Country: USA
Distillery: Sourced (Numerous Distilleries)
Producer: Widow Jane
Type: Straight Bourbon
Age: 10
Cask: American Oak
Batch: 251
ABV: 45.5%
Proof: 91
Price: $70
Nose: Vanilla, patisserie cream, a touch of orange, toasted oak, vanilla, soft and brilliant, cherries
Palate: Creamy but not oily. Sandalwood, milk chocolate, baking spices, cocoa, Demerara sugar, raisins, plums, cashew nuts.
Finish: Long with molasses, dry, ginger, oak spices.
Some bourbons are still unknown to me, but I have tasted Widow Jane before at numerous tastings and cocktails. Though, it is my first time that I can actually spend some quality time doing a review and reading about the distillery. Widow Jane 10-Year-Old Bourbon caught me with the bottle shape and I was really curious to taste this bourbon for some time now.
Thanks to Widow Jane for sending me a few bottles of their whiskies so I can review them. Aside from this bourbon, I also reviewed:
Widow Jane 10 Year Old Bourbon
The Whiskey
Widow Jane 10-Year-Old Bourbon is a blend of straight bourbons from distilleries in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Batches come in 5 barrel batches and are non-chill filtered. The most important feature for the aged whiskies coming from Widow Jane is the proofing water they are using. They use their own limestone mineral water from Rosendale Mines of New York, 100 miles from the distillery. Limestone from these mines is used in the constructions of major structures like the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building and the 27,000-ton pedestal to the Statue of Liberty.
The distillery is also making their own whiskey for a while and they are resting now in Brooklyn. I am looking forward to enjoying their own made whiskey soon as I love to observe the improvement of distilleries year by year.
How Does It Taste?
This is a style I actually like a lot. The nose offers vanilla, patisserie cream, toasted oak with oak spices, cherries, a touch of orange, chocolate. Soft, creamy and brilliant! The palate is creamy but it is not oily. Wish the texture was a little bit chewy. Sandalwood aromas with milk chocolate, baking spices and cocoa blend in with sweet but dark Demerara sugar, raisins plums and traces of cashew nuts. The finish is long with molasses and dry with ginger qualities and oak spices.
Verdict
Lovely bourbon and a great blend. Maybe a bit sweeter than I expected but I really liked the character and the blending skills. I will also try to sip other batches as I want to trace the consistency between batches too, which I think is important for signature bottles in the core range.
If you are an avid classic bourbon drinker, this is a good bottle to take a look at. If you are a Scotch drinker, I would also try this whiskey as the spicy and darker notes make it fun. The price might be a bit high with $70, but if you look enough, there are bottles at $55 on the internet.
