BODIE 5 DOG
Batch 6 (2025)MASH BILL – 100% two-row malted barley
PROOF – 80
AGE – 8 years in a new charred 53-gallon American oak barrel
DISTILLERY – Dry Diggings Distillery
PRICE – $45 (375ml bottle)
WORTH BUYING? – Yes!
It’s been over five years since I’ve had Bodie 5 Dog. That was Batch 3 from 2019, my second bottle of that batch. Bodie 5 Dog is a single malt whiskey distilled and bottled by Dry Diggings Distillery in El Dorado Hills, California. They’re located close enough down Highway 50 from my hometown of Placerville for me to consider their products my hometown hooch. Their Rubicon Rye is a perennial fave among ryes for me. And their elusive 31n50 is the unicorn of unicorns in my personal whiskey unicorn fairytale book.
On a long overdue hometown visit, I stopped by Dry Diggings to pick up this recently bottled sixth batch of the Bodie.
Dry Diggings is not one for detailed labelling. That this single malt is aged 8 years is something one must visit their website or tasting room to learn. The Bodie label never shares the fine details. Same goes for the Rubicon Rye, their most consistently released release, and yet just as idiosyncratic from release to release.
In fact, I’d say the only consistencies Dry Diggings are interested in are their labels (it’s cheaper than printing new labels for each batch) and their desire to respond to the particulars of each barrel of spirit they make. If one barrel of Rubicon Rye is amazing all on its own, for example, it may very well constitute the next batch. But since the standard Rubicon label does not say “single barrel” on it, nobody would know. A given batch of Rubicon Rye could just as easily be a blend of two or three barrels, because they thought those barrels balanced one another in some interesting way. But again, who’s to know?
Cris Steller, that’s who. He’s the owner and founder of Dry Diggings, and his maverick personality determines the varied nature of the distillery’s products. Steller values history and tradition—you can see it in the name of each product and all over their label designs. But he also values going against the grain, to find what is unique rather than merely replicate the been there done that.
What Steller does not value much is the American three-tiered distribution mafia—er, I mean, system—so he doesn’t bother with it. You won’t find Dry Diggings products in stores. You have to go to them directly to get their stuff. This makes your purchase more personal. It will likely be Steller himself, or else his daughter Erica, who rings you up at the register. And Steller’s son, Kendric, is the chief distiller. Dry Diggings is a true family operation. People say that about Wild Turkey, led by three generations of the Russell family but owned by the Italian Campari Group. But Dry Diggings is small enough that their personal touch isn’t just marketing. It’s quite literally personal.
So let’s get a sip of this small-town California single malt. Here we are, just a week after uncorking and three pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a traditional Glencairn.
COLOR – talk about unfiltered! Hazy and dark honey ambers
NOSE – sweet and slightly tart stone fruit notes like nectarine, apricot, red plum; milk chocolate, subtle caramel chews, a lightly bitter oak tannin outline
TASTE – flips the nose, with vanilla and the caramel chews in front, the fruit notes stepping back, and the oak tannins still etching their outline around it all; with a thick creamy texture echoing that hazy color
FINISH – a big wave of papaya rolls in, followed by lingering caramel, stone fruit, and now the oak tannins thickening
OVERALL – a wild combo of sweet, tart, and bitter
This wee bottle packs a lot of flavor, even at the whiskey minimum of 80 proof. At once luscious and edgy, the various aromas and flavors slosh back and forth between their sweet and bitter qualities. The flavor profile really swirls around itself and evolves over time.
Given the nose and taste, the finish holds the big surprise with that sudden burst of papaya. Just like an ocean wave, it comes on strong and then subsides. But with each sip it rolls in again.
The tannic element also adds to the wildness, alternately thickening and lightening at seeming random, like sand gathering and dispersing at the whim of a gusty seaside wind.
At $45 for a 375ml bottle, Bodie 5 Dog isn’t cheap. But when I consider the specs—aged 8 years by a small craft distillery, left unadulterated by any filtering or added color—had I even paid $90 for a full 750ml bottle, I’d still be pleased. This single malt offers such a wild flavor punch, yet holds itself together with a grace and ease many even more established and costly craft distillery’s can’t yet achieve. When I think about how much a paid for some smaller Japanese distillery products—Kanosuke, for example—this local whiskey is a deal!
So if you’re a single malt fan, and you’re ever driving along Highway 50 in Northern California, take the turnoff to Dry Diggings in El Dorado Hills and pick up a bottle of this stuff. Grab a bottle of Rubicon Rye while you’re at it, have lunch in their restaurant, and take a cup of coffee to go from the cafe. Everything you need in one spot!
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 