The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
.36 Texas Bourbon,
the first installment from the Ranger Creek Small Caliber series
(Credit: Jake Emen)
After a delay of some months in its Federal approval process, the next whiskey release from Ranger Creek is finally moving forward. The San Antonio micro-distiller and brewer had intended the second installment in it’s Small Caliber Series, a Mesquite American Single Malt, for an October 2012 release. But that proved too ambitious, as the innovative concept became snagged by conflicting instructions from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Trade Bureau (TTB).
The idea for Rimfire, Ranger Creek’s Mesquite American Single Malt Whiskey, was drawn from a mixture of personal interest and Ranger Creek’s place as a Texas micro-distillery and brewery. “First, we were inspired by smoked Islay scotches” said Mark McDavid, co-founder and Marketing Director at Ranger Creek. “I love them. Second, we were inspired by Texas. We took the concept of a smoked scotch and put our own Texas twist on it. Instead of hand-smoking the malt with peat, we use Texas mesquite. Third, we were inspired by the beer side of our business. We make a beer called Mesquite Smoked Porter. Since whiskey is just distilled beer, minus the hops, we used the grain bill from our MSP to see what it would taste like as a whiskey.”
Instead of peat, why not mesquite?
(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Ranger Creek originally submitted their new product to the TTB for labeling approval in August 2012, and were asked to submit their innovative whiskey concept for formula approval as well. The formula people directed that the new whiskey be called “Malt Beverage aged in Bourbon Barrels,” while the labeling people at TTB said Rimfire cannot bear the words “malt beverage” because it is a distilled spirit. The result caught Ranger Creek up in a Catch 22 situation through the autumn and into winter, ending only on February 1, 2013 when Rimfire was finally approved to move onto Stage 2 as “spirits distilled from grain.”
The Rimfire Mesquite American Single Malt is not quite out of the woods yet, and its future release date remains uncertain. Even so, this new and distinctly American spin on the single malt is finally moving again.
The TTB could not be reached for comment.
