Redemption Wheated Bourbon

A light, Straight Bourbon Whiskey by Redemption Distillery in Indiana made with a mash bill of 51% corn, 45% winter wheat, and 4% malted barley; aged for 4 years in new oak barrels. It has an aromatic birth with notes of brittle toffee, stewed pears, bay leaf & ginger; while a bold life adds notes of Nutella, espresso, smoked toffee, pepper, roasted cereal grain, oak, coffee bean, hazelnut & a hint of mint; that leads to a long & warm death with hints of green leaves & spices. July 2020 / August / December 2022 / August 2023

As a wheated bourbon, this uses wheat instead of rye as the secondary grain - and it's a high wheat mash bill. It's 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% sprouted barley. In the glass it's copper colored, it's 96 proof, and according to the label it's aged at least 4 years. A fifth cost me $46.99 at the Total Wine in Uptown. NOSE: The first thing I get is smoky wood, and then some spice. After I began sipping I also got a note that seemed to be either grain or vegetal, or perhaps both, and then a musty earth note. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy. TASTE: Cinnamon and butter are the first notes to strike me. With more testing I also get honey, and a slight generic fruitiness. FINISH: Short, beginning with some gentle spice, which then turns to honey water and ends with a little red pepper. SUMMARY: This is a barely legal bourbon - just one percentage point down in the corn would've made it not a bourbon at all - and it shows. This doesn't present itself like any other bourbon I've ever had. It's gentle and mild, without the assertiveness of a higher corn mash bill. But it's more definite than the lightness of Scottish or Irish whisky, and I like it. RATING: My hick scale rates it at 6, Fine, which is near the top since my scale starts at the bottom with 1. This is 3.75 stars, 75/100, or 7.5/10.

Flat pop. Some cherry and oak on the nose and pallate. Not very much flavor as it all kind of disappears. Absolutly no burn whats so ever.

Not great. Not smooth. Only would use again in Old Fashionds.

A bit of a muted sweetness on the nose like a vanilla extract, and also bit of an earthy, woody nose to it. I'm a fan of wheated bourbon and was hoping for a bit more of that sweet scent to hit me in the face. On the palate that muted sweetness continues but there is also a bit more of a peppery bite to it. This is then followed by more of a bitter note on the backend almost as if you were eating a lightly seasoned bowl of corn. I do like the mouth-feel, a little oilier and smooth on the way down. Overall, I enjoy this as a daily sipper wheated bourbon but it doesn't knock my scoks off and there are better wheated options out there for similar price.