If Preservation is already achieving that combination of rich fruit and ponderous dark notes at 6.5 years, that’s exciting. To enter the Preservation Wheated Bourbon’s flavor journey at the trailhead is a fun place to be, and now I look forward to every forthcoming release.
I’m here for the party so I’m not leaving. Unlike Steve, I don’t have a curfew or a standing bedtime. Halftime is for bathroom breaks, bourbon refills, and another trip to the food spread to see if anything new hit the table while I was watching the game.
The palate leads with cedar, bitter chocolate, new oak, clove and black pepper. It leaves the tongue tingling more than burning, but either way, it’s spicy beyond what you normally encounter with 96 proof.
Despite its 101 proof–a feistier number in tequila than in bourbon–it drinks nicely, and is quite supple, allowing more extended sipping. Have some dried spicy mango around to enjoy with this. Mexican desserts would be a plus.
This is flat-out delicious. Kudos to whoever chose 95 as this spirit’s proof. It’s bold and beautiful, complex and loaded with character, velvety, weighty and luxuriant but without the bite of cask strength whiskey. Sometimes you gotta love medium proof bourbon.
Part of why he believes Chattanooga has enjoyed double-digit growth over so many years is its affordable price. The SRP of its flagship 91 proof, priced at $35, is well within the reach of everyday drinker preferences. Depending on age and quantity, its Experimental releases range from $50 to $80.
According to Middle West, this is the first dark pumpernickel rye whiskey made in North America, and its mash bill contains 80 percent of that grain. Want a rye that’s not a dill Katz’s Deli pickle? Try this.
This also is a delight on the palate: tingly, tropical-fruity (ripe pineapple/cooked pineapple and under-ripe banana), cherry and orange hard candy, light caramel, white chocolate with a subtle hints of dill and toasted oak.
I’d have an incredibly hard time understanding any bourbon fan wouldn’t like this amazingly reliable, well-made and well-aged bourbon. It embodies everything that’s right and unique about America’s native spirit…
Whether viewed from the 10,000 foot perspective of a publicly traded global company or the grass roots of ‘Merica, the story is the same. The whiskey industry that we’ve fallen in madly in love with—and sometimes hatefully mad at—is no longer the juggernaut it was 10 years ago.
