This isn’t another sourced whiskey, sorry to disappoint you! Oregon Spirit Distillers makes this little number in Bend, Oregon. The whiskey is made from is 51% corn, plus equal parts of rye, wheat, and malted barley. Aged 3 years in a new American oak barrel. Thoughts follow.

What a surprising and fun little craft bourbon. The nose offers restrained notes of wood and leather, with just hints of vanilla and maple syrup. The aroma doesn’t have you expecting much, it’s so pulled back. But on the tongue, there’s a lovely combination of flavors that bubble up. There’s butterscotch, ripe banana, more of that maple syrup, and a healthy slug of lumberyard that hits you (hard) on the back end. The wood works well with the fruit and dessert-like notes that come before, fading out with a hint of Bananas Foster — including that whiff of propane wafting out from the little cart where the man in the tuxedo is whipping them up tableside.

Happy New Year, everyone!

80 proof.

B+ / $30 / oregonspiritdistillers.com

C.W. Irwin Straight Bourbon Whiskey

$30

8.5

Rating

8.5/10