One of my favorite things to drink is a good finished whiskey. While I love straight bourbon, rye and others as they are the art of finishing a whiskey is just pretty cool to me. I sit down with 8 finished whiskeys from 5 whiskey producers to see how they fair in a blind taste test! Let’s dive in shall we!
Tasting notes: Glass A
- Nose: Cinnamon sugar, nutmeg, chocolate frosting, faint leather and tobacco
- Palate: Bold palate with dark fruits, cherry cola, rye spice and nutmeg
- Finish: Lingering dark red fruit and tannin for a nice well rounded finish
Tasting notes: Glass B
- Nose: Apple cider, vanilla, clove, very malty and a hint of grain.
- Palate: Drinks like a single malt. Rich creamy palate. Warm baking spices, eggnog, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Finish: Very short and malt forward finish.
Tasting notes: Glass C
- Nose: Butterscotch, green apple/ green grapes, almost tart on the nose slight bit of lemon rind.
- Palate: Wine forward palate, with notes of creamy butterscotch candy, pepper, vanilla and plum.
- Finish: Long fruity finish with that is very juicy.
Tasting notes: Glass D
- Nose: Brown sugar, smells like TN whiskey, chocolate, dark fruit (apricots and plums)
- Palate: Flavor bomb on the palate. Brown sugar, chocolate, plum, cream cheese frosting
- Finish: Toasted brown sugar for a light to medium finish
Tasting notes: Glass E
- Nose: Fruit forward, green apple, rye spice, lemon, caramel, vanilla and oak
- Palate: Grain forward, spearmint , oak, sweet wheat and custard
- Finish: Short finish finish with not a ton of flavor.
Tasting notes: Glass F
- Nose: White wine, cherry, orchard green apple, white pepper and vanilla.
- Palate: Very easy sipper, vanilla, white pepper, grape and brown sugar.
- Finish: lingering notes of toasted vanilla and brown sugar.
Tasting notes: Glass G
- Nose: Cream soda, vanilla, very fruity
- Palate: creamy palate, rye spices, pepper, vanilla, oak and honey
- Finish: short finish with a pop of those spices.
Tasting notes: Glass H
- Nose: Citrus, rye spices oak and vanilla
- Palate: Drank very sweet, with a bit of backend rye spice and toasted vanilla.
- Finish: A nice medium finish that was decently rounded
Blind Tasting Thoughts
There were four pours that stood out to me during the blind part of the tasting Glasses A, C, D and F. Having a bit left in each glass I ran through those four and found my winner!
Ranking Finished Whiskeys From 8th to 1st
8th – Copper & Kings Apple Brand Finish
- Age: A blend of 15, 10 and 5 Years
- Mashbill: 64% 5 year Bardstown Bourbon Co., 24% 10 year Barton, and 12% 15 year Heaven Hill
- Style: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Apple Brandy Casks
- Finish: Apple Brandy for 12 months
- Price: $65
7th – Whiskey War Double Oak Batch #6
- Age: At least 5 years old
- Mashbill: Undisclosed
- Style: Straight Whiskey Double Oaked
- Finish: Double Oaked for 6 – 12 months
- Price: $69.99
6th – Blacked x Rabbit Hole
- Age: Undisclosed
- Mashbill: 13-year-old straight Tennessee bourbon whiskey featuring a mash bill of 64 percent corn, 36 percent rye, and Rabbit Hole Heigold High Rye Double Malt Kentucky straight bourbon, made from a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 25 percent malted rye, and 5 percent malted barley.
- Style: Blend of Straight bourbon whiskeys
- Finish: Calvados
- Price: $149.99
5th – Bardstown Bourbon Company Goose Island Collaboration
- Age: Blend of 7, 6 and 9 year
- Mashbill:
- 56% 7 Year Kentucky Bourbon (53% Corn; 26% Rye; 21% Malted Barley) – Finished
- 26% 6 Year Kentucky Bourbon (53% Corn; 26% Rye; 21% Malted Barley) – Finished
- 18% 9 Year Kentucky Bourbon (78% Corn; 13% Rye; 9% Malted Barley) – Not Finished
- Style: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Finish: Stout finish for 12 months
- Price: $159.99
4th – Whiskey War Double Oak Batch #8
- Age: Over Five Years
- Mashbill: Undisclosed
- Style: Blend of Straight Whiskeys
- Finish: Double Oak
- Price: $69.99
3rd – Whiskey War Double Oak Finished In PX Sherry Casks
- Age: 6 years old
- Mashbill: Undisclosed
- Style: Blend of straight whiskeys
- Finish: Double Oak and PX Sherry
- Price: $109.99
2nd – High N’ Wicked “The Jury”
- Age: 15 Years Old
- Mashbill: 84% corn, 8% rye, 8% malted barley
- Style: Tennessee Bourbon
- Finish: Aged 14 years new #4 char American white oak. Finished for 12 months in Ex-Tinta Negra Madeira Casks
- Price: 149.99
1st – High West Midwinter Night’s Dram Act 11
- Age: Undisclosed
- Mashbill: Blend of 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP; 80% rye, 20% malted rye from High West distillate
- Style: Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys
- Finish: Port Barrels
- Price: $149.99
I think this crop of whiskey was really hard to judge, but it pushed my palate and had a great time diving into all the complex and rich flavors. If you are looking for a whiskey producer to keep an eye on don’t sleep on the team from High Bank Distillery. But all in all I am not shocked that High Midwinters Nights Dram Act 11 won this competition as this was a stellar blend the team put together!
Let us know your thoughts on the whiskeys we tried and if you would rank them differently.
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