Copper Fox Distillery, Part One: The Ryes!

Copper Fox is a relatively new American distillery and whisky (not whiskey) & spirit brand that is located in the small town of Sperryville, Virginia, around 90-minutes drive from Washington D.C. on the east coast of the United States. Like many of the modern American distilleries, they're doing things differently to the 'old world', but Copper Fox are certainly taking that a step further. When the distillery opened in Sperryville back in 2005 it also brought the first new malting floor and kiln to be built in the United States since the 1930s, and they're used to malt and kiln all of their locally-grown rye and two-row and/or six-row barley. That makes Copper Fox the only American distillery to floor-malt 100% of their own grain! And what happens inside that kiln is probably the biggest deviation from 'the norm' and perhaps the biggest innovation as far as the spirit part of the process is concerned: Copper Fox are smoking their grain with wood from local fruitwood trees! So wood smoked barley and/or rye, mainly using either cherry wood or apple wood, or a combination of both. There are a couple of distilleries doing similar things there, although to my knowledge Copper Fox are the first to use fruit wood trees. But that's certainly not where the deviations end. Copper Fox spirits are double distilled in pot stills, before being filled in to refill ex-bourbon barrels for maturation. 

Now that part is fairly standard, but joining the spirit in those less-active refill barrels are wood chips, both from oak and fruitwood, usually charred and of the apple wood or cherry wood varieties. That obviously breaks the Scottish whisky regulations - in fact Compass Box did a similar thing when they first released their Spice Tree blended whisky, which unfortunately resulted in them being threatened with litigation after complaints from larger members of the Scotch Whisky Association. Obviously Copper Fox, being in the U.S and not making Scotch whisky, is not governed by such rules, nor do they need to follow the regulations for bourbon whiskey which require charred virgin oak barrels made from American white oak - although they've recently launched their first bourbon whisky which of course does meet those requirements. Now I must admit that I am normally a little dubious about these 'accelerated maturation' methods, and there have been many, many brands and companies who have tried to cheat the natural process of maturation, and they're usually very secretive about their methods - and most tend to fail altogether. But Copper Fox aren't doing that, they're still ageing in wooden casks, while giving the tired casks a boost with those added wood chips, a practice which is fairly common with many other wood-influenced alcoholic drinks (particularly wine), and they're doing so for lengths of time that would be familiar to Australian whisky drinkers. Those wood chips obviously give faster and more assertive wood influence to the maturing spirit, so these whiskies are not aged for particularly long - but that's also balanced out by the use of refill barrels, also used again for cask finishing in some cases. As an added nice touch, none of Copper Fox's products are chill filtered or have added e150a caramel colouring. 

Copper Fox is new to Australia, thanks to new spirits importer and distributor NTD Spirits - the brainchild of husband & wife team Nathan and Thao DeTienne (hence the initials), based in Perth, Western Australia. Nathan & Thao are not exactly strangers to the whisky industry in Australia, and the larger national whisky scene. In fact they're two of the most passionate and dedicated whisky people you could meet, and they've been largely responsible for the thriving and enviable whisky scene over in Perth. From being part of the team behind the Dram Full whisky Facebook group, to organising countless events and tastings - not least of which is one of Australia's greatest annual whisky festivals, Whisky Freedom, which launched back in 2016 and has only grown more impressive and more successful since - as I and many others always knew it would. I've had the pleasure of attending twice, and this is not a show to miss - I just wish Perth was a little closer to Brisbane! To save you the Google search, it's a flight time of around five hours, being on the opposite side of our rather large island. Since they had so much spare time in between doing all of this, and while working, Nathan & Thao decided to take the plunge and launch their own spirits importing & distribution business in 2019. Their impressive portfolio now includes Black Gate Australian whisky & rum, Corowa and Craft Works Australian whiskies, the independent bottlings of Scotch whisky from The Single Cask, and they are WA's sub-distributor for the spirits from Milk & Honey Distillery in Israel and the recently-arrived Black Tot rum. That's a great line-up for such a young operation - and of course Nathan & Thao's reputations and earlier endeavours preceded them - and it's a great testament to, and reward for, their hard work!  

Nathan was kind enough to get in touch and send over samples of the complete Copper Fox range, albeit with no obligation or expectation of a review - but I couldn't just sit down and taste nine samples of a new brand for my own selfish enjoyment, could I? So I'm going to do the very unselfish thing - I'm going to write about them at the same time! Since Nathan has been so generous (some might say excessive!) I've decided to split these tastings into two parts, in the interests of palate-preservation and tipsy-ness prevention: four rye whiskies in part one, and then four malt whiskies in part two. I won't be scoring these in my usual method since there are quite a few to review and they're quite different from my usual subject matter, so instead we'll go with a quick-fire review of each, with specific details, tasting notes and thoughts on each before summing up at the end of each post. So let's get into part one of Copper Fox: the Ryes! 

Copper Fox Original Rye, NAS, 45%. 

1/3 malted barley, 2/3 rye, all floor-malted and lightly smoked with cherry & apple wood, aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak wood chips, then finished in refill bourbon barrels. 

Colour: Full amber. 
Nose: Classic dry spicy rye grain, if you've tasted rye bread or other rye whiskies it'll be familiar. Some spearmint, caramel chews, and warming buttery & nutty wood. 
Texture: Fresh & balanced, medium weight. Slight heat around the edges. Wood influence is evident but not heavy or overpowering. 
Taste: The dry rye spice again, caramel chews and dusty dry spices - wood spice & baking spice. A little menthol and a slight earthy smokiness. 
Finish: Medium length. Dry roasted peanuts, a little cooking chocolate and more baking spices before the rye grain comes back to the fore. 
Notes: We're off to a very solid start! The rye grain is first & foremost here, as it should be in a rye whisky, and there's a decent dash of character along with it. Not the most complex whisky perhaps, but this is a young, reasonably priced rye that does smell & taste both richer and older than you may expect. Very solid. 

Copper Fox Sassy Single Malt Rye, NAS, 45%. 

100% malted rye, floor-malted and light-to-medium smoked with Sassafras wood (hence the "Sassy"), aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak chips, then finished in refill bourbon barrels.

Colour: Full amber again. 

Nose: Softer, and the wood smoke is very evident. Soft anise, or even fennel seed, rich toffee, soft wood smoke, light touch of menthol, and nutty oak. 

Texture: Medium weight. Creamy, deeper and richer. Softly smoky, no heat to this one. 

Taste: Creamy and fudgy, toffee chews and smoked tea leaves (lapsang). Sweet caramelised wood. The rye spice is still there but it's more subdued here, and it works well with the smoke. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Now the spice comes through more strongly, with some soft-yet-spicy wood smoke enveloping the whole shebang. Rich toffee, more herbal and anise notes, and nutty rye. 

Notes: Very different, we're stepping up in richness and complexity, and that lovely dry, soft, spicy smoke is very much present throughout without overpowering - it's adding depth. If memory serves this is the first smoky rye whisky/whiskey that I've tried to date, and it's definitely the first wood-smoked rye that I've ever tried. And it works! 

Copper Fox Port Style Barrel Finish Rye, NAS, 50%.

1/3 malted barley, 2/3 rye, all floor-malted and lightly smoked with cherry & apple wood, aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak chips, then in refill bourbon barrels, then finished in ex- port-style fortified wine barrels. 

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: More fruit & spice, a little grape tannin, and dark grape must. Slightly buttery and nutty, fruit & nut chocolate in fact, with a big step up in sweetness. 

Texture: Medium weight, oily and syrupy - much sweeter here. Slight heat around the edges but I wouldn't have picked any increase in strength. 

Taste: Rich, sweet and fruity. Really quite sweet, actually, almost cloying. definitely a 'port bomb' version of a rye whisky. More grape must, a little stone fruit - plum & nectarine, and a touch of peaches & cream. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Tobacco leaves, a little drying spice, black pepper and a touch of light earthy smoke. A touch of the rye grain in the last gasps but it's subtle. 

Notes: Definitely a sweeter, fruitier and syrupy sweet dram. The rye grain is a little hidden here, but I'd say fans of wine cask whiskies and sweet wines will find this rye up their alley. That sweetness is quite intense in fact, and it does seem to shorten the finish. 

Copper Fox Cognac Finish Rye, NAS, 50%.

1/3 malted barley, 2/3 rye, all floor-malted and lightly smoked with cherry & apple wood, aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak chips, then in refill bourbon barrels, then finished in ex- cognac-style spirit casks for four years. 

Colour: Deep bronze. Significantly darker. 

Nose: Buttered lightly burnt toast, with rich caramel sauce and a touch of vanilla bean ice cream. A couple of mint leaves nearby, and someone's smoking a cigar in the distance. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Richer again, more complex. No heat to this one. 

Taste: Rich, thick caramel sauce, the cognac cask influence really showing through. Some burned orange zest, buttery caramel, a touch of spicy rye grain and more lightly burnt toast. Soft ashy smoke around the edges. 

Finish: Medium length. Menthol and wood spice to start, and soft spicy smoke, then that rich buttery caramel again. Spice and toasted wood coming through to finish. 

Notes: Well that's a cracker. Why aren't more distilleries using cognac casks? When done well it can be excellent (Port Charlotte CC01 and Starward's NWP Cognac cask for example). And this Copper Fox shows that rye whisky is no exception to that generalisation. The cognac cask finish has added loads of richness, without dumping on the syrupy cloying sweetness. But this would still make for a great dessert dram - with the drying dye grain and soft smoke adding even more depth. Really impressive stuff!

Overall Notes: Four very solid rye whiskies here from Copper Fox. The port finish, surprisingly, was my least favourite of the bunch, but fans of sweeter wines and wine casks will probably find it more familiar. It also had the least evident rye grain character, which personally is what I look for in any rye whisky/whiskey before anything else. The Original and Sassy have that in spades though, and the added depth from the wood smoke in the Sassy is really quite interesting! As you've already guessed though, the Cognac cask finish is my pick of this bunch. That fantastic richness, without completely overwhelming the rye or the spirit, is really spot on - in my humble opinion. 

So, four impressive ryes to ring in Part One of this Copper Fox review! I'm already looking forward to getting in to the malts next week, although I must admit that I'm certainly warming to rye whiskies of late - thanks in part to Belgrove and a couple of others. And these four from Copper Fox certainly do tick that box. I highly recommend trying one, particularly if you're a fan of rye whiskies - these are quite unique and very interesting. 

At the time of writing, the Copper Fox range is available in Australia from Perth-based whisky specialists and other online stores such as Copper & Oak, The Spirit Safe and Odd Whisky Coy among a few others, and pricing is quite reasonable at $140-220 AUD depending on the bottling - obviously the port-style & cognac-style finishes at their higher bottling strengths are on the higher side of that scale. For those further afield, Google is your friend! 

See you next week for Part two: the Malts!