There are a lot of craft distillers out there these days and most of them are either selling really young spirits or selling someone else's spirits while their own distillate matures. In the self made category, frankly there's a lot of shitty whiskey out there. In that sea of crap however Stranahan's is one that stands out in terms of quality as I was surprised by how much I enjoyed their standard product. The combo of new charred oak and malt makes an interesting profile despite the fact that it's not very old. As with most craft whiskies though, the biggest deterrent from me buying it again was the price. That's why I was very intrigued when Stranahan's announced Diamond Peak which is basically the same product but aged at least twice as long with a ~$15 price bump.
No Age Statement (so at least 4 years); 47% ABV; $70; Batch 001
Nose: Grapes, cereal grains, roasted coffee. Smells like my memory of the original product.
Taste: Tastes like the nose. Roasted barley, coffee, and raisin bran cereal with extra raisins. Again, this tastes a lot like the original product though with less raw new make and ethanol notes. The extra age has helped smoothed things out and give it a little more depth, especially in the finish.
Thoughts: It's a nice step up over the standard Stranahan's which these days I'd rate about a C / C+. It has the same core profile as the regular but with extra depth and more refinement. If you're a fan of the original you'll love this and probably never look back to the other one. While it's a nice change of pace and certainly very unique compared to a bourbon or rye, I would have a hard time bringing myself to buy another one of these again. At $70, there are many whiskeys available with more age, depth, proof, and quality at a significantly better price.
Rating: B- / C+
Additional Notes on Batch 002: I also had a sample from batch 002 on hand. Tasted side by side, I found batch 001 to be noticeably better in terms of richness and depth of flavor. Batch 002 was thinner and had less intensity in the finish so I would knock it down to C+ territory.
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
No comments:
Post a Comment