I would venture to guess that most visitors to Midland, MI are there for a handful of reasons. Either they work for one of the "Dow" companies (Chemical or Corning), seeing a show at the Center for the Arts, catching a ballgame at Dow Diamond, or walking through one of the gardens that the Dow family established years ago.
It's probably pretty rare that many of them find themselves heading west on Saginaw road towards the small town of Sanford. Even more rare that they would notice the lost town of Averill. It's definitely one of those places where if you blink you miss it. There is nothing there anymore besides a couple of empty storefronts and a Mexican restaurant called Elvira's.
That's not what this post is about though.
Back in the day, there was a saloon in Averill called the Red Keg.
Midland Brewing company has decided to pay homage to that Saloon by distilling their own line of whiskey under the Red Keg name.
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or 
While Midland Brewing Company is obviously most well known for their beer, I have to respect their willingness to branch out into other spirits like rum, vodka, and whiskey.
As you can see from the picture of the bottle above, this whiskey is aged for two years. That immaturity definitely comes through while drinking it. It had a pretty harsh taste that you don't find with some of the more aged and refined whiskeys.
The alcohol content is pretty high at 110 proof. I wasn't able to find any indication on the bottle that this is blended. Which doesn't really surprise me given the fact that it is likely a barrel proof whiskey.
I have to believe that given time and a bit more aging, this will likely be a pretty decent whiskey. For now, I think I am going to reserve it as a mixer for other drinks.
That isn't to say it was horrible. I just don't think I can recommend you spend the money on this one... yet.
Part of it is my fault. I think if I had realized it was such a high proof, I likely would have approached it with a different attitude. It's not really common that you see an upstart place like this come right out of the gate with a barrel proof whiskey.
Usually, they source their juice from other distilleries that are more established. Then they blend those whiskeys until they have the flavor profile that they are looking for. This allows them to bottle and sell stuff while their own recipe is aging in barrels.
As I said, I have little doubt in five more years, Red Keg will likely have a nice 7 year whiskey that could match step with Knob Creek or some of the more well know brands.
Until then, I'll stick to the beer thanks!
