When I first came to Atlanta to meet Seth Watson the Distillery of Modern Art was a torn up construction site. There was a 20 foot square hole in the roof and a small lake in the floor where the stills were going to be placed in the coming months. The mash and fermentation tanks were in the building but not one inch of process piping was in place. It was a very exciting moment for me.
A few short months after my initial visit to DoMA I had sold my house in Chicago, loaded everything I owned along with a dog and daughter and was on the road to Georgia.
Seth and I had a great initial conversation and as you might imagine a lot of what we talked about was whiskey. In particular I found our mutual admiration for Rye Whiskey refreshing in a world where most American whiskey drinkers have Bourbon fever. While Seth’s love of good rye was noted, what impressed me more about his vision was his belief that great whiskey should be accessible to everyone and that just because a whiskey has a shelf price over $300 does not mean it’s good whiskey.
A few short months after my initial visit to DoMA I had sold my house in Chicago, loaded everything I owned along with a dog and daughter and was on the road to Georgia. We arrived just in time to spend another 9 months finishing construction and building a proper distillery. The stills were first turned on in April 2022 and work on DoMA’s whiskey portfolio began.
Among the many things that Seth and I agreed upon, making whiskey from the best possible ingredients was top on that list. That and the fact that neither of us wanted to source aged barrels from other distillers in order to get products to market faster. All of our whiskeys, Bourbon, Rye and Corn Whiskey, use food grade white corn which we found to be slightly sweeter and far more flavorful than the standard #2 yellow dent corn used in the industry. Even more research was put into the selection of our rye. We chose to use a single varietal rye, Wren’s Abruzzi. Again this decision was made based on flavor. The additional bonus in selecting that rye is that it was bred specifically to grow well in the Southeast, so we could source from local farmers. Our malted barley is supplied by @Riverbendmalt in Asheville, NC. We work closely with them on maltings on finishes that we use to enhance flavors and bring complexity to the finished spirit.
I am evaluating everything from color to aroma and flavor and taking extensive notes. Sometimes this feels like digging for gold and occasionally I get to find the “Honey Barrel.” This is a term distillers use to describe a single barrel that stands out from the crowd.
The first batch of DoMA Rye was mashed and sent to fermentation on June 22, 2022. It was distilled on June 25th and barreled June 27, 2022. Since then we have filled 153 barrels. We watch these barrels age and mature like our own children and we occasionally check in on them to see how life has been treating them. We always knew that we would be able to release a rye before our Bourbon was aged sufficiently so this spring we were paying special attention to how they were progressing as we approached the 2 year mark. Whenever I walk into a barrel warehouse to do sampling and tasting it turns into a great day. I am evaluating everything from color to aroma and flavor and taking extensive notes. Sometimes this feels like digging for gold and occasionally I get to find the “Honey Barrel.” This is a term distillers use to describe a single barrel that stands out from the crowd.
That all brings us to why I am writing this today. A few weeks ago we opened barrel #22-0011. It was filled July 11, 2022. The mash bill is 70% Abruzzi Rye, 15% White Corn and 15% Malted Barley. Distillation proof was 137 and we filled the barrel at 110 proof. (We’ll have a longer discussion at a later date on the science of choosing barrel proofs.) When Sampled in March, 2024 the Proof had dropped to 107.34. This barrel is going to be the first release of DoMA Rye Whiskey and we are all extremely proud of what the entire DoMA team created and the long hours and hard work that got us here. I’m sitting on my front porch enjoying a glass as I type. But while enjoying a dram on the porch with the dog is great, good whiskey is meant to be shared with friends.