This post sponsored by the Glencairn Whisky Glass

Alan Bishop is doing some interesting distilling at the Spirits of French Lick Distillery. In addition to some interesting distilling, Alan is also doing some interesting mingling of whiskey at the Spirits of French Lick Distillery. With this Bourbon, he is combining some wheated Bourbon made in Wyoming with some wheated Bourbon made by himself. Alan does not like to use sourced whiskey but this product was needed to get the cash flow coming into the distillery until the whiskey Alan made comes of age. I suspect that the brand will continue into the future but will become 100% whiskey made at the Spirits of French Lick Distillery. There will probably be some flavor drift as this change happens, but I also suspect that it will be excellent whiskey.

Spirits of French Lick “The Wheater”

Proof: 90

Age: 2 years old

Nose: Corn, vanilla and a little hazelnut with a hint of oak.

Taste: Corn, vanilla, black pepper and oak. Tasted with a dried cranberry adds more corn and reduces the pepper. Tasted with a pecan adds a peach or apricot note and turns the pepper into more of a white pepper flavor.

Finish: Long and peppery. The cranberry makes the finish shorter with less pepper and more oak. The pecan enhances the pepper and oak, making the finish even longer.

Today I am pairing this Bourbon with a My Father The Judge Grand Robusto cigar. I am hoping the full bodied smoke with lots of vanilla and chocolate notes will bring out some more complex flavors in the Bourbon. I was correct. The smoke enhanced the vanilla and added a little pear fruit to the Bourbon while the Bourbon added a little caramel pecan note to the smoke. A great pairing of Bourbon and cigar.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller