仅限于明尼苏达州臭名昭著的恶劣气候中可能成功的品种。但是结果使人们普遍认为，仅年龄就是威士忌的功绩指标，而黑麦是一种简单的商品。

斯旺森说：“我认为，当某种商品以商品的价格买卖时，做出了许多假设。”“在90年的大部分时间里，我们一直在谈论年龄和证明，我们不一定在谈论原材料的采购。”对于斯旺森来说，这为农民在威士忌界提供了一个重要而有价值的声音：“基于农场的酿酒厂确实有一些可以为该行业提供的东西。”