white dog is an American term for fresh spirit destined to be whisky as it comes off the still, before has been put into oak. For many years “white dog” was industry jargon, rarely heard outside of professional whisky distilleries. Many ideas regarding the origin of the name exist, none of them verifiable. The most obvious provenance would be simply that fresh spirit is clear and strong, so it is “white,” and it bites, like a dog. (The distinctive color of whisky comes not from the spirit itself but from the barrels in which it is aged.) As the popularity of distillery tours grew and more people tasted the new, high-proof spirit, interest in white dog grew. In the early years of the twenty-first century, as small distilleries proliferated, many distilleries decided to release their distillate without aging it and called it white dog. While some distillers were clearly enthusiastic about bottling an unaged spirit for its own sake, others saw an opportunity to sell a product that was at least related to whisky without having to barrel it and wait for it to age. Bigger distilleries soon followed suit, releasing their own white dogs.
See also barrel.
Rodewald, James. American Spirit. New York: Sterling Epicure, 2014.
Watman, Max. Chasing the White Dog. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
By: Max Watman