Workhorse Rye / Modern Ancient Pre-Order Combos

*** THESE DEALS ARE PRE-ORDER - SHIPS IN OCTOBER***

We are pre-selling some combinations of Workhorse Rye / Modern Ancient's new releases: their incredible 'Good Grain' Vodka (750ML), as well as their new ''Southwest Blend' Single-Cask Whiskey (750ML). Both combos will come with a complimentary bottle of their Orange Bitters (2OZ).


Modern Ancient - 'Good Grain' Vodka (750ML)

Designed to change your perception of what vodka can be. Collectively produced by a few small forward-thinking distillers from local, high quality grain, it will elevate the quality and flavor of anything from a simple vodka & soda to the most complex ingredient-driven cocktails.

Led and blended by Modern Ancient’s bartender-turned-distiller Rob Easter, this spirit is the result of over a decade of experience at every level of the game, from growing grains to pouring drinks. After a seemingly infinite line of people have reached out to Rob throughout the years asking him to produce a vodka at the same level as his Workhorse Rye and Modern Ancient products, he finally obliged.

The narrative of vodka has been muddled over the years. Between the deceptive marketing of top-shelf vodka and some of the more cocktail-focused consumer perspectives of “it’s all the same” and “there’s no taste to it”, we forget that it doesn’t have to be like this. It’s true that most of the vodka at your liquor store all tastes the same. But that’s because much like industrial-scale whiskey, rum, and tequila, most vodka is all the same and comes from the same low grade grain.
That’s where GOOD GRAIN VODKA comes in. Rob wanted to make something that shows you vodka doesn’t have to mean mundane. At its heart vodka, like all other spirits we drink, is made from plants. How those plants are grown matters, and producing spirit from quality grains that benefit the soil (and the farms workers who tend that soil), changes everything from the impact on the environment to the flavor profile, as well as your overall drinking experience.

This vodka is fundamentally high quality and artistically advanced in that each batch is thoughtfully blended from organic corn and malted barley, then slowly proofed down to keep the heirloom grain flavor intact and vibrant. With every batch this vodka becomes more complex, on purpose. It is bottled at 100 proof, which is different for a vodka; this provides a more useful bar bottle for both mixing cocktails and making infusions, keeping flavors intact, and ships the drinker less water per ounce than the standard 40% ABV.


 Modern Ancient - 'Southwest Blend' Single-Cask Whiskey (750ML)

California + Arizona Grown x Organic x Rare Heirloom Grains
50% ABV
750 mL

Presenting Modern Ancient's new SOUTHWEST BLEND, exclusively pre-sold through The Epicurean Trader!

As with the vast majority of Mondern Ancient's spirts, we aged this very special and tightly distilled whiskey in a used American oak cask made by artisans who cure the oak staves for years outside and slowly toast the barrels before expertly crafting them by hand.

Used oak casks allows the heirloom grains to be the focal point of the flavor rather than the sugar and spice influence from new oak. The grains in this bottle were grown outside the standard American commodity market and are therefore between about 14x the price of standard industrial and industrial organic grains used in other spirits. Heirloom grains are lower in starch—and therefore lower yielding in alcohol—but are very high yielding in flavor given that their flavor compounds have not been selected out by industrial agriculture “efficiencies”.

We helped organic farmer Aaron Cardova shuck this corn as well; every step of the way in our process is manual and fueled by passion.

However! We're offering this new blend at a steep discount as a big thank you for the 10+ years of supporting us and our small farmers! Enjoy!

Grain Sources: Arevalos (Mexican June Corn—BAJA AZ), Tehachapi Grain Project (rye/wheat field blend—LA CA), and Admiral Maltings (heirloom barley—BAY AREA CA)

Tasting Notes:

Upfront: Savory, citric, exemplary corn influence. Crusty corn bread with a bit of butter and chile which is a confluence of the dense heirloom grain flavors with just a kiss of quality, slowly toasted oak cask. Ever evolving nuttiness, from hazelnut to freshly toasted almond. Wine notes from purple barley. Back end: clean and long, light baking spice from used rye cask, croissant element from malted wheat and barley.