Reviews

Straight bourbon double cask finished in honey and used amburana barrels, MGP Ross & Squibb Distillery, Batch #26-901, released March 2026 at 49% ABV, no age statement (at least 4 years + secondary barrelings). Mashbill is 74% corn, 16% wheat, 7% rye, 3% malted barley. Tasting neat. Golden brown copper in the glass with average coating legs. Nose is honeysuckle sweet, floral raspberry and vanilla, and cinnamon toast in the background. On the palate, honey sweet, buttered cinnamon toast, roasted almonds, and then the baking spices show up. Honeybutter coating mouthfeel, but the oak and spices cut through that as we head to a spicy grassy sweet finish. Finish is sweet, long, and leaves a clinging spicy tingle. An ice cube actually enhances the sweet and kills the spicy ending--NOT recommended! Such an unusual honeycomb taste profile that this will be polarizing, but with enough oak and spice to cut through the sweet. Floral nose, elegant mouthfeel, sweet spicy finish. At $80 it's pricy, but...all those barrels! And the flavors they deliver. I'm going to give this a 4.25 because it's pricy and unusual, but... I have a feeling this will grow on me. A dangerous sipping whiskey. I'll update this after a few more tastes.

Blend of bourbons distilled in California, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, aged at least four years (4-12 years) in Northern California. Mashbill is 75% Corn, 21% Raw Rye, 4% Malt Barley. Bottled at 90 proof. Tasting neat. Rosy gold and strong coating legs in the glass. Nose is fruity, vanilla oak, maple syrup, with a whiff of spice in the back. On the palate, caramel, charred vanilla oak, raisins, and some dried sweet grass. Oily coating mouthfeel that is soft and buttery. Finish shows more dry oak, white pepper, and baking spice. Average length finish, showing dried fruits at the end. Sweet, dry, not sour. An ice cube kinda washes it out and changes that great mouthfeel. Nice blended bourbon, well balanced, sweet and soft fruit rather than spicy and tannic. Nothing wrong, but nothing really stands out. At 50% ABV it might be more exciting, but it's fine and easy to drink or mix at 45%. And at $33, its an easy yes. I like what Redwood Empire is doing and their transparency. Love the tall long neck bottles and interesting line art labels celebrating their California redwoods... and replanting some with every sale. Cheers.

Four Grain Barrel Strength bourbon (74% Corn, 16% Wheat, 7% Rye, 3% Malted Barley) is blended from three different MGP bourbon mash bills, aged 4-6 years in new American oak. Uncut, not chill-filtered, 57% ABV. Tasting neat. Golden straw color and good coating legs in the glass. Nose is floral vanilla oak, grapes and strawberries, and sweet malted cereal grain, with a whiff of spice in the background. Sweet malted grain and caramel on the palate, with grassy rye spice, mint, and tannic oak coming on. Light ethanol bloom, but nice. Mouthfeel is light, sweet and dry. Finish is long, sweet and grassy spicy, dry oak, and tart cherry. An ice cube tamps down the ethanol bloom and tannins. Very similar to my tasting of the Penelope BP Batch 18. Not overly complex in flavors, but solid high proof four grain bourbon. Penelope has done such a great job blending quality MGP whiskies (and being transparent about it) that they are now a flagship MGP line. I expect more quality batches, and am already seeing sale discounts dropping the price. That's a GOOD thing.

MM wood finishing limited release series 3 of 5, The Stewards Release, aged at least 4 years with 10 virgin toasted American oak staves, bottled Feb 2026 at 56.65% ABV, Star Hill Farm, Loretto, KY. Tasting neat. Rosy amber copper color (beautiful!) and strong coating legs in the glass. The nose is maple candy, sweet corn, ripe fruit, vanilla oak, and a little grassy spice and ethanol in the back. On the palate, tannic oak and old leather, wood char, cherry, burnt brown sugar, but very dry with an oily coating mouthfeel and a little ethanol heat I was not expecting. Big aggressive flavors, grill charred stone fruit with some astringency, not just a caramel vanilla bomb. The finish rolls from that char toast toward toasted baking spices, on through dark dried fruit, maple, and grassy rye. A Loooong finish, turns a little mint bitter/sour at the end. Wow. Each of the wood finishing bottles gets better and better. This is not for the faint of heart. It's sweet enough, but has an oak char dry tannic backbone surrounded by dark dried fruits that makes it really interesting. Drinks a little hotter than its proof... which isn't a bad thing. An ice cube curbs that and opens up a really robust sipping bourbon. I'm comparing this to a Larceny wheated barrel proof I'm finishing, and this MM rules with it's more aggressive oaked palate. Too much? Maybe, but I'll admit I like that profile. Makes you work for it. The more I sip, the easier it gets, while holding its own.

Blend of straight bourbon, light corn, and straight rye whiskies, all aged at least four years, as well as a small amount of 15-year-old oloroso sherry. Blended and bottled at 92 proof in Kansas City, MO. Tasting neat. Dull copper color and light coating legs in the glass. Nose is sweet sugar corn and vanilla, with a whiff of spice. On the palate, light caramel, orange peel, vanilla oak, and some light smoky tannic flavors. Mouthfeel is thin and sweet. Finish sees some grassy rye and baking spice show up, but it also remains sweet and thin. Chocoloate coated orange sticks hangs around the edges of a short to medium length finish. Decidedly light and pleasant, nothing to challenge or offend, but therefore not unusual.

Distilled in CA, IN, and KY, a blend or 95% rye 5% malted barley, aged in oak at least 4 years in northern CA, bottled at 45% ABV. Tasting neat. Golden brown straw and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is fruity sweet, touch of oak, herbal with some grassy rye spice in the back. On the palate, brown sugar sweet, vanilla oak, tannic oak, leather, flash of ethanol, and white pepper. Mouthfeel is thin and sugary. Finish turns more to rye spice and sweet grass, then mint, citrus, as well as cherry fruit. Fairly long, but herbal rather than rich. An ice cube tames the ethanol and oak which weren't that strong to begin with. Tasted the cask strength Emerald Giant 2025 57.7 ABV side by side with this 45% ABV and the difference is stark. Much deeper flavors and herbal intensity in the cask strength, much more oily mouthfeel, and a real anise/fennel quality that I didn't noticed before. The Emerald Giant 45% ABV is fine, maybe better for mixing than sipping, but doesn't really stand out, even at $37. It's good, don't get me wrong, but the thin sweet mouthfeel drags it down for sipping.