I’d like to thank Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.
Poor air quality is becoming a fixture of life this summer, isn’t it? Alexa gave me another air quality alert today. Luckily for me, we have it pretty good compared to the folks just a little to the east and south of us. Being as we are only in the “moderate air quality” range here in the southern Twin Cities Metro, I can actually go outside without breathing becoming hard to do. But according to the maps, many of you will smell smoke when you step outside.
Which sucks. Because though you might want smoke on your food or your whiskey, you probably do not want it in your lungs. So stay safe, folks.
But speaking of smoke and whiskey, let’s take a look at Bib & Tucker Double Char. This Tennessee bourbon was aged for six years in standard 53-gallon charred White Oak barrels before being finished in a second heavily charred barrel for an additional 5-plus months. Now, as this is Tennessee bourbon, it does go through the Lincoln County process of being filtered through sugar maple charcoal prior to aging.
And according to the company:
For Double Char, to pay homage to the Lincoln County process, the second barrel is smoked with sugar maple before being filled with our 6 year aged bourbon. The perfect amount of time in the barrels, the char, and the sugar maple barrel smoking process delivers a bourbon with an inviting savory white smoke flavor not found in any other whiskey on the market.
I tasted this prior to reading the press release, and I personally didn’t detect any smoke, which is a good thing, as I tend to dislike smoky notes in my whiskey. But there was a subtle note that I could be convinced was smoke now that I’ve read it. It’s one of those interesting notes that is subtle enough that it only comes into focus once someone else points it out.
So let’s see how it tastes.
Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon
Purchase Info: This was provided free of charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $54.99.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.66
Details: 6 years old. 44% ABV. Batch 01. Bottle 29090. Distilled in Tennessee.
Nose: Mint, vanilla, cinnamon, fresh lumber, (seasoned) oak, and a touch of cherry.
Mouth: Sweet caramel and vanilla, vibrant cinnamon, and sharp oak.
Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of cherry, cinnamon, minerals, and vanilla.
Thoughts: I'm a bit shocked at how complex the flavor is, considering it's low proof. I'm a fan. If you like the usual suspects when it comes to supplying sourced bourbon from Tennessee, you'll probably like this too. Has a bit of a Dickel vibe to it.
Now you might ask how it compares to the standard Bib & Tucker 6-year-old. And since they were nice enough to send me a sample of that for comparison’s sake, let’s take a look. The noses are similar, but Double Char is sweeter on the nose. The mouths have similar notes, but Double Char is sweeter and spicier. Standard 6 has a longer finish, but Double Char compensates for that by having more complexity on the finish. Overall, if you like one, you'll probably like the other.
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