KCFreePress.com

Carroll County, Iowa is what people imagine when they imagine the rural Midwest — flat and wide open, a patchwork of quadrangular fields, stitched by windbreaks and section roads, dotted with silos and the utilitarian structures of modern industrial agriculture. What's hard to imagine, though, is the area's prohibition-era history. Templeton, population 350, was a bootlegging town whose cash crop was known in Midwestern speakeasies as "The Good Stuff."

From rowdy gangland Chicago to rollicking Pendergast-era KC, Templeton Rye was one of the name brands of illicit whiskey. Its production provided hard-up Carroll County farmers a market for their grain, and in Templeton it provided a local legend that would turn into lore after 1933, when the nation sobered to the notion of "The Noble Experiment" and repealed the 18th Amendment.

Nearly 70 years later, a trio of Iowans — taken with family bootlegging stories and the nascent renaissance of both craft distilling and rye whiskey — dug up the original recipe and began producing Templeton Rye again. In keeping with their regionalist bent, the producers are committed to a variety of locally-focused endeavors. A portion of their distillation is performed in Templeton, as is their entire bottling operation. They are growing a small quantity of rye with the hopes of eventually supplying some of their own grain. And the company maintains a presence in local farmers' markets and small town festivals throughout Iowa. The distillery even landscapes with native prairie species. A blog features Carroll County denizens recounting stories from Templeton's original bootlegging days and news from the distillery. A focus on small, high-quality production runs and a hands-on approach that includes touches like individual, hand-written labels permeates the company and their whiskey.

The mash bill consists of at least 51% rye, and Templeton ages their whiskey a minimum of four years in new, charred-oak barrels. The assertive grain and the age combine for a big, complex whiskey, served young enough to clean up its messy mouth feel with a bright burn. Like Carroll County itself, Templeton Rye is a wide, open whiskey, with a patchwork of distinct flavors and aromas that shuffle past like rows of corn from a car window — each one distinct, lined up straight and deep. In the glass it is a supple russet, the color of the late afternoon in fall.

With a leathery and slightly sour nose touched by hardy notes of citrus and a little duskiness, it is a fascinating glass. Its mouth feel is textured to the point of being chewy, but its flavor is lively and broad as a barn dance. The rye itself — so often described as spicy — is here something more like wild. The other grains in the mash bill are quiet, supple and expansive on the tongue, but the rye dominates. The finish is crisp, shortish and closes with a distinct suggestion of pickle. This whiskey is as distinct from bland Canadian ryes as it is from corn-based Bourbon or old-world barley whiskeys. From the heart of the corn-belt, this distillery reminds the drinker why rye was the grain of choice in pre-prohibition America whiskey: it can be bold and smooth at the same time.

When it was illegal, Templeton commanded up to $5.25/gallon in KC's bootleg trade. Lamentably, you still can't buy it here. Due to production limitations, they only distribute to Iowa and Illinois. But a 750 ml bottle retails for $32.00 in the liquor stores across our northern border — a palatable price for a whiskey of this caliber. Take a day and pick a northbound highway. Hit the first liquor store north of the Iowa border. Don't ask for "the good stuff" because the kid working the counter won't know what you're talking about, and when you explain it, he'll look at you like you're a total loser. Just grab a bottle and be your own bootlegger.

Photo by Trevor H.

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