An American Whiskey Tasting Part 1
To prepare for the our trip to the US, I organized an American Whiskey tasting with friends. However, because of our honeymoon, it took me that long to write up the results. All in all, we tried an American Whiskey, six bourbons and four rye whiskies. Below you will find the first part of the tasting.
The hardest part of the tasting was to decide on a limited number of whiskies. This is especially important when it comes to American Whiskey which regularly is bottled at higher proof. In the end, we, five tasters, most of them Scotch fans, tried eleven whiskies. The ratings resemble the average notes of the tasters.
Not a bourbon, not a rye
The first whiskey we tried was the Michter’s Sour Mash Whiskey. The whiskey contains less than 51 % corn and less than 51 % rye, therefore it is neither a bourbon nor a rye. Apart from that, Michter’s distill their whiskey in their own distillery in Shively, Louisville. Despite its name, the Sour Mash only has slight acidic notes with a lot of vanilla. Overall, the tasters really enjoyed the mellow, but jet complex taste of the whiskey.
Six year old bourbon from Tennessee
The next whiskey on the list, was the Bib & Tucker 6-Year-Old Bourbon. The sourced spirit probably comes from the Tennessee Distilling Group. The mash-bill consist of 70 % corn, 26 % rye and 4 % malted barley. The ageing is done in No. 1 charred American oak barrels. The lighter char also results in a lighter whiskey with floral notes and hints of candy. The whiskey was mellow, but had more glue notes.
Promising blended bourbon
The Widow Jane 10-years somehow already has a legendary reputation. Widow Jane source their whiskey from three different distilleries from Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Only five barrels at a time go into the blend which is diluted with limestone filtered water from the Rosendale Mines, NY. The resulting whiskey has fruity flavours with a combination of peppermint and cereal notes. Most tasters acknowledged the more mature bourbon notes.
Spicy rye notes
The first rye whiskey in the tasting, was a welcomed change in flavour. The Russell’s Reserve 6 Years Rye is a special bottling by Jimmy and Eddie Russell from Wild Turkey. Rye makes up for 63 % of the mash bill with the remainder being 23 % corn and 12 % malted barley. On top of that, Wild Turkey uses a Column Still with a Doubler and ages their whiskey in No. 4 Alligator char barrels. The whiskey has typical rye notes with additional candied violets and a lot of backing spices. The tasters enjoyed those classic rye characteristics quite a bit.
Walnuts and plums
Reservoir uses a different approach to their whiskeys. Instead of a mixed rye and corn mash-bill, the Reservoir Rye consists of 100 % rye. On top of that, the craft distillery ages their whiskeys in 20 l, No. 4 char barrels. The resulting flavour profile is quite different from regular rye whiskey. Apart from a distinct walnut flavour we found dried fruit notes with hints of plums. All in all, the tasters enjoyed the Reservoir Rye whiskey the best in the tasting.
Strong oak notes
The next bourbon started the over 50 % ABV category of the tasting. The Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel uses a mash-bill with 75 % corn, 13 % rye and 12 % malted barley. After the ageing for seven to nine years, Wild Turkey bottles each barrel individually. Therefore, the taste can vary from batch to batch, but consisted of a lot of oak notes. There also were distinct glue and spice flavours. This resulted in mixed reviews, but in a quite good overall rating.
Powerful rye taste
On to the next rye whiskey, we tried, the Pikesville Rye from the Heaven Hill distillery. They use their regular rye mash-bill of 51 % rye, 39 % corn and 10 % malted barley. Furthermore, Heaven Hill ages the Pikesville for six years in No. 3 char barrels. Besides clear rye and rye bread notes, we also discovered a distinct cotton flavour in the whiskey. On top of that, you can also taste a lot of spices which the tasters also rather enjoyed.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The Michter’s was provided by Mack & Schuhle, the Bib & Tucker by the Bremer Spirituosen Contor, the Widow Jane by DTS & W and the Pikesville by Borco Markenimport.
