Wanderback American Single Malt Batch No. 3

Dark plums, very rounded palate

V

Red wine, cinnamon, and mint on the nose - that is until you read the distiller's notes: Cracklin' Oat Bran. Yes! (Sorry to folks OCONUS, if you don't have this breakfast cereal in your area, blame your customs and imports ministry. That's more for us Yanks!) Where were we? Ah, yes: oat, bran, cinnamon, and sugar. The palate, however, is not quite as good - a fusion of bourbon and red wine notes, with black licorice in the finish. A bit of heat due to the youth of the spirit - 5 yrs - but not at all offensive. This is a pretty good effort, but at the price point, I'd give the edge to Belle Meade as far as cask-finished bourbons are concerned. (The comparison might be unfair, as this one is a 5 yr while the Belle Meade is a 9 yr, but the price points are close.) I had hoped the Wanderback was tasty enough to turn me into a cereal killer, but what the hell - whiskey should be seductive, and not nourishing (unless you read Distiller!). Nonetheless, I hope these guys thrive and survive to produce older, more mature, distillate. Thanks once more to @jonwilkinson7309 for introducing me to these progressive whiskey makers. Tasted from a full 50ml sample.

And then there was one...Batch 3.  I've previously reviewed Batch 1 and 2, with Batch 1 being my preference.  So where does Batch 3 fall? Batch 3 is aged for a minimum of five years and finished in port barrels.  It returns to Batch 1's ABV of 45%, versus the 50% ABV for Batch 2.  Perhaps it's that reduction, an extra two years in the barrel, or both, but the slightly harsh edge of Batch 2 is gone, and the bold, rich mocha from Batch 1 returns, better than ever.  The port finishing is apparent on both the nose and palate, but far from overbearing.  It's a very nice compliment to the underlying malt. I really enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to Wanderback's future releases.  And some good news - according to Wanderback's website, Batch 4 is coming soon.