Koval's Four Grain is a quietly ambitious thing. Where most American whiskies pick a hero grain and build around it, this one refuses to choose: oat, malted barley, rye and wheat all share the mashbill, each pulling in its own direction, each trimmed back before it can dominate. The result is a whisky that reads like a conversation rather than a speech.
As with everything from the Birneckers' Chicago distillery, it is certified organic, single barrel and bottled without chill filtration. No two releases are identical, but the shape of Four Grain is consistent: a soft, cereal-forward nose layered with vanilla, honeyed oat and ripe pear, and a faint crust-of-rye-bread note sitting at the back.
On the palate it opens round and gentle. Oats bring their characteristic porridge sweetness, wheat adds honey and baked apple, malted barley offers a biscuit foundation, and rye finally arrives at the midpoint to whisper a little spice into proceedings. The texture is creamy without being heavy.
The finish pulls the threads together: oat milk, cinnamon, a last polish of dry oak. At 47% it has the backbone to carry all four voices without any of them shouting over the rest.
Four Grain is a whisky for thinking about. It is not a one-note pour you can identify across a noisy room, which is precisely its virtue — it asks for attention and rewards it generously. One of the most distinctive American whiskies I have tasted in years.
