Catoctin Creek Invaded by GWAR, Forced to Produce Ragnarök Rye Under Threat of Annihilation

Bourbon

December 7, 2020

Catoctin Creek Distilling Co. is pairing up with an unlikely partner for its newest whiskey release: metal band GWAR.

Catoctin Creek Ragnarök Rye is a 92-proof rye whisky aged in charred new white oak, then finished in sugar maple and cherry wood.

GWAR, the long-time band that legendarily hails from Antarctica and is hellbent on the destruction of humanity, lends its unique back story to the new rye. According to a news release, the band was born eons ago, when the members landed in Antarctica on a flaming comet that set much of the Earth on fire and left a massive crater that ultimately filled up with pure Antarctic water.

These events were recorded as the tale of Ragnarök, or the end of days. However, it was marked a beginning. As such, the blood of the gods, harvested from the great caldera of Anarctica, was been distilled and bottled by Catoctin Creek as Ragnarök Rye.

“Ahh, such a powerful spirit,” said The Berserker Blothar of GWAR. “A delicious sacrament to drink in preparation for battle, and it’ll get you really, really crazy.”

“Don’t get me wrong, this is an exciting release, but we were quite surprised when GWAR showed up at our distillery,” said founder and general manager, Scott Harris. “Purcellville is a quiet town, so to have these intergalactic visitors was — honestly — a little stressful. We had to constantly keep an eye on them to keep them from breaking stuff, and they even tried to eat our dog, Otto. The only way we could get them to leave was to agree to bottle their whiskey for them.”

The making of the final product sounds stressful as well. Per the announcement, The distillers at Catoctin Creek conducted experiments with aging the blood of GWAR in barrels made from the different types of wood scorched by the comet’s blast. They used rare grains and watered their mash bill with the melted Antarctic ice to create the whiskey.

Members of GWAR then “hurled the whiskey barrels into the orbit of the moon, causing contraction to take place as the barrels spun under the influence of the deathly coldness of space and the life-giving heat of the sun,” according to the news release.

The end result was Ragnarök Rye, which was bottled at 92 proof. MSRP is $99 per 750mL bottle, with availability in 27 U.S. markets.

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