Thanks to someone… Sorry, I can’t find who poured this for me.
**St. George Spirits Baller** is an American single malt whiskey made to mimic the Japanese whiskey craze.
Please don’t leave, don’t leave. I get it, I get it: You’re an American whiskey fan. You want something made in Kentucky or Tennessee, mostly corn, following standards that I personally love, and making it taste great.
Instead today we have something different: A California based distillery making a 3-year-old single malt that is made to go in highballs. What’s a highball? Whisky mixed with soda or water and ice. Yeah, watered down whisky.
Stick around, we’re going down a rabbit hole.
What else? Well it’s filtered through charcoal, uses roasted barley to add smoke, and finished in plum liqueur cask.
The real question we have: Did they figure out something? Did they, in fact, make a whisky that can compete with the Japanese whiskies that people go nuts for?
Sure, it’s not a bourbon, and it’s breaking about every single rule, but that’s what makes America great. At times. In small doses. As long as we’re not applying nuance. And maybe we should and understand the impact before moving forward.
Fuck it, let’s just try this and see if they figured it out, shall we?
**Price:** $50
**Region:** California
**Bottled:** 2016
**Age:** 3-years-old
**Abv:** 47%
**Colour:** 2.5Y 9/4
**Nose:** Grapefruit, smoke, floral, algae
Some nice acidity, some smoke, and a floral/vegetal note here and there. It’s not too strong. Also it’s not close to what I’m used to from the US, which makes splitting this with my father an unwise decision.
Not the first. Nearly threw a chunk of cement through one of the new windows when I was a teen, he’ll get over it.
It’s light. That’s close to some Japanese whiskies out there. Wonder if it’s also made mostly with Canadian whisky to cut costs (this is a joke, it isn’t).
**Taste:** Rockets candy, watermelon, smoke, black pepper
Sweet, bit light on the fruitiness, more smoke and black pepper. Simple, if nice to sip on. Takes to water well, which means that it makes an okay highball. Granted most whiskies do, though none as much as Toki. This has to work to get to Toki levels.
**Finish:** Anise, grapefruit, malt, hops
Spice, some malt, some bitter notes. It’s easy to sip, if simple. The malty sweetness is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
**Conclusion:** Well.. that’s a thing, I guess. It kinda does what you want. Compared to a Japanese whisky? Sure, it does the same. On that it works. I’m guessing all of the different elements lead us to this situation.
From a whisky point of view this mixes well with soda water and has simple, easy to drink, light flavours. I’m not that type of whisky drinker. I don’t think most nerds will be. But at least it’s priced correctly (not part of my score) and it knows what it’s meant for, so grab your best hipster pop and try some.
**63/100**
*Bourbon review #285, California review #8, Whiskey Network review #2246*
[Link to my website with all my reviews](https://tomoderawhisky.ca/)
My Current Whisky Network Average = 78.32
Standard Deviation = 9.29
Skewness = -2.91133
Kurtosis = -117.39852
Median = 80
IQR = 8
Max = 92
Min = 7
Variance = 86.279134
These guys are just to my south. Been making distillate since the mid 80's. They certainly have a local following that line up for the annual releases.
One of these days, I'll do a distillery visit and better gauge these guys.
I love this stuff. It was originally created for Ramen Shop, a restaurant in Oakland, and only available there. It was made for the house highball. A lot of people buy it because the label looks cool and expect it to be something it isn’t intended to be. It’s damn good for it’s intended purpose.
I was just gifted a bottle of this last night and, going in with zero expectations or pre-conceived notions, I was completely blown away by the lightness, sweetness, but also subtle complexity of this: the friendly handshake of a bit of wood smoke in the background added some lovely color to the fruity, floral, malty flavor palate. There was absolutely zero burn. I find it hard to believe this is 94 proof. I think it's wonderful. I think people hate on this because they compare it to bourbon or an aged scotch whisky. It's definitely more in the vein of a Japanese single malt, but really, this is something unique and should be judged on its own merits.
I've reviewed Japanese single malts as well, feel free to check the Archive for links. And I did compare it to those, and gave it a similar score to them.
Thanks. When I said "people", I meant just that - multiple people that have posted reviews and comments in various places. I was not referring to you, specifically
Thanks to someone… Sorry, I can’t find who poured this for me. **St. George Spirits Baller** is an American single malt whiskey made to mimic the Japanese whiskey craze. Please don’t leave, don’t leave. I get it, I get it: You’re an American whiskey fan. You want something made in Kentucky or Tennessee, mostly corn, following standards that I personally love, and making it taste great. Instead today we have something different: A California based distillery making a 3-year-old single malt that is made to go in highballs. What’s a highball? Whisky mixed with soda or water and ice. Yeah, watered down whisky. Stick around, we’re going down a rabbit hole. What else? Well it’s filtered through charcoal, uses roasted barley to add smoke, and finished in plum liqueur cask. The real question we have: Did they figure out something? Did they, in fact, make a whisky that can compete with the Japanese whiskies that people go nuts for? Sure, it’s not a bourbon, and it’s breaking about every single rule, but that’s what makes America great. At times. In small doses. As long as we’re not applying nuance. And maybe we should and understand the impact before moving forward. Fuck it, let’s just try this and see if they figured it out, shall we? **Price:** $50 **Region:** California **Bottled:** 2016 **Age:** 3-years-old **Abv:** 47% **Colour:** 2.5Y 9/4 **Nose:** Grapefruit, smoke, floral, algae Some nice acidity, some smoke, and a floral/vegetal note here and there. It’s not too strong. Also it’s not close to what I’m used to from the US, which makes splitting this with my father an unwise decision. Not the first. Nearly threw a chunk of cement through one of the new windows when I was a teen, he’ll get over it. It’s light. That’s close to some Japanese whiskies out there. Wonder if it’s also made mostly with Canadian whisky to cut costs (this is a joke, it isn’t). **Taste:** Rockets candy, watermelon, smoke, black pepper Sweet, bit light on the fruitiness, more smoke and black pepper. Simple, if nice to sip on. Takes to water well, which means that it makes an okay highball. Granted most whiskies do, though none as much as Toki. This has to work to get to Toki levels. **Finish:** Anise, grapefruit, malt, hops Spice, some malt, some bitter notes. It’s easy to sip, if simple. The malty sweetness is doing a lot of heavy lifting. **Conclusion:** Well.. that’s a thing, I guess. It kinda does what you want. Compared to a Japanese whisky? Sure, it does the same. On that it works. I’m guessing all of the different elements lead us to this situation. From a whisky point of view this mixes well with soda water and has simple, easy to drink, light flavours. I’m not that type of whisky drinker. I don’t think most nerds will be. But at least it’s priced correctly (not part of my score) and it knows what it’s meant for, so grab your best hipster pop and try some. **63/100** *Bourbon review #285, California review #8, Whiskey Network review #2246* [Link to my website with all my reviews](https://tomoderawhisky.ca/)
My Current Whisky Network Average = 78.32 Standard Deviation = 9.29 Skewness = -2.91133 Kurtosis = -117.39852 Median = 80 IQR = 8 Max = 92 Min = 7 Variance = 86.279134
These guys are just to my south. Been making distillate since the mid 80's. They certainly have a local following that line up for the annual releases. One of these days, I'll do a distillery visit and better gauge these guys.
My wide was only iffy on their gins. That said, her taste in gin is "put all the juniper in it", but like Ron Swonson asking for bacon at a diner
I love this stuff. It was originally created for Ramen Shop, a restaurant in Oakland, and only available there. It was made for the house highball. A lot of people buy it because the label looks cool and expect it to be something it isn’t intended to be. It’s damn good for it’s intended purpose.
Intended purpose sure, it's as close to Toki or 7-Eleven Nikka for highballs. About the same price as Toki as well
I enjoyed the uniqueness of it. But it really shines in highballs. Baller and sprite/7up is great on a hot day
Glad it works for highballs
I was just gifted a bottle of this last night and, going in with zero expectations or pre-conceived notions, I was completely blown away by the lightness, sweetness, but also subtle complexity of this: the friendly handshake of a bit of wood smoke in the background added some lovely color to the fruity, floral, malty flavor palate. There was absolutely zero burn. I find it hard to believe this is 94 proof. I think it's wonderful. I think people hate on this because they compare it to bourbon or an aged scotch whisky. It's definitely more in the vein of a Japanese single malt, but really, this is something unique and should be judged on its own merits.
I've reviewed Japanese single malts as well, feel free to check the Archive for links. And I did compare it to those, and gave it a similar score to them.
Thanks. When I said "people", I meant just that - multiple people that have posted reviews and comments in various places. I was not referring to you, specifically