Made grain-to-glass using a traditional pot still distillation and aged in new charred oak with a mash bill of blue corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley.
Appearance: Ale/light oak. A hairline swirl mark forms. Mostly teardrops and some short thin legs.
Nose: The typical, instantly recognisable cherry, wood and vanilla aromas hit first on the nose. There’s a slight barrel char edge to it too, which is nice and adds another dimension. There are some tobacco leaves, peppery and cinnamon aromas too. It’s quite an outdoors type of nose. Forest notes like bark and damp leaves.
As the glass matures a custard vanilla side to the nose starts to present itself, I like this mild side to the nose.
Palate: Nice oily mouthfeel. Immediate flavours of reduced cherries, black pepper, cinnamon and a touch of aniseed/liquorice.
The nose is very much that of bourbon, it’s immediately recognisable. The palate however is less like your typical bourbon and the sweetness and depth bring it closer to whisky than most US whiskey.
Orange (maybe) now, like a halfway between normal sweet oranges and more bitter blood orange. There’s also a cooling mint, like fresh spearmint. Grilled peaches in syrup (if that’s possible?).
The more I drink the fruitier it gets and it’s a very nice journey.
Finish: Syrupy sweetness is left lingering the longest on the tongue, together with some black pepper and cinnamon.
Overall: I really like this, the nose was nothing spectacular (very nice though) but the palate is a joy. It’s got a lot more going on than most ‘standard’ bourbons.
