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Angel's Envy Port Barrel Finish

What's the Point?

0 584

@jerryclydeReview by @jerryclyde

28th Aug 2015

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  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Overall
    84

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After spending several months over this bottle I am still puzzled as to my final judgment. Undoubtedly, this was a quality bourbon to begin with and I am uncertain what was actually gained by finishing it in port barrels. This bourbon had a high rye content and I think that the port influence was just too much for that grain: spices were very muted and the fruitiness in the whiskey is due to the port, not so much to the rye. Perhaps with a less heavy rye mash bill this might have turned out differently, but I most likely will never find out as my Angel's Envy experimentation will probably end with this bottle.

Nose: Definitely a quality rye-heavy bourbon with all the grain, oak and caramel you would expect - but with a bit of a twist: a vinous, dark fruit (raisins-prune)overtone due to the port conditioning.

Palate: Incredibly light, smooth and juicy. Winey. Some light spices mid-palate are washed away by the port.

Finish: Very long finish which is dry and vinous (a bit too vinous in fact).

Batch #13J; Bottle #1748

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5 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

@jerryclyde, one more time your taste and mine are very similar. You have bought one more bottle of Angel's Envy than I am ever likely to buy.

For me rye grain (or wheat grain for that matter) usually doesn't work well with any wine influence. Wine can easily ruin a perfectly good bourbon. Angel's Envy is an excellent example of a bourbon-plus-wine that I just don't like. I find the Port influence on Angel's Envy to be very drab and not at all tasty, or even interesting. Angel's Envy bourbon probably would not rate even 80 points for me.

Lots of people like Angel's Envy a lot though. I won't compete with them for the bottles.

Bourbon with Port that works for me are the two Abraham Bowman Port Finished Bourbons, 8 and 12 years old. Most of the time, though, I think that adding wine to bourbon is a step backwards.

8 years ago 0

@Benancio
Benancio commented

@jerryclyde, spot on review, your pallet is serving you well. Again you bought one more bottle than I did. It would make a decent high rye bourbon if they left out the port barrel. Quite a few love it, I hated it.

@Victor is correct again, don't add wine to bourbon. In my opinion, don't add anything to bourbon. Honey, Maple, Apple, Yuk!

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

One regret I have in hindsight: because I dislike Angel's Envy Bourbon, I passed up an opportunity my sister pointed out to me to meet Lincoln Henderson in Baltimore, about a year before he died. I didn't want to be in the position of either having to tell the man I didn't like his bourbon, or to pretend that I did, when I did not.

As it turned out my sister had Linc Henderson all to herself at a liquor store to chat with, for about 45 minutes. He went into great detail discussing the effects of the barrels on the whiskey, etc., with her. If I had it to do again, I would definitely have made the drive to Baltimore. Some opportunities are not at all obvious at the time at which they present themselves.

8 years ago 0

@jerryclyde
jerryclyde commented

Victor, what a nice story. Opportunities, indeed, are quite fickle. I think you very fortunate as your wife and sister share your whisk(e)y passion. My wife likes to nose my drams, but sticks to her pinot noir.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@jerryclyde, @Nock's wife is a wine girl too, but when he gave her a taste of Amrut Intermediate Sherry matured, she immediately asked him if there weren't some way he could get out of giving me the bottle of it he had purchased for me. I don't hold it against her. It is an understandable reaction.

My sister is a great spirits boon to me/us. Her whisk(e)y collection is about the size of ours, and she buys a lot of stuff I wouldn't buy, so she effectively doubles the number of products we get to try. She says that that 15K she has spent on liquor in the last 5 years is "all my fault". That is a very nice compliment.

8 years ago 0

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