I liked Big Bottom’s 2 Year Old Port Cask Finished Whiskey so much I named it my top American whiskey of the year. What could be better then than Big Bottom Port Finished Whiskey, one year older?
With this second batch of whiskey, the Bourbon is older (3 years, one day) before it went into the Port casks, and it spends longer in the finishing barrels (4-5 months instead of 3-4 months). The barrels were also turned over more quickly: This time the finishing barrels spent only 30 days idle and empty; with batch one they were empty for about four months before the whiskey went in.
Those are the mechanical differences, what about the taste? I sadly don’t have any of the first batch of whiskey left, so comparisons are tough. But versus my notes and the similarly made Angel’s Envy, this is a whiskey where the wood is clearer in its influence, muting somewhat the Port character.
That said, the whiskey is spry and racy, spicy confection that balances sweet with lots of peppery spice, cinnamon, cloves, raisins, and with wood running through all of it. Great balance, but quite a different spirit. I like it almost as much as the original, which is evidenced by the fact that by the time I got to writing this review, my sample bottle was already empty.
91 proof.
A / $30 / bigbottomwhiskey.com
