Review: Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky
We’ve seen a number of products from South Africa lately — lots of wine, and even liqueurs and brandy — but this is our first South African whisky review.
The bottle won’t tell you much, but Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky is single grain whisky made from 100% South African yellow maize (we call it corn!). It is column distilled and matured in first-fill, ex-bourbon casks for three years, then transferred to a second set of casks for 18 to 30 months, making this roughly a 4 to 6 year old spirit.
The nose is fairly harmless, restrained but showing some early notes of butterscotch, salted caramel, and ample but not overwhelming popcorn character. The body tends to mash these all together into a hearty caramel corn element — you would be easily forgiven for assuming this was a young American bourbon. That’s a statement that comes with a lot of baggage, but Bain’s doesn’t come across as overly grainy or vegetal. Give it a little time at least and the palate settles into a groove that offers notes of vanilla custard and caramel sauce, layered atop that heavier popcorn base. Initially a bit disjointed, things get quite integrated and soothing as the whisky opens up with time exposed to air, the way things can often happen with younger, but well-made, bourbon.
If you love bourbon, you’ll at least like Bain’s Cape Mountain — and you might even find a real soft spot for its charms.
86 proof.
B / $30 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky
$30
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