Review: Bluebird Distilling Breakwater Bourbon
Review: Bluebird Distilling Breakwater Bourbon
We’ve covered a pair of whiskey releases from Pennsylvania-based Bluebird Distilling in the past, with mixed results. Up next is a new bourbon, “well aged and lightly smoked,” with a charitable goal: 10% of profits from the sale of the whiskey go to the Jetty Rock Foundation, which aims to protect east coast oceans and waterways, and those who live near and work them.
You wouldn’t know it from the bottle, but the unique whiskey features a mashbill of corn, wheat, rye, barley, and smoked cherry malt, aged for 5 to 7 years in charred American oak and finished in Brazilian Amburana barrels.
A truly unique experience, the nose is evocative and heavily spiced, immediately laden with notes of apple pie spice, ginger, and vanilla, the spicier notes fading slowly to reveal a more char-laden underbelly. Indeed it’s lightly smoked, though not clearly cherry-focused, featuring vaguely tropical notes that recall grilled pineapple and bananas in syrup. Much smokier on the palate than the nose initially indicates, the whiskey moves from notes of dried apples and banana chips into a melange of flavors that evokes sweet, smoking fireplace embers, and finally some of that cherry wood. The finish is hearty but lively with a mix of lingering fruit and smoke.
While wholly untraditional for any kind of whiskey — especially bourbon — it’s got plenty of enduring charm to merit a look-see for the more adventurous among you.
90 proof.
B+ / $55 / bluebirddistilling.com
Bluebird Distilling Breakwater Bourbon
$55
