The mashbill consists of 51% malted oats, 27% 6-row malted barley, and 22% coffee malt. The nose is malty, bitter, and nutty, offering fragrances of burnt coffee beans and mocha, with undernotes of blackberry compote. A bitter yet delicious palate brings more burnt coffee beans, chili pepper, smoked meat, toasty oatmeal, and dark chocolate. A lengthy finish reprises those notes, adding orange and strawberry when water is added. Dares to be different and succeeds magnificently—expressive and mouthwatering.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Winter 2019)

A spicy nose that’s plentiful with fruit too: There are notes of orange peel, lime, cherry Starburst, watermelon Jolly Ranchers, and apricot marmalade. From here, the silky-smooth palate drops off in fruitiness, with a light sweetness taking over and summoning notes of crème brûlée, yellow birthday cake, burnt walnuts, and a touch of earthiness. Dark chocolate, espresso, toasted almonds, and bright red fruit reign on the finish.

Reviewed by: Julia Higgins (Spring 2022)

Three batches of malt, smoked separately with peat, cherry wood, and beech. The nose is Islay-reminiscent peat, with some beech bacon under it, but the top is all cherry; very rewarding. For all the nose, the mouth is relatively mild; mostly juicy malt up front, then opening to the peat fire in the middle, the beech crowding around the sides, and the cherry floating overtop like a good pipe tobacco. Smooth, smoky finish. Compelling.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)

An earthy nose, with fragrant notes of woodsmoke and campfire embers. The palate offers rich chocolate, caramel, and succulent blackberry, with interwoven smoke influence. Water enlivens things even more, with emerging red fruit and enhanced smoke. The finish is long and spiced, with chocolate and sweet berry; it too is better with water. Well executed—the smoke is skillfully integrated to create a complex whiskey.  

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Winter 2021)

Distilled from hickory-smoked malted barley. The nose leads with dark barbecue smoke, mulberry, orange peel, cedar chest, and winter campfire. Earl Grey tea, tobacco leaf, orange oil, and black pepper dominate the palate, along with a great deal of thick, heavy smoke. A lot of new wood character and slightly rough around the edges, but compelling. The sort of whiskey you’d find in a crumbling tower deep in the woods.

Reviewed by: Adam Polonski (Fall 2018)

A hot and spicy nose: dry rye, sweet mint, and alcohol heat. Hot on the tongue too, with the mint flashing across an oily graininess. The finish is where it finally cools down, laying down thin layers of sweet mint and light chocolate on the palate. Water tames the heat and brings out more chocolate, but steals that nice finish. Not overly approachable, but…it’s rye.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)

Well-named: hops aroma comes flying right out of the glass — green pine and light peppermint — along with hot, sweet booze, but it’s a very clean scent, not feinty or heavy. The whiskey itself is quite light, not overbearing, and sweet with more pine and mint, along with a very pure malt character and a light touch of oaky vanilla. This is IPA booze, a rain-pure version, and more barrel could ruin it. Great gateway whiskey for a beer geek.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)

Is buckwheat a grain, seed, or nut? Doesn’t matter: you can malt it, so Corsair put it in their rye bourbon as a fourth…whatever. Aromas of corn, vanilla, and teaberry, with a pleasant broadness and light herbal notes. There’s a nutty note to the sweet corn and vanilla, and a move in the direction of astringency, but it’s intriguing, a definite plus. The layered finish has a woody nip to it, that dry earthiness, and sweet corn.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)

Distilled from imperial stout and “vapor infused” with hops, this is a bold example of Darek Bell’s “Alt Whiskeys.” Piney hops, hot toffee, and chocolate notes fill the nose. It’s a long ride on the palate: brisk spice first, then hops and hot malt, a mealy undercurrent that pulls you from a cocoa start to a hot and sweet finish, with a burnt note on the very end. Busy, but consistent.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)

Mashbill of corn, smoked barley, rye, and wheat, and a ruddy, almost garnet color to it. Smells like barrel drool in a rickhouse; kinda raunchy and sweet, with broad notes of vanilla and hot corn. Quite a mouthful at 100 proof, and after a short initial wave of sweet, the smoke shouts through, squeezing and wringing the other flavors dry, right through the finish. Water makes it paradoxically hotter.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)