Ranger Creek Mesquite Single Malt Set For Release

Rimfire, the Mesquite-smoked American malt from Ranger Creek
(Credit: Ranger Creek)

(From Ranger Creek Press Release) After a five month delay, a new Texas whiskey will hit shelves this March, and it will be truly unique to Texas.  Ranger Creek Rimfire is a single malt whiskey lightly smoked with Texas mesquite that was sourced from a local farmer.  Less than 500 cases of this innovative whiskey will be available, commencing with a release in San Antonio on March 21st.

Rimfire is a lightly smoked scotch-style whiskey similar to Caol Ila.  Smoked whiskeys were popularized through products like Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg from the Islay region of Scotland.  Rimfire is their less intense Texas cousin.  Instead of using Scottish peat, Ranger Creek hand smokes their malt with Texas mesquite.  The mesquite is sourced from a local farmer to whom the brewstillery donates their spent grain, then placed in a 20 foot shipping container that has been converted into a huge Texas smoker.  The mesquite smoke imparts a profile unique to Texas.  The result is a smooth, sweet, sipping single malt with just a touch of smoke.

Rimfire is more than just a lightly smoked single malt whiskey.  It’s a product that showcases what Ranger Creek can do as a “brewstillery” that makes both beer and bourbon.  As whiskey makers will tell you, whiskey is simply distilled beer.  Ranger Creek Rimfire is an illustration of this.  The brewstillery makes a beer called Mesquite Smoked Porter, and they wondered what it would taste like distilled into a whiskey.  So they brewed it (without the hops), distilled it, called it Rimfire, and released it as their second Small Caliber Series product.

The nose brings about sweet tropical notes of ripe mango and dried banana with a hint of vanilla.  The taste is smooth and delicate with a light malty sweetness.  And the finish is soft, balanced, and dry with hints of light smoke and roasted chocolate.  A few drops of water help to enhance the smoke and highlight the mesquite flavor.  The end result showcases how much a beer evolves when it is distilled and then matured in oak barrels.  The Mesquite Smoked Porter is recognizable in the finish of Rimfire, but completely new flavors and aromas emerge in the whiskey.  Side-by-side tastings of the beer and whiskey will be included in the release events for Rimfire.

Rimfire follows Ranger Creek .36 as the second release in the company’s Small Caliber Series, a line of creative, limited edition whiskeys aged in small barrels.  These whiskeys are sold in small 375 ml bottles to represent the small barrels in which they were matured.  Each bottle is hand labeled with the batch number, bottle number, season, and maturation time.  Limited production of these unique, innovative whiskeys makes them special collector’s item products.  Less than 500 cases of Ranger Creek Rimfire will be released, so whiskey enthusiasts are encouraged to buy bottles while they last.

Ranger Creek Rimfire was originally scheduled for release in October, 2012.  The delay was a result of several rounds of back and forth during the approval process with the Federal government.  Due to the innovative nature of the whiskey, the government required Ranger Creek to submit the ingredients and manufacturing techniques.  The feds misclassified the whiskey three times before finally getting the paperwork right and allowing the whiskey label to be approved.  The label was changed and resubmitted for approval three different times.  After five months of delay, the original label that was submitted in August 2012 was the same label that was approved.