Batch 10, Highland Park Single Barrels)ħ | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)Ħ | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)ĥ | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)Ĥ | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Fantastic mouthfeel before the astringency takes hold.ġ0 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Old Label Batch 4 or 2, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)ĩ | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)Ĩ | Excellent | Exceptional (Stagg Jr. The proof is barely there behind the oak, making this an easy drinker for its proof. Overall: Nose and palate/finish are more different than I thought they’d be, with only the cherry note connecting the whole. Cherries eventually take over on a medium-length finish. Oak astringency builds with fresh cherries.įinish: The astringency grabs my tongue and won’t let go. Really gets under the tongue and grabs on tightly.
#Blackened whiskey willett full
Mouthfeel is full and creamy, coating and oily. Palate: Guava and papaya with hints of bubblegum and cherry candies. Savory notes of grilled and charred sweet vegetables. Nose: Tropical fruits, fresh and dried, like opening a fruit cocktail can.
Official Website Blackened x Willett Cask Strength Rye Finished in Madeira Casks Review: Tasting NotesĮye: Brand new pennies. Origin: Rye from Willett Distillery, Produced by BlackenedĪge: NAS (6.5-8 Year Old Rye according to the press release)īlackened x Willett Cask Strength Rye Finished in Madeira Casks Price: $139.99 Thank you to my friend Mike over at The Bourbon Culture for the sample!īlackened x Willett Cask Strength Rye Finished in Madeira Casks: Specs I’m not sure if I’d go out to hunt a bottle with the MSRP at $139.99, but it’s worth trying if you have the chance. In case you were wondering, here is the playlist:
You know how important mouthfeel is to me, and this had it in spades, with the fruits and sweet notes controlling the oak astringency until the end of the pour. The most surprising part was the abundance of tropical fruit: guava, papaya, sweet and slightly savory grilled fruits and vegetables all appear around the nose and palate. There are some black cherry notes I consistently get with Blackened products, but since this isn’t their whiskey being used it must be there from something else.
The result is something different and better than I expected (though I tasted this blind, so there was no ‘expectation’ in the tasting notes). The blend was then put into Madeira casks rather than Blackened’s classic black brandy casks and subjected to the Black Noise process for fourteen weeks. Rob worked hand-in-hand with Willett Master Distiller Drew Kulsveen, taking barrels of Willett rye ranging from six and a half years old to eight years old and including both low-rye and high-rye mashbills. Where these new expressions are variations on a theme (and pretty good ones at that), this collaboration breaks totally new ground. Rob took a year or two to get situated but has since expanded the lineup to include regional editions (I have one of the Empire State ones because duh) and a cask strength version. The idea is simple and intriguing: does sonic vibration change the flavor and character of the whiskey? I’m a believer at a scientific level if for no other reason than sonic vibration would cause the whiskey to interact with the wood more…my hesitation is that with the brandy finishing, it’s another variable to consider and as such I don’t know where the brandy finish ends and the sonic influence begins.Īnyway….it’s been a few years since we lost Dave Pickerell and Rob Dietrich assumed his responsibilities at Blackened.
The original Blackened takes American whiskey, finishes it in black brandy casks, and subjects it to Blackened’s patented Black Noise process, by which the band’s music is pumped through the barrels at low hertz frequencies. With all the new celebrity whiskies announced just in the past few months, it’s easy to forget that Blackened - a collaboration between Dave Pickerell and Metallica - was one of the earlier and, frankly, more interesting of the crop.
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