I really like the Bourbons that Thomas Thacker is making at the Southern Grace Distillery in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. He sent me this bottle several months ago and Matt and I sat down to taste it and we really liked it – so much so that it has been in the running for our “Whiskey of the Month” for the last three months. After losing in a blind tasting for the third time in a row, I decided to take it out of the running and print our tasting notes.
Conviction Founder’s Reserve is the first four year old Bourbon from the Southern Grace Distillery. The distillery is a small operation making about three barrels a day on a pot still. The distillery is located in a former state prison. Thomas Thacker is their distiller and makes excellent two year old Bourbon that sells out about as fast as he can make it. The Founder’s Reserve is their first four year old whiskey and I was excited to get a bottle. I only wish they distributed their whiskey in Kentucky so I could get another two or three bottles.
Conviction Founder’s Reserve Bourbon
Proof: 125.8
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, milk chocolate, dried fruits, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, milk chocolate, raspberries, cinnamon, allspice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the raspberry and cinnamon are enhanced and the vanilla becomes a rich French vanilla. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla becomes a caramel and the chocolate becomes a dark chocolate.
- Matt: Vanilla, brown sugar, coffee, cinnamon and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the cinnamon. The pecan brought the coffee flavor front and center with a hint of dark chocolate.
Finish:
- Mike: Long with oak wood, cinnamon, chocolate and lingering raspberry. The dried cranberry made the finish very long and spicy with red hot cinnamon candy spice. The pecan made the finish very long with oak wood and chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood, coffee and brown sugar. The dried cranberry made the finish long and spicy with cinnamon spice. The pecan made the finish long and dry with lots of oak wood, cinnamon and lingering brown sugar.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a My Father The Judge cigar. I think the rich vanilla and chocolate in the smoke would pair well with the vanilla and chocolate flavors in the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller