Pablo Moix contacted me last fall about a business venture he was creating. Pablo is a bar owner in California and has been involved with picking barrel selections for many years. His business idea was to pick very good barrels and sell them via the internet, through his Rare Character Whiskeys. He would also work with other bars and liquor stores to share barrel picks. This is good for a bar because they don’t always want a full barrel’s worth of bottles in their inventory. It is a win-win situation for them in that they get good bottles and benefit from Pablo’s barrel selection experience, while Rare Character Whiskeys get bottles to sell. He sent me six bottles from the first release of bottles of Rare Character Whiskeys and Matt and I sat down and tasted them. We enjoyed some of the whiskeys more than others, but they were all good whiskeys in attractive bottles. They also contained a lot of information about the whiskey such as mash bill and the state of origin and maturation of the whiskey. Here are our tasting notes.

Rare Character Whiskeys

Heritage Selection Bourbon

Proof: 114.92

Age: Five Years, Eight Months

Made in: Indiana and Aged in Kentucky

Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malt

Nose:

  • Mike: Vanilla and apricots with baking spices and oak.
  • Matt: Earthy with vanilla and butter with some oak.

Taste: 

  • Mike: Vanilla and Apricots with cardamom and white pepper spice and oak tannins. The dried cranberry brought out lemon zest and reduced the pepper. The pecan brought out more vanilla and pepper.
  • Matt: Red hot candies, with a buttery mouth-feel, with oak tannins. The dried cranberry made it wine-like with strawberries and vanilla. The pecan gave it a buttery popcorn taste.

Finish:

  • Mike: Long with oak and pepper. The dried cranberry made it shorter with less pepper. The pecan made it longer with some notes of citrus.
  • Matt; Long and full of cinnamon red hot candy and oak. The cranberry made it less spicy with the cinnamon. The pecan gave it a buttery cinnamon finish like a cinnamon roll.

Raised by Wolves Bourbon

Proof: 116.26

Age: Five Years, One Month

Made in: Indiana and Aged in Tennessee

Mash Bill: 60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malt

Nose:

  • Mike: Vanilla and citrus with some oak wood.
  • Matt: Corn, vanilla and cherry with some oak wood.

Taste:

  • Mike: Vanilla and orange zest with white pepper and oak. The dried cranberry added more pepper. The pecan added more vanilla and oak.
  • Matt: Vanilla, cherry lemonade and oak. The dried cranberry added more citrus notes. The pecan added chocolate, banana and caramel.

Finish:

  • Mike: Long with oak and pepper with lingering vanilla notes. The dried cranberry made it very peppery. The pecan made the finish very dry with oak tannins and pepper. 
  • Matt: Oak with a little nutmeg spice. The dried cranberry made the finish very pleasant with sweet oak and a little spice. The pecan made the finish nutty with oak and spice.

Old Man Bar Bourbon

Proof: 116.14

Age: Four Years, Four Months

Made in: Indiana and aged in Indiana

Mash Bill: This is the only bottle where the percentage of Corn, Rye and Malt were not listed.

Nose: 

  • Mike: Very simple nose of vanilla, baking spices and oak.
  • Matt: Rye grass, peanuts and brown sugar.

Taste:

  • Mike: Vanilla, berries with a little cinnamon and oak. The dried cranberry brought out distinct flavors of raspberry and blackberry. The pecan added some chocolate notes.
  • Matt: Rye grass, peanuts and rich caramel. The dried cranberry added notes of dark fruits. The pecan gave it notes of raisin, milk chocolate and creamy caramel.

Finish:

  • Mike: Long with oak and cinnamon spice. The dried cranberry added lingering notes of berries. The pecan added some notes of chocolate.
  • Matt: Dark fruits, coriander spice and oak. The dried cranberry made the fruit a distinctive raisin note. The pecan added earthy leather notes.

Founder’s Choice Bourbon

Proof: 118.48

Age: Five Years, Two Months

Made in: Indiana and Aged in Tennessee

Mash Bill: 60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malt

Nose:

  • Mike: Very simple nose of vanilla with floral notes and oak wood.
  • Matt: Floral with notes of root beer and cotton candy,

Taste:

  • Mike: Vanilla, corn, apple, ginger spice and oak. The dried cranberry enhanced the apple fruit and ginger spice. The pecan brought out notes of lemon zest and black pepper.
  • Matt: Corn, vanilla, apple, ginger and oak. The dried cranberry added notes of lemon drop candy. The pecan made it creamy with notes of a malted beer.

Finish:

  • Mike: Medium long with oak and ginger spice. The dried cranberry made it longer and spicier. The pecan added black pepper to the finish.
  • Matt: Slightly oaky with ginger spice. The dried cranberry made the finish shorter. The pecan added a tobacco note to the finish.

Born and Raised Rye

Proof: 113.8

Age: Four Years, Four Months

Made in: Indiana and Aged in Indiana

Mash Bill: 95% Rye. 5% Malt

Nose: 

  • Mike: Rye grass, vanilla and oak – very simple and light nose.
  • Matt: Rye grass, black pepper, vanilla and oak.

Taste:

  • Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, cinnamon with a touch of mint, oak wood. The dried cranberry added more mint notes. The pecan enhanced the vanilla.
  • Matt: Vanilla, black pepper, mint and oak. The dried cranberry added some citrus notes. The pecan added notes of chocolate and peppermint.

Finish:

  • Mike: Short with oak, rye grassiness and mint. The dried cranberry added notes of cinnamon to the finish. The pecan made the finish very long.
  • Matt: Rye grassiness, pepper and oak. The dried cranberry reduced the oak and added cinnamon. The pecan added some nutty flavors to the finish.

Founder’s Choice Rye

Proof: 115.88

Age: Four Years, Four Months

Mash Bill: 51% Rye, 45% corn, 4% Malt

Nose:

  • Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, lime zest, cardamom and oak.
  • Matt: Rye grass, kiwi fruit, vanilla and oak.

Taste:

  • Mike: Rye grass, French vanilla, cardamom spice and oak wood. The dried cranberry added mint notes. The pecan enhanced the vanilla but reduced the spice.
  • Matt: An Andes mint candy with hints of chocolate and mint. The dried cranberry made the mint stronger. The pecan enhanced the chocolate and added some notes of nutmeg.

Finish:

  • Mike: Long with rye grass, oak and spice. The dried cranberry added notes of mint. The pecan made the finish very short and sweet with lingering notes of vanilla.
  • Matt: Oak and mint. The dried cranberry enhanced the mint. The pecan made the finish longer.

Rare Character Whiskeys are definitely products worth trying. They are of good quality and available with on-line sales. I look forward to trying other whiskeys bottled by Rare Character Whiskeys. 

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller