I am a big fan of what Steve Beam is doing at the Limestone Branch Distillery. He and his brother started this distillery several years ago because they wanted to honor both sides of his family – the Beam and Dant families. He has a small distillery and only makes a few barrels of whiskey a week, but he is fortunate enough to be able to source some very good whiskey for projects like this latest limited release Bourbon. They have taken some seven year old and fifteen year old whiskeys and finished it in Amarone wine casks. They realize that finishing should complement the Bourbon’s flavor and not cover it up. Their result has just the right amount of the wine fruit flavor to enhance the Bourbon’s flavor without overpowering the existing flavors. Matt and I sat down to taste this whiskey the other day and here are our notes.
Yellowstone Limited Edition Amarone Cask Finished Bourbon
Proof: 101
Age: No Age Statement (Fifteen and Seven Year old Bourbons)
Nose:
- Mike: Lots of caramel with dried fruit notes of raisins and prunes. There is a note of baking spices and sweet oak wood.
- Matt: Vanilla and cinnamon spice with a little hint of rye grass and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel and fruit – raisins and berries with a little allspice and other baking spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg in the background, with a little sweet oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the oak and spices come forward with the sweet fruit notes in the background. Tasted with a pecan and caramel and chocolate notes come out to play with the other flavors.
- Matt: Vanilla with lots of baking spices – cinnamon and nutmeg, with some oak wood. The dried cranberry adds a little honey sweetness and ginger spice. The pecan brings out notes of cocoa and nutmeg,
Finish:
- Mike: Long and dry with oak wood and baking spices and a little lingering fruit notes. The dried cranberry enhanced the cinnamon spice in the finish. The pecan made the finish sweeter with caramel lingering in the oak and spice.
- Matt: Cinnamon red hot candy with a little oak wood. The dried cranberry made the finish shorter and less spicy with only hints of cinnamon and oak wood.
I would pair this whiskey with a Maduro cigar. I would reach for a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series cigar with its rich notes of caramel and earthy tobacco in the smoke. The smoke would pair well with the dried fruit notes of the whiskey.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller