The whiskey of the month for October is the 2024 release of Shenk’s Sour Mash. We selected Shenk’s in a blind tasting of several whiskeys that were stand outs this year.
Shenk’s is a Sour Mash Whiskey, which means it does not have enough corn in the mash bill to be a bourbon or enough rye to be classified as a rye whiskey. Michter’s will tell you that each issue of their Legacy Series whiskeys have creative tweaks or differences in production. This year, Michter’s used rye, malted rye, and for the first time caramel malt, in the Shenk’s production. Some of the barrels used included oak from the Vosges region of France, air-dried and seasoned for 24 months. It is an excellent whiskey.
Here are our tasting notes for the Shenk’s Sour Mash 2024.
Shenk’s Homestead Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey 2024
Proof: 91.2
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: Rich caramel toffee, chocolate, pears, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, citrus, rose petals, cherry wood and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel toffee, pears, citrus, cardamom, tobacco and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the citrus becomes a lemon zest and the chocolate moves up a notch. Tasted with a pecan and the chocolate becomes a deep, dark chocolate and cherry notes come out to join the party.
- Matt: Caramel, chocolate, citrus, cherries and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the cherry notes. The pecan added a brown sugar note to the taste.
Finish:
- Mike: Long with oak wood, tobacco, baking spice and lingering caramel toffee. The dried cranberry made the finish a bit sweeter with lingering chocolate. The pecan made the finish very long with oak wood, cherries and lingering chocolate.
- Matt: Long with oak and cherry woods, citrus and lingering caramel. The dried cranberry made the cherry stronger in the finish. The pecan made the finish very long with oak wood, brown sugar and chocolate.
I would pair this fine whiskey with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Maduro cigar. I think the rich vanilla and tobacco in the smoke would pair well with the caramel and tobacco in the whiskey.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller