Admittedly I am not much of a 'spirits' gal. More of a wine gal. And if I am going to venture into the spirits let's keep them clear....your whiskies you can have. Sure, I've been known to partake in a 'hot whiskey', for purely medicinal reasons of course, or take a sip of the Irish whiskey, because according to my great Auntie Mae, "a lady doesn't drink beer, a lady drinks whiskey." Oh my. Seriously? Yes. She would sooner see me drink a whiskey, or worse yet, a shot of poitin (aka, Irish moonshine) then lift a pint.

Well, I think I can finally become a 'lady' in my great auntie's eyes as I have discovered a whiskey that I can not only partake in, but throughly enjoy. That my friends would be white whiskey. Wha'? No, I am not talking moonshine or white lighting, but whiskey at it's purest: skip barrel aging altogether and bottle directly. This is not any mass-produced base white whiskey, but an all organic, all kosher, made from scratch, with locally sourced grains, white whiskey. This spirit (or spirits I should say) with it's floral nose and clean fresh flavor isn't made in a backwoods still, but in Chicago's 1st boutique distillery: Koval. Every step of the distilling process, from the mashing, to the fermenting, to the bottling is done at Koval's north Ravenswood Ave. location.

Founders, Sonat and Robert Birnecker walked away from careers in academia to carry-on Robert's Austrian grandfather's distilling tradition. Just one sip (note: this is not a brace yourself to wince sip, or am I the only one to do that when tasting whiskey and spirits) of one of their five white whiskies, or rye vodka, and you will be so grateful that academia's loss is now our gain. Each of their grain spirits has their own crisp and clean distinct flavor, that are truly enjoyable sipped on their own, or blended beautifully into a cocktail. And, speaking of distinct flavors, Koval does not stop at grain spirits, but offers up the most interesting selection of liqueurs. Sure ginger liqueur has become pretty popular in recent years, and Koval's is made with (are you kidding me) hand peeled organic ginger, but where else can you find Rose Hip (a gorgeous mixer or apertif), Chrysanthemum Honey (floral and honey flavors all in one? beyond lovely), Coffee (that tastes of fresh ground coffee beans and not some cloying chemically imposter for coffee), and Jasmine (all I can say to that is, WOW).

So many Chicago area chefs have embraced the Koval line of spirits and liqueurs, not only to create signature cocktails at their establishments, but they have snuck bottles off the bar, and into their kitchens to, no, not swig on their shifts, but to enhance the dishes that they are creating. Now, you don't have to go to your favorite restaurant, or bar to enjoy the Koval line (though I certainly do not discourage that behavior). If you are like me, and like to try your hand at your own mixology and cooking abilities, then there are plenty of area retailers, and on-line retailers for you my out of town readers, where you can get your hands on these incredible handcrafted distillates. Go to Koval's website www.koval-distillery.com for a complete list of retailers and some great cocktail recipes as well. And, while on the website reviewing the Koval product line, take notice of the beautiful bottle labels designed by a local artist, aka, Sonat's mom. Now that's keeping it local.

mo