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Watershed Bourbon Wine Barrel Pinot Noir Cask Finished Review

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Sunday Evening Review

 

This week’s review is for a limited release from Watershed Distillery that will be available at their upcoming 1st Annual Booty Hunt on October 29th. This Watershed Bourbon finished in Pinot Noir barrels. So without further ado I will stick out my pinkie and get to sipping.

 

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

 

NAME – Watershed Bourbon Pinot Noir Wine Barrel Finished Whiskey

 

PROOF – 94

 

AGE – No age statement did get from the distillery that it is at least 6 years old, 3 years in its home barrel and at least 3 years in the Pinot Noir cask

 

COLOR – rose gold (1.7 burnt amber on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Canned plums syrup, cocoa powder, vanilla ice cream, sweet oak, aged leather

 

TASTE – Raisins, aged oak, leather, tobacco leaf, and baking spices

 

FINISH – I would call this a medium finish. This is where you taste the Pinot Noir influence with a dry dark red wine note. The length of this finish at 94 proof is pretty impressive.

 

REVIEW – To be honest thought that due to the 3 years in a Pinot Noir Cask it would taste like a high proofed wine. It does not at all and shocked by just the slight wine notes that come in for me in the finish. This is a very enjoyable pour but to distinguish individual tasting notes was very difficult. It seems to have several notes melding together to create its own experience.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – This bottle was given to me to review by Watershed Distillery. Also as mentioned before, Watershed is having an event on October 29th from 8am to 2pm called the Booty Hunt. There will be a raffle for empty bourbon barrels, rare bourbon bottles and also some local vendors. Here is what they said about the event:

 

Join the hunt for unique products, limited releases, and other one-of-a-kind Watershed rarities available one day only while supplies last. See you tharr!

 

Here is the link for more information – Watershed Booty Hunt | Watershed (watersheddistillery.com)

Watershed Distillery Barrel Proof OHLQ Barrel Pick Review

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Sunday Evening Review

 

What’s better than a scavenger hunt? Well I could name a lot of things to be honest but a treasure hunt is something different. Watershed Distillery partnered with OHLQ to release 6 different barrel picks at barrel proof. The hunt will begin Monday, May 2nd at “select liquor stores throughout the state.” I was fortunate enough to taste all 6 and I will have comments on those later in my final comments section but I am doing a full review on what my guess will be the most sought after bottle of the bunch. The bottle that is named, “Ohio Dutch Apple” that comes in at a robust 140.6 proof. Let’s see if it is as good as grandma’s apple pie or will it be like drinking grandpa’s gasoline.

 

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

 

 

NAME – Watershed Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Strength – OHLQ Ohio Dutch Apple

 

PROOF – 140.6

 

AGE – 4.3 years

 

COLOR – caramel drizzle (1.5 auburn, polished mahogany on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Not going to tell you there isn’t ethanol on the nose, but I have had much more in other pours. I was quickly able to move paste the alcohol and get to caramelized bread. Reminds me of a dessert my mom made that was called monkey bread that had caramel, cinnamon, pecans and apples in a yeasty bread. I also get a slight chocolate chip note and vanilla also.

 

TASTE – No doubt that you must pull up your big boy or girl pants on when you drink this. Especially the first sip the ethanol is powerful. Once your palate acclimates to the high proof then you get the charred oak, chocolate hot cocoa, red delicious apple, roasted pecan, dark caramel, roasted coffee and cinnamon.

 

FINISH – I would call this a long finish. Chocolate, pecan, oak stick around and some black pepper shows up.

 

REVIEW – This bottle did give me a lot more than what you anticipate with a Haz Mat bottle. The proof is obviously evident, but I have had hotter tasting Bookers that are 14 proof points lower. This gives a very desserty feel with the chocolate and caramel mixing with the apples and pecan. This is a good pour that may be better with a few drops of water or over ice to beat back some of the ethanol and open up the other notes.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – Really appreciate Watershed Distillery to be invited to evaluate all these bottles. Of the 6 bottles, 5 are using the new mash bill of 3 grains with 22% rye with one bottle using the original 5 grain mash bill. They sampled through 15 barrels to end up deciding on these 6. Here is the list of bottles with short tasting notes and information on the other bottles:

 

  • Confectioner’s Cask – 126.3 proof – 4.3 years – I got a very quick but interesting powdered sugar note at the very beginning. Then a very balanced pour with caramel and rye spice playing ying and yang. This was probably my favorite or the next one Bourbon Buckeye.
  • Bourbon Buckeye – 126.2 proof – 4.3 years – Peanut Butter and chocolate like the name suggest. This rivaled Confectioner’s Cask as my favorite
  • Malt Shop – 130.7 proof – 4.5 years – I think for most this will be your absolute favorite or you will hate it. Very malty with rye spice. Reminded me of some Balcones Single Malt that I have had.
  • Rich Lemon Pie – 128.3 proof – 4.5 years – This name didn’t fit for me as I didn’t get any citrus until maybe at the very very end and it was barely noticeable. I even asked others I was there with to just make sure I hadn’t lost it and they agreed. Had some rye spice and vanilla and little chocolate. Least favorite of the 3 grain mash bill bottles.
  • Crème de la Crème Brulée – 121.49 proof – 5 years – This is from the only remaining barrel created from its original five-grain mash bill. This to me is a nostalgic pick as this reaffirmed why they changed mash bills. Again, this is a personal opinion as there were others in the group that loved it. If you were a fan of the 5 grain bottles that Watershed produced in the past, then jump on it because it is a last of a kind.

 

Couple dates and things to keep for your calendar.

 

May 2nd these bottles hit the OHLQ Agency shelves. If you want to try all six you can attend a special dinner at Watershed Kitchen + Bar on Wednesday, May 11th. Tickets to the dinner include a sampling of all single barrel bourbon offerings and the option to buy up to four of the six expressions in the bottle shop.

 

To purchase tickets to the dinner, please visit Watershed’s OpenTable Experience page

To find out more check it out here – Watershed Distillery

You can look at all the past Sunday Evenings Reviews and I would still love to hear what your personal reviews are from each of the whiskies reviewed