What I’m Drinking: Marble Triticale Whiskey

I’m a food or drink connoisseur. But I’m not someone with a refined palette who can tell the difference between something having notes of coffee versus notes of leather. Instead I prefer to focus on whether or not something is good. My approach was best stated by the philosopher Montgomery Burns: “I know what I hate, and I don’t hate this”.

Here we answer a fundamental question of life: “should you drink this?”

What I’m drinking: Marble Triticale Whiskey. Triticale is a hybrid grain halfway between rye and wheat originally created in 19th century Europe. The result is something between a Rye and a Bourbon, but distinct from both.

Marble distilling is a small local place originally based out of Marble Colorado that produces primarily vodka related spirits, and has recently branched out into brown stuff. Fittingly, their gimmick is filtering their booze through locally quarried marble stones. I’m not sure this actually adds anything to the end product, but it sounds cool.

The color: Warm Amber

The flavor: Brown

My initial thoughts: Pleasantly warm and very smooth. Not as sweet as most bourbon, nor as spicy as most rye.

Mix with: Nothing

Drink this if you like: Bourbon or Rye

Pair with: Pensiveness

Good for beginners? Yes, on account of the smoothness. They won’t be able to tell why its unusual, but the flavor speaks for itself.

Recommended cocktail for bad people: Old Fashioned, Boulevardier

Cost: Probably around $60 a bottle. More for cask strength.

Budget Alternative: Bulleit Rye mixed with Bulleit Bourbon

Who would like this: People who like brown booze and want to try something new. People who want to impress people with something unusual. People who don’t like brown booze but want to.

Did my wife like this: No

Fun facts to make you sound smart or interesting when you’re drinking it: Triticale has been around since the 1800s but has only recently started becoming a viable commercial crop; every part of this booze was created or grown within a few miles of the distillery, except the bottle; the Tribbles multiplied rapidly because they were eating future triticale.

How to get this: Unfortunately this is not produced for sale currently. It’s only available via a custom bottling program at the distillery. However their “Hoovers Revenge Rye” is pretty close. There are one or two other distilleries who make something similar, but I’ve never tried them to compare. Here’s one of them.

Should you drink this: Yes.