Catoctin Creek Ragnarok Rye Whiskey Collaboration with GWAR Batch 2023

Catoctin Creek Ragnarok Rye Whiskey Collaboration with GWAR Batch 2023 is the 2023 chapter of heavy metal's most unlikely whiskey partnership: the "Oderus Edition" of Ragnarök Rye, honoring GWAR's late frontman Dave Brockie with bottle artwork he drew himself. This pot-stilled rye — aged in charred new white oak, sugar maple, and cherrywood — is bottled at 92 proof (46% ABV), 750mL, and only 200 cases were made. It pours with the maple-and-cherrywood sweetness Catoctin Creek's ryes are known for over a firm rye-spice backbone. Available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.

• Proof / ABV: 92 proof (46% ABV) — 750mL bottle
• Edition: Batch 2023 "Oderus Edition" — tribute to Dave Brockie; artwork by Brockie; only 200 cases
• Process: pot-stilled; aged in charred new white oak, sugar maple, and cherrywood
• Distillery: Catoctin Creek Distilling Co., Purcellville, Virginia
• Profile: cherrywood, sugar maple, traditional rye spice

Space Monsters Make Rye Whiskey

The story, per Catoctin Creek founder Scott Harris: GWAR showed up at the quiet Purcellville, Virginia distillery, and the only way to get the intergalactic visitors to leave was to bottle their whiskey for them. What started as a joke became an annual collaboration — and the 2023 edition turned serious, dedicating the release to Dave Brockie, the band's original frontman who died in 2014, with his own drawings on the label. The distillers back it with real craft: pot-distilled rye finished in three woods — charred new white oak plus sugar maple and cherrywood — for a profile unlike any traditional rye. Browse more rye whiskey or everything from Catoctin Creek at Del Mesa.

Tasting Notes

Press and retailer consensus: notes of cherrywood and sugar maple produce subtle flavors unheard of in a traditional rye — the maple brings sweetness, the cherrywood a dark-fruit depth, and the rye grain itself a firm spicy backbone. At 92 proof it drinks rich and layered.

How to Enjoy

Neat to catch the three-wood interplay — or, fittingly for a metal collaboration, poured loud and proud. The maple sweetness also makes it a natural for a rye Old Fashioned.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 2023 "Oderus Edition"?
The third annual Catoctin Creek × GWAR release, dedicated to Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus), GWAR's frontman until his death in 2014 — the bottle artwork was drawn by Brockie himself, and only 200 cases were produced.

What woods is Ragnarok Rye aged in?
Charred new white oak plus sugar maple and cherrywood — an unusual triple-wood finish that gives the rye its maple sweetness and cherrywood depth.

Is Ragnarok Rye a gimmick bottle?
The packaging is pure GWAR theater, but the whiskey is serious: pot-stilled rye from a respected Virginia craft distillery, bottled at 92 proof with real age in three woods.

Metal, maple, and rye spice — order the Catoctin Creek × GWAR Ragnarok Rye 2023 from Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.