Catoctin Creek Distilling Co. of Purcellville, Virginia, is partnering with monster metal rock band GWAR on Ragnarök Rye, a 92-proof rye whisky aged in charred new white oak, then sugar maple and cherrywood.
Truly, there is nothing else in the vast universe like the rock band GWAR, and in tribute to the band’s originality as the most elaborate and transgressive theatrical production in heavy metal history, Scott and Becky Harris of Catoctin Creek have made sure there is nothing else like Ragnarök Rye.
“Don’t get me wrong, this is an exciting release, but we were quite surprised when GWAR showed up at our distillery,” says founder and general manager, Scott Harris. “Purcellville is a quiet town, so to have these intergalactic visitors was—honestly—a little stressful. We had to constantly keep an eye on them to keep them from breaking stuff, and they even tried to eat our dog, Otto. The only way we could get them to leave was to agree to bottle their whisky for them.”
Eons ago the members of the intergalactic shock rock band known as GWAR descended on this world as passengers on a flaming comet that would bring about the destruction of most life on Earth. The asteroid plowed into the continent of Antarctica with devastating force, melting the ice, setting much of the world ablaze, and leaving a massive crater filled with the purest Antarctic water and a strangely intoxicating ichor that flowed from the veins of the immortal GWAR. Legend recorded these events as the tale of Ragnarök, the end of days. But like all endings, it was also a beginning. Now, this blood of the gods, harvested from the great caldera, has been distilled and bottled by Catoctin Creek as Ragnarök Rye.
“Ahh, sucha powerful spirit,” says The Berserker Blothar of GWAR. “A delicious sacrament to drink in preparation for battle, and it’ll get you really, really crazy.”
The mad scientists at Catoctin Creek conducted experiments on aging the blood of GWAR in barrels made from the different types of wood scorched by the comet’s blast. They used the rarest of grains and watered their mash bill with the melted Antarctic ice to create a 92-strength rye whisky, pot stilled and then aged in charred new white oak. Members of GWAR then hurled the whiskey barrels into the orbit of the moon, causing contraction to take place as the barrels spun under the influence of the deathly coldness of space and the life-giving heat of the sun. The result was Ragnarök Rye, an exquisite beverage graced with notes of cherrywood and sugar maple to produce subtle flavors unheard of in a traditional rye whisky.
Catoctin Creek Distilling Co. Ragnarök Rye Whisky (92 Proof/46% ABV) $99/750mL