This Bourbon is made at the Ragged Mountain Farm, LLC., in Charlottesville, Virginia operating as the Ragged Branch Distillery. The late Dave Pickerell helped them start this distillery and develop their mash bill. It is a traditional Bourbon made with corn, rye and malted barley. The Bourbon is aged for over four years before they bottle it. They grow the corn on their farm. They also feed the spent mash to their cattle and sell the “Bourbon Fed Beef”. This is a traditional side product of many of the 19th century distilleries and I am glad to see that they are bringing back this tradition. I recently acquired a bottle of this Bourbon and Matt and I tasted it. Here are our tasting notes.

Ragged Branch Signature Bourbon

Proof: 90

Age: No Age Statement –at least four years in the description on the back label.

Nose:

  • Mike: Cornbread dough, vanilla, apples and oak.
  • Matt: Corn, caramel, cardamom spice and oak.

Taste:

  • Mike: Corn and vanilla with notes of citrus and green apple with lots of baking spices – cinnamon and nutmeg, with some sweet oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the spices come forward. Tasted with a pecan and there is more oak and vanilla and a little caramel joins the party.
  • Matt: Caramel and peanuts with a little lemon zest and oak. The dried cranberry added a note of wild berries and cardamom spice. The pecan made the spice a black pepper spice with more oak wood.

Finish:

  • Mike: Medium long with oak and baking spices. The dried cranberry increased the spiciness of the finish. The pecan and notes of lingering vanilla to the finish.
  • Matt: Long with oak and black pepper. The dried cranberry added notes of tobacco. The pecan made the finish very long with oak, tobacco and black pepper.

I would pair this Bourbon with a cigar that has earthy tobacco and vanilla in the smoke. I would reach for an Undercrown Maduro cigar.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller