July 1, 2015

Young Americans four by four, part two

Today we’ll make sure we’re staying in the USA, and try to avoid American whisky sourced in Canada! Yeah well, we may well fail and not even notice…

Koval 'Four Grain' (47%, OB, USA, +/-2015)

This Chicagoan whisky is made from a mash bill of oat, malted barley, rye, and wheat and aged in new oak for a couple of years. And it is organic! Colour: pale gold. Nose: unusual, dry, kind of smoky and yet it’s not smoky, with notes of cinnamon cake, ashes, wholegrain bread (sunflower, acorn squash), then putty and fresh paint, which isn’t unpleasant at all. Also a bit of leather and something carbolic. Globally bready, but not as bready as other, more extreme young American whiskies. Mouth: I find this excellent, sure it’s very young, but this bready and spicy profile just works for me. Gingerbread and pepper, cardamom, toasted bread, nutmeg (a lot), cinnamon cake, ginger tonic, Campari… Gets a little rough, but after all it’s barely two. Is it two? Finish: long and spicy. Nutmeg and cardamom in bitter orange juice. Comments: I really like these characterful spicy styles. Indeed, in this kind of case, age doesn’t matter much ;-). SGP:461 - 84 points.

Another one at 47% vol…

Dad's Hat 'Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey' (45%, OB, USA, Pennsylvania, +/-2014)

Dad's Hat 'Vermouth Barrel Finish' (47%, OB, Pennsylvania Rye, USA, +/-2014)

A vermouth barrel finish? As they say, LOL. Apparently, this baby was aged for six months in new quarter casks, and finished for three months in vermouth. So it’s a toddler, isn’t it. Colour: orange amber. Nose: fun stuff! High rye, orange liqueur (triple sec), sweet bread, amlou (that’s a great mixture of argan oil, Atlas honey and almonds made in Morocco by the Berbers), gingerbread, spiced honey and… spiced honey. Almond cake. It doesn’t play it quiet, but I don’t think you could do much better within just nine months. Mouth: sweet, creamy, very rye-y, spicy… The oak’s a tad loud for my taste, but other than that, I enjoy this American pumpernickel. Oak extracts, cloves, cinnamon, black bread, orange zests… Sadly, it tends to become drying, that’s probably the new oak. Finish: long, spicy, oaky. Strong black tea without sugar. Comments: only the finish and ‘the end of the middle’ were too drying, what happened before was very enjoyable. Hats off to them (ooh that’s clever, S.)! SGP:451 - 80 points.

Rock Town 'Four Grain Sour Mash Bourbon' (46%, OB, Arkansas, USA, +/-2015)

Another ‘four grain’ whiskey. Earlier bottlings by Rock Town had been pretty impressive. In this case, some rye’s been added to the mash bill and the ‘sour mash’ technique’s been used. Colour: orange amber. Nose: same family of aromas, that is to say honey, spices, and Seville oranges. In fact this one’s rather breadier and more honeyed at the same time, it’s almost liquid cake. Balance is just perfect. Mouth: very creamy, spicy and honeyed, with touches of lavender sweets, orange drops, a bit of fudge, then various breads, as expected. Warning, I may quote pumpernickel again! Tends to become a little drying, just like the Dad’s Hat, but the additional breadiness makes for compensation. Some liquorice. Finish: long, spicy, with cloves, caraway, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Oh and bread. Comments: impressive (very) young whisky. What I like best in these is the fact that they’re so un-boring. SGP:451 - 83 points.

One last, very intriguing one…

Dry Fly 'Triticale Whiskey' (44%, OB, USA, Washington state, +/-2015)

What is triticale, you may ask? It’s a hybrid of Wheat and Rye. And Dry Fly? It is a craft distillery in Spokane, Washington. This whiskey was not sourced from out-of-state factories! So no fakery here… Colour: pale gold. Nose: this is much smoother (am I the only one to like the word smooth?), rounder, with more custard, fudge and brioche, and even a feeling of warm butter croissant early in the morning. After that arrival, we’re rather finding quinces, white bread, and a fistful of golden barley. Opening a new pack of Kellogg’s best (so to speak). Maybe drops of ale – IPA! Mouth: smooth (yeah!), easy, spicy and creamy, starting with acacia honey and cereal biscuits, and going on with sweet spices, caraway eau-de-vie, touches of aniseed, poppy seed, vanilla… Finish: of good length, spicy, a little drying again (young whiskeys ex-hyperactive oak cannot not get drying, can they), with an unexpected sweeter signature. Violet sweets? Comments: a gentler American craft whisky. Quality’s simply very high again. SGP:441 - 83 points.

Check the index of all American whiskies I've tasted so far

	June 2015
	Favourite recent bottling: Glen Garioch 23 yo 1990/2014 (56.1%, Berry Bros & Rudd, cask #7939) - WF 90 Favourite older bottling: Bowmore 12 yo ‘Bicentenary’ (43%, OB, for Germany, 1979) - WF 93 Favourite bang for your buck bottling: Glendronach ‘Cask Strength’ (54.7%, OB, batch 4, 2015) - WF 90

Favourite malternative:
Domaine de Courcelles 1972/2014 (47%, 'OB', Guadeloupe, Rumhouse Switzerland) - WF 91