Charcoal & Cornmeal & Rickhouses & a Decade 10 Year Old, and Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire & Sherry Casks & Cask Strength 10 Year Old (Batch 01)

Atom Labs is a small team that is constantly busy innovating in the world of spirits, making the next big thing – or maybe it’s the big thing that’s after the big thing which is next. Honestly, we’re not always sure how many big things ahead they are. But what is for definite is that Atom Labs is an innovator, not a reinventor. You only need to look at the likes of Jaffa Cake Gin, Burnt Ends Blended Whiskey and Central Galactic Spiced Rum to know you should expect deliciousness galore, but be ready to be surprised! 

Atom Labs

Charcoal & Cornmeal & Rickhouses & a Decade 10 Year Old, 40% ABV.

Appearance

This Bourbon is deep gold in colour, has a nice thick swirl line, syrupy teardrops and medium – thick legs.

Bourbon can so easily become over-oaked (a bitter taste in the whiskey) due to the climate in Kentucky – very hot summers and very cold winters. This causes the wood to expand and contract, forcing the liquid in and out of the wood #thewhiskeychaps

— AtomLabs (@AtomLabsUK) May 20, 2021

Nose

A touch of menthol, liquorice, for 40% ABV it’s quite spicy. I’m getting a cooked meat note, cherries, it’s dusty too, and wood varnish. There’s a lovely red apple skin note here, apricots, cereals too, like flapjack.

#thewhiskeychaps. Dram 1 nose , damp straw , initial dry oakiness , hints of polish and beeswax

— gordon smith (@gordonsmith63) May 20, 2021

Palate

Straight away lovely mouthfeel, then for me a super tropical fruit sweetness. Cinnamon, vanilla custard, and nicely warming rather than palate blaster.

Finish

Nice and warming, long side of medium, gently spicy with ginger, cinnamon, anise, dark chocolate, black pepper, oak, golden syrup, and grains/cereals, with a fruit cocktail sweetness that pops in and out, very nice.

Keep making whisky this good at this price point. Oh and a CS version of the Bourbon of course. Just stunning stuff your putting out though really impressive. I think the unpretentious branding makes how good the whisky is even more of a surprise#thewhiskeychaps

— Gareth Jenkins (@jenkaloid) May 20, 2021

My thoughts

I admit to having limited experience with Bourbons, i’ve probably tasted around a dozen good ones, some at barrel strength as they say. This bottling is at 40% ABV and carries itself well at that strength. It comes across as quite fruit sweet initially, and by the finish has developed into a quite spicy drop, plenty of dark and lightly bitter notes. As to whether i’d purchase a bottle, yes i would, and i hope that Atom Labs decide to release a barrel strength version in the future.

Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire & Sherry Casks & Cask Strength 10 Year Old (Batch 01), 56.3% ABV.

Appearance

This is more of a burnished copper colour, it beads up nicely on the swirl line, has syrupy thick teardrops and thick legs.

Seaweed sherry is the same liquid as the original (at cask strength) but 100% of the liquid is finished in sherry octaves #thewhiskeychaps

— AtomLabs (@AtomLabsUK) May 20, 2021

Nose

First off, ABV, cooked salty bacon, there’s perfume, cloves, pontefract cakes, figs, dunnage and earthiness, old style shoe Polish too. It’s pretty complex to be honest, I could spend an hour breaking this apart.

i really get maple bacon on the nose (and palate) i think this is why i get so hungry when i smell it! And sticky BBQ ribs

— AtomLabs (@AtomLabsUK) May 20, 2021

Palate

Great mouthfeel, oily and syrupy, cooked salted bacon here, BBQ sauce, red berries, Turkish delight chocolate bars and slightly medicinal too for me, a tinge of Germoline.

I didn’t expect that tbh Sean, it crept in under the radar 👍.#thewhiskeychaps

— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) May 20, 2021

That’s a belter of a palate Laura 🥰, we may be a while tasting this 😆.#thewhiskeychaps

— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) May 20, 2021

Finish

It’s long, warming and spicy, oily and syrupy. Dark chocolate, ginger, oak, dates, dandelion and burdock, black treacle, tobacco leaves, black liquorice, and a touch of black pepper. Very nice indeed.

My thoughts

Where to start with this one? Wow an immensely impressive whisky. Before it’s gone into Oloroso casks for 6-9 months it’s a very impressive peated Islay whisky, the Oloroso brings another dimension to it’s complexity and depth. If you are a peated and sherried whisky fan you may want to consider this bottle, it really is a lot of aromas and flavours for the money, and i’d definitely buy a bottle.

Overall tasting thoughts

I do like the branding and back to basics approach that Atom Labs brings to the table, it’s refreshing. I have tasted several offerings from them now and really enjoy them, and having Laura Carl from Atom Labs join us for more information and to answer questions was great, as she said, watch out in the next week for something new from them, can’t wait to be honest.

For more tweets from this tasting, which there are many, search #thewhiskeychaps on Tweetdeck and see how the whole tasting went.

Many thanks to – Atom Labs (AtomLabsUK on twitter).