Born in the USA

The full line-up

September is designated Bourbon Heritage Month, but for our tasting this year we had half a dozen whiskeys from the US which failed one of bourbon's golden rules. Adding to the intrigue, we tried them al blind.

Everything tonight fails at least one of these criteria... pic.twitter.com/uANc3rbNmS

— David Reader (@davidareader) September 28, 2023

The first dram tasted like a sweet, classic bourbon. Nutty, almondy, with a big dose of marzipan like a Bakewell tart. Strong and spicy, the fact this was in the low 50s for ABV (it was 51%) came as a bit of a surprise. It failed the 'barrel rule' to do with being aged in a new, charred oak barrel, and was from Heaven Hill, an 11yo from the Heroes and Heretics series available via Master of Malt. "Delicious" we thought. Decent value too, at £75.

The next dram was 50% so about the same in terms of strength. Vanilla on the nose in the typical bourbon style, with custard, banana and foam sweets as well. Spicy with a long finish. It failed the 'mashbill rule' because it wasn't majority corn, with rye in fact the dominant grain element at 43%. Tasting this blind we were surprised it was a Jack Daniel's. JD is known for its banana forward taste but this was more banoffee pie, especially with a drop of water. It's a Triple Mash, we paid £42 for it but it can sometimes be found cheaper.

Whiskey three was from Indiana, making its origin the MGP distillery although it was bottled by an independent from Baltimore. A glorious dark colour, this smelt like a sherry finish but could have been wine, but in fact it did indeed turn out to be Pedro Ximenez sherry. This failed the mashbill rule as it's mostly rye, so you get that spicy rye feeling but partly covered by the sweet sherry. The bottling was a Sagamore Spirit sherry finish, a 6yo at 53%. It arrived on these shores with a big reputation from the US but hasn't sold out, it is still available for £81.

We stayed with an MGP whiskey for number four, once again the work of a third party bottler. This gave us a real sweetie shop vibe. A blend of two whiskeys - rather like what we might call a vatted malt - this was a blend of a bourbon and a wheated whiskey meaning it failed the mashbill rule. Old Elk Double Wheat, bought by us in New York for $100, we felt the blend took the edge off this, as wheated whiskey can apparently be quite astringent. It was certainly cereal-y, like Shredded Wheat. Quite confusing really, a bit of a mixed bag, but worth trying.

Number five tasted strong! In the 60s we immediately felt, and it was, at 62.3%. This failed the distillation rule, having been distilled at no less than 90% ABV. This comes from a separate category called 'light whiskey' so named because it's normally proofed right down, but this particular bottle wasn't. It was called Barrel Dovetail and involved rum, port and wine casks. A bit all over the place we felt, with tasting notes including aniseed, liquorice, with a bit of cardamom or pepper. It cost us £94 and was a no age statement bottling.

We finished off with a peated whiskey, a blend of American malt and highly peated Scotch. We picked this one up at auction for £80 - but the retail price is more than double that! It's Westland Garryana 5th edition. The Garryana is the oak, and along with the fact it was a first fill bourbon cask it failed the rules all round. A 4-6yo, this used beer yeast as well so should have been a bit different (and was). Very nice, and didn't really feel like an American whiskey. Beautiful!

This brought us to the dram of the night voting, and all six of the whiskeys got at least two votes - the sign of a high quality line up. But it was whiskey three, the Sagamore Spirit, that came out on top with 12.

Thanks to all club members and those on the waiting list for joining us for the tasting, as well as everyone at the Britons Protection for hosting us once again.