Review: Seventeen Twelve Spirits North Carolina Bourbon
Review: Seventeen Twelve Spirits North Carolina Bourbon
The craft whiskey business is a brutal waiting game. While large distilleries continue to churn out quality product, often at a lower cost to the consumer, craft whiskey makers are forced to simply watch barrels full of money age in their warehouses, hoping their gin or vodka (or someone else’s whiskey in their bottles) will keep the lights on in the meantime. Some craft distillers are even bottling a less-than-perfect product too early and hoping the marketing makes up for it in the long run. This doesn’t exactly help the craft business overall. There are, however, those craft distillers who have found a way to produce a young whiskey well worth the asking price. One of those is Seventeen Twelve Spirits in Conover, North Carolina.
Named for the year North Carolina became a distinct entity from the Carolina colony, Seventeen Twelve Spirits uses only grains grown by local farmers in North Carolina. Their roots are as traditional as any, born out of the moonshining legendary in the western part of the state, but their maturation technique is one of the newest in the industry. None of the whiskey in their Seventeen Twelve North Carolina Bourbon is much more than a year old, but it looks and drinks like something significantly older due to the use of yellow birch finishing staves which they toast and suspend inside standard 53 gallon barrels. Taking a play from an industry heavy hitter like Maker’s Mark (Maker’s 46 uses French oak finishing staves in a smilar manner), they are attempting to crack the code on very young bourbon that actually tastes good.
At only 10 months old, the color on my sample of Seventeen Twelve Spirits North Carolina Bourbon is already a light caramel; the first sign of the benefits from the finishing staves. The nose is at first sweet corn, which is probably where a whiskey this young should end, but it develops into notes of fresh ground cinnamon and vanilla custard. The body is understandably light, but the palate is surprisingly complex and flavorful. More cinnamon sugar and vanilla bean emerge with layers of sweet oak, baking spice, toasted marshmallow, and a floral hint of honeysuckle. There’s a slight heat on the very back end, a little black pepper from the rye spice, and a rich oiliness, all of which makes for a generous and enjoyable finish. The toasted yellow birch is clearly a secret ingredient here, imparting a lot of older bourbon flavors into what is one of the best young bourbons I’ve ever tasted.
86 proof.
A- / $33 / seventeentwelvespirits.com
Seventeen Twelve Spirits North Carolina Bourbon
$33
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We apparently did not drink the same Seventeen Twelve bourbon. There is a mysterious murky dankness about this bourbon that makes it absolutely undrinkable. I’ve never had a bourbon that made me immediately gag until this moment. If you could imagine for a minute that you boiled an old sailors boot, threw in your great grandmother’s musty burlap sack that stored potatoes, and a dash of moldy cardboard box that has been stored in your wet basement for a few years you’ll get close to the flavor that even Listerine couldn’t get out of my mouth. Even sitting here a couple hours later I’m still gagging every time I burp and taste it. I’m not a bourbon snob this is just an awful bourbon.
Steve,
Thanks for the elaborate, if unfortunate, tasting notes. I am sorry to hear my recommendation led you astray on this one, but as with many smaller scale distilleries product quality can change over time. And not always for the better, unfortunately. It has been many years since I last tasted Seventeen Twelve, and in that time I believe they lost their original distiller. It’s also somewhat surprising that older product hasn’t made it to market (still under 2 years, I believe). I’ll have to revisit. Although, with your experience, I can’t say that I’m looking forward to it. Better luck with the next purchase!
Cheers,
Drew