BHAKTA 2013 Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Calvados Casks

VITALS:

- $150

- 107.4 Proof

- 11 Years

- Indiana

Bhakta is a brand that is pretty new to me, and I've been making it a point to learn a bit more about them. And, I have to say, I'm intrigued.  BHAKTA Spirits is a brand started by Raj Peter Bhakta, who also founded WhistlePig. Apparently after he sold WhistlePig, he found himself in the Armagnac region of France, where he proceeded to purchase a farm/vineyard, and with it some stocks of very well-aged Armagnacs and other spirits.

While this particular bottle is not an Armagnac, it is, nonetheless, a rye finished in calvados barrels. The rye has a bottling date of 2013 (Bhakta tends to operate in vintages rather than age statements), making it a 10 year whiskey before spending 75 days in the secondary cask, a Calvados selected from Chateau BHAKTA (which I assume is the name of the farm he purchased).   

After popping the glass cork (I really hate those), I immediately got the traditional notes of rye that I'd expect, with a healthy amount of cinnamon, and even some mint and pine resin. There's no denying it's an older MGP rye. The Calvados notes weren't super strong, at least not on the nose.  I did get a bit of a cooked apple sauce note, but it was pretty faint.  

The flavor was great, primarily because, despite the finishing, it was still unquestionably a really good rye.  Vanilla and cinnamon were right up front, with the spice from the cinnamon lingering throughout.  There was a light minty note, but not nearly as pronounced as I expected. That pine resin was a little more forward, along with an oak note that added a bit of bitterness.

It was that oak note that I think made the Calvados finishing work, as it added a sweetness that countered some of that bitterness, and vice versa. It never leaned too sweet or too bitter.  And the ever-present cinnamon note really seemed to work well with the apple brandy notes.

The only criticism I have about the finish is that it didn't seem to last very long.  It had great notes of cinnamon and baked apple and sweet vanilla.  But, oddly, it just seemed to disappear pretty quickly.  But, if that's my only quibble, this was still a delicious pour, telling me that, even if finished rye is not their bread and butter, they still appear to know what they're doing.

Grade: B+

One Eight Distilling Untitled Whiskey No. 17

VITALS:

- $80

- 115.8 Proof

- 10 Years

- Batch 1

- Washington D.C.

When One Eight Distilling's Untitled Whiskeys started hitting shelves a couple years ago, they got decent enough hype that I certainly became curious. I remember seeing private select single barrels, and their batches, such as this one, had some incredible finishing combinations, usually with bright, fruity and rich finishes such as sherry, port or cognac. What I had up to this point was all really good and, at the very least, really interesting.

It wasn't long after that initial run that I picked up this bottle, Untitled Whiskey No. 17.  This one is a blend of a 10 year old wheated bourbon that was finished in rum, Calvados and Cognac casks along with a 14 year high rye bourbon finished in Amontillado sherry butt. That's a whole lot going on inside this bottle. I wasn't sure if it would all work together or if it would be too much, but I was certainly willing to find out!

The nose on this was impressively rich. I feel like I use that word a lot in these blog posts, but this is quite possibly the richest nose I've ever nosed, bull of dark chocolate mixed with various dark fruits, including blackberry and cherry, fig and raisin, and even plum. It even had a bit of clove to it that made all those fruit notes come across like a spiced wine.  I couldn't get enough of this nose. I want to make a candle out of it!

While the flavor was very rich itself, it seemed that the spicy notes came through a bit more. I definitely got the dark fruit notes. Blackberry and dark cherry seemed prevalent, even with a bit of a sour note accompanying that cherry flavor.  

But, what took center stage was the spice. Cinnamon and black pepper spice seemed to dominate this. At times I feel like I even got a chili pepper note. This certainly gave that spice-wine character, just heavy on the spice. Dark chocolate notes also came through, providing a bit of a backbone and somewhat tempering the spice notes.

Towards the back end, the dark chocolate notes carried through as the cinnamon and black pepper subsided a bit. I also got some nutty, earthy notes, like walnut and almond. And it was on the finish that the sweetness came through, kind of a molasses note.

There was a lot of really good "stuff" happening here. I liked those wine notes, the dark fruit notes, and the dark chocolate notes.  Something about this blend, however, just didn't quite work. I'm not sure if one of the finishes had more influence than others. Perhaps it's the rum finish that I didn't like, as I have yet to find a rum finished rye or bourbon I've liked. But there was something about this that just didn't work, just didn't quite bring all of those great flavors together into something cohesive. 

Grade: B-

Untitled Woodman's Private Barrel Selection 10-Year Calvados Finished Bourbon

VITALS:

- $80

- 121.2 Proof

- 10 years

- Barrel 1012

- Indiana

It seems as though for a short while there was a sort of flood of these Untitled barrel picks. I had picked one up at Binny's, had seen a few on shelves of other smaller liquor stores near me that appeared to be distributor picks, as well as this one from Woodman's (which I understand was one of at least two picks that Woodman's got in). 

There are a lot of positives about this bottle just going on face value, before even trying the whiskey inside. First, it's MGP bourbon. So that's a good start. Second, it's a 10-year old bourbon, so it's got some decent age to it. Third, it's a single barrel (which doesn't mean a whole lot, but people seem to favor those). Fourth, it's bottled at cask strength. And fifth, it's finished in Calvados barrels, something that appeals immensely to me! This bottle certainly had a lot going for it, so the price tag of $80 didn't actually seem all that prohibitive.

The most notable thing about this whiskey is that it is bold! This was apparent even from the nose. The aroma was strong, making its presence known a few feet away from the glass.  I was getting great, rich notes of peach and amaretto. It had a light oakiness to it, as well as a light peanut note as well. It even had a bit of the saltiness that comes with the peanut note. I also got a sort of a black tea note.

The flavor was likewise super rich. Right up front I got a ton of amaretto liqueur, as well as rich, dark fruit notes like fig and plum. It had a molasses type sweetness to it as well.  There as a bit of an oakiness in the flavor, just as in the nose, and that provided some tannic bitterness that kept the molasses sweetness from going too far.

I certainly got wine notes, something along the lines of a rich (I find myself using that word a lot here) Cabernet Sauvignon. I really got this on the finish, which was full of wine and black pepper spice. The finish was also fairly boozy, providing a good amount of heat as well as a sweet but charred burnt sugar note.

Everything about this was rich and full of flavor that absolutely smacked me in the mouth with each sip. However, the one knock I'd have on it is that the finish was so overpowering that the bourbon wasn't really allowed to shine through.  This was more like a syrupy, cask strength Calvados than it was a bourbon that received some influence from a Calvados barrel. That said, for what it was it was still really good!

Grade: B+