Tastes

Full Bottle Review: Overall, I enjoyed it. I like what Sugar House Distillery is doing. They are young and growing with a good product line. Their Bourbon is also young and grows, probably no more than 4 years, but it has more flavors than it should. First pour will have an alcohol bite with a sweet corn finish, typical of most micro-distillers. Middle pour opens up more giving way to some burnt caramel and toffee notes. Final pour has a little more weight and depth but the bite still lingers… however, the funkiness has dwindled yielding to toasty barrel notes and a more satisfying experience is had. It still has that funky whiff and taste akin to every micro-bourbon I’ve tried, slightly reminiscent of steamed apples- something I’ve always attributed to the yeast but I could be wrong. The Sugar House funk lands a little more on the Baker’s and Booker palate. If you like some of those in the Beam line, this could be a surprise. At 92 proof it has big, full-rounded flavors with a slight burn, nothing a cube or two doesn’t remedy, but let it sit for the full flavor. With local ingredients and good water, it’s a clean bourbon, unlike some of the white labels. Stay within your drinking quadrant and the next day should be worry free. I’d like to sample what an 8 or 10 year tastes like down the road. The only “ugly” would be the price. At $40, you’re entering a territory with better, more established bourbons- but I understand why. Hopefully, SHD can weather the whisky wars because they do have one of the better micro distilleries out there, and that’s not an easy thing to do. Give it a try.

I really enjoyed this one. The smell was like standing at a misty Irish seaport, nice and briny with some floral undertones, or at least my bottle was fit for a sailor. The taste, however, was mildly sweet like meadow honey. I little wood rounds it out to let you know it's a scotch, but faint. I will return to this dram in the future. By no means a complex scotch, just very pleasant and will not offend.