Cumberland Cask is a Nashville based whiskey that launched a few months ago. They currently have two offerings, the 80 proof Modern Expression priced around $30 and a more interesting 120 proof Barrel Cut priced around $40. Both are a blend of 6.5 and 8.5 year whiskeys from a high corn mash bill. It is not charcoal filtered which I suppose they are bypassing by not labeling it specifically a Tennessee Whiskey. Common wisdom is that this is rebranded George Dickel.
60% ABV; No Age Statement (reported to be blend of 6-8 years); $40
Nose: Grains, mostly barley; mild sweet corn; rye spice
Taste: Almost exactly the same as the nose but diminished corn; mostly grain, barley, and rye spice
Finish: Toasted corn, toasted bread. fair bit of heat. Nice smoky char but not overbearing. I really enjoy the toasted bread notes, that's a first for me. I mean, who doesn't like toast?
Notes: I love barrel strength whiskeys and try to go all in before adding any water. Sometimes that works out and I never want to add water for fear of diluting the profile. The first time round with this one without any water did not go well. All I got was heat and overbearing grain barley flavor. I cursed it off that day. I revisited it a week later with a few drops of water which made a dramatic improvement. All the flavors came alive whereas before it was a lot of angry heat which killed the sweet and left nothing but spice.
All in all, I like this one okay. Granted, I'm slightly partial since it is a hometown product but even so $40 for uncut Dickel is a fair deal. I really like the bottle design and branding, it’s very reminiscent of Eagle Rare and certainly looks better than a Dickel bottle so it’s got that going for it too.
Rating: C+
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