Clyde May's Alabama Style Whiskey (85 Proof)

Layers of orange. Orange Peel, orange spice, orange juice. Pecans too. Smooth for a 4 year old. Slightly oily. Really quite impressed.

Slightly above average, enjoyable, light green apple notes, caramel, a pretty good sipper

Incorrect info given by Distiller; not NAS, but instead aged for 6 years. Now, I certainly expect weird and uncomfortable to accurately describe Alabama, but a faux bourbon with apples added is certainly up there (moonshiners are an odd people). At least we've got rye here instead of wheat, the spiciness of which should work far better alongside apples than wheat would. Not to mention that 6 years isn't a bad age, either, so I do expect some apple flavor to be very present. The color is fairly dark, more reflecting a whiskey that's been aged several years longer than this, but perhaps this is the work of the added apples. Sweet corn, vanilla from charred oak, and cinnamon, grass, and mint from the rye are all here; standard notes that most "classic" bourbons would have. What I don't smell is anything that resembles apples, or even warm baking or autumn spice that cooked or stewed apples may impart. The first taste is weak, showcasing the very low proof here. Sweet corn is tasted, but more as a grain with the sweetness being lost. The spice from the rye is not tasted, and is only experienced as a slight gum and tongue burn near the finish. There is indeed a flavor of apples; the variety tastes like a neutral, only slightly sweet one (like Fiji), not overly sweet (like honeycrisp) or sour (like Granny Smith). This additive isn't entirely welcome, as it decreases focus on the grain, as well as gives the body an even weaker presence. See above for the finish, however, several minutes after a last sip does bring up notes of fresh apple flesh. It is so easy to tell that this whiskey has such a strong mashbill base, but the added apples really narrows down the target audience; I expect a flavor and body like this to come out of flavored, 40 or 50 proof whiskies. I'm hopeful that Clyde May's actual bourbon is simply this whiskey without the apples, because that may actually have a favorful outcome. Instead, what we have here isn't as fun or as flavorful as a proper flavored whiskey, but also doesn't have enough unique flavor notes to drink by itself, leaving you to find specific, usually distillery-written cocktail recipes to use fruitfully.