Friday evening my wife and I went First Friday at the Mississippi River Distillery (MRD) http://www.mrdistilling.com/ in Le Claire, IA and had a great evening. First Friday is the brainstorm of the Burchett Brothers: Ryan and Garrett, the owners/distillers at MRD. They have and open house from 5:30-8pm every first Friday of the month, featuring their Spirits and food made with their spirits. This month since it was Apple Fest in Le Claire everything served involved apples in some way. The food recipes are done by "Spirited Chef" Stephanie Godke and are delicious, but also usually not overly difficult to make.
This month also some other Le Claire businesses provided some featured food as well. Kernel Cody's Popcorn Shoppe http://kernelcodyspopcorn.com/ provided samples of Carmel Apple Popcorn and Ocean's Escape Women's Center http://kernelcodyspopcorn.com/ provided samples of Apple Lemon Lavender Muffins. Both were very good.
Besides the featured food samples MRD has featured mixed drinks made with their spirits. The first one was an Apple Martini featuring their latest vodka River Pilot Vodka, a more traditional vodka than their original River Baron Vodka. The second drink was Autumn Embrace featuring River Rose Gin. I enjoyed trying both of the drinks, but preferred the Apple Martini. When you walk in the door you receive a card entitling you to two sample drinks. If you and the person or people you are with plan well enough you can try a sip of the featured drinks as well as the straight Spirits.
My wife and I did plan well so we were able to compare the River Baron side by side with the River Pilot. Both are very good vodkas but equally different from each other. The River Baron is more flavorful spirit with hints of spicy, pepper and a light nuttiness from wheat, besides the sweet, smoothness of corn. The River Pilot is more neutral in taste, so it would be a good vodka for mixed drinks. Both do stand up well by themselves as well, so do not hesitate to purchase either one.
MRD currently has in their stable River Baron Vodka, River Pilot Vodka, River Rose Gin and Wide River Wheat, a seasonal spirit. The key with the Wide River Wheat is that it is a seasonal spirit; so that means once it is gone it is all gone. We picked up a bottle for us last night, with under 300 bottles left it will not last long. As well they have more spirits coming down the pipe, including seasonal #2 Iowa Coffee Company Liqueur and what my wife and I are looking forward to Cody Road Bourbon. The Coffee Liqueur will be featured at the November First Friday and the Bourbon will be featured at the December First Friday. We are looking forward to the next couple of First Fridays.
MRD is ever expanding and they are soon to be in Missouri and looking to expanding further North and South. They also are receiving national attention in the press and national vodka events. A bottle of River Baron Vodka was in the room at the Blackhawk Hotel waiting when The President of the United States stayed overnight this summer. Hopefully the bottle found a good home at the White House!
The First Friday Event is a fun evening to see the distillery, try some special food as well as the special locally produced spirits. So remember that the next First Friday will be on November 4th, I'm sure the folks at MRD will go out of their way to make you feel welcomed. Come on out, it is a fun time!
QC Beerguy
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