Rogue Spirits Dead Guy Whiskey

Despite the name, this guy is alive and kickin’!

The Rogue story begins with three friends opening a small craft brewery in 1988. They were searching for a proper place when founder Jack Joyce found himself stuck in an epic snow storm in Newport.

There he ran into local legend “Mo” Niemi, famous for her clam chowder restaurant chain. One thing led to another and Rogue found its new home in the nice lady’s commercial building, so long as he promised he’d keep an old school black & white photo of her sitting naked in a bathtub stuck right above the bar at all times.

You can’t make this stuff up. But ales and lagers weren’t enough, no sir. They soon branched out and started distilling Whiskey and Gin as well. These guys aren’t playing when they call their stuff “handcrafted.” They grow their own grains, brew and distill as well as age and bottle everything on their own. They even have their own cooperage!

The dudes at Rogue are perhaps most known for their Dead Guy Ale and this Whiskey is its distant, boozier cousin. It’s just as true to their from-scratch mindset as the rest of their lineup, though.

Dead Guy Whiskey, then, is based on the aforementioned notorious ale’s wort, and if you ask us, this is the way to use it. As you’d expect, the wash is brewed in their next-door brewery. It’s then pot-distilled, after which it spends at least 2 years in new American Oak barrels. What comes out after a bit of necromancy is a pretty lively fella — for a dead guy!

Rogue Spirits Dead Guy Whiskey guided tasting: Brad Japhe takes us on a tasting adventure through the Whiskeyverse of Advent Calendar 2021.