Rabbit Hole Dareringer Straight Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks

Subtle nose, smooth palate and an amazingly sweet finish. Worthy of trying a bottle if I find it on the shelf.

Earlier this year I attended a bourbon tasting with Rabbit Hole's founder, Kaveh Zamanian. I'd seen some of Rabbit Hole's bottlings at local stores, but had never tried them. The tasting changed that, and I was converted. Kaveh is building a world-class distillery that is focused on quality. About a decade ago, Angel's Envy started the sherry cask finishing trend in bourbon. Rabbit Hole Dareringer continues that tradition, and is the only whiskey in the Rabbit Hole lineup that is finished in sherry casks. The mash bill is 68% corn, 18% wheat, and 14% malted barley. It is bottled at 93 proof. Despite the sherry-cask finishing, Rabbit Hole Dareringer is not significantly darker than many bourbons, showing a clear mahogany color (some scotch whiskies, e.g., Edradour 10, Glendronach 18, etc. are much darker than typical due to the sherry influence). Gorgeous, sweet nose evokes brown sugar, dates, nutmeg, carrot cake, some vanilla and espresso. Palate has some oak and a touch of amaretto, with some drying leather notes and some vanilla extract, finishing long. A pleasure to drink. I've yet to taste Dareringer side by side with Angel's Envy, but based on my experience with both separately, the Dareringer shows more of the sherry influence, pushing it a little further from classic bourbon typicity--but this is a good thing. I would bet that some bourbon purists might shy away somewhat (though Rabbit Hole has these bases covered with its Cavehill and Heigold bottlings), but the sherry makes this bourbon unique. Fabulous stuff. In the opinion of this taster, Rabbit Hole is a distillery with which every bourbon afficionado needs to become familiar--if they're not already. N.B. All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

Very smooth

The sherry comes through fairly strong. It’s smooth for the most part with a bit of burn at the end. Very light, sweet, fruity up front and the grape flavors hold on for quite a while. It’s definitely a good sipper but the sherry overpowers the other flavors a little bit.

Simply awesome