Angel’s Envy has achieved fairly nicely for itself through the use of ruby port casks through the years. Its trademark Port Cask bourbon, which launched in 2011, incorporates a 6-month end in ruby port barrels. It’s extensively accepted as being the first-ever cask-finished bourbon—laying the muse for a observe that’s now widespread within the U.S. There’s additionally the high-scoring Cask Energy model of Port Cask, a ruby port-finished annual launch that’s one of many distillery’s hottest whiskeys and not too long ago made an look on our High 20 Whiskies of 2024 listing. This 12 months’s cask power iteration, Batch C13, shakes issues up by including tawny port casks into the combo alongside the everyday ruby port barrels.
The brand new batch contains three base bourbons, every accounting for a few third of the general mix. Two of these elements had been distilled by Angel’s Envy in 2016 and 2018. The third is a mix of distillates from 2012–2015 that had been sourced earlier than the distillery got here on-line in 2016. When it comes to ending, tawny port performs a supporting function—with some 27% of the mix spending 6 months in tawny port barrels. The remaining 73% is completed in ruby port barrels for six months to three years. The ultimate product was bottled at 59.4% ABV, only a contact increased than 2023’s version which got here in at 59.1%.
The idea of utilizing tawny port casks happened instantly after final 12 months’s batches had been launched. The same old ruby port cask bourbon—which later went on be named our No. 12 Whisky of 2024—got here alongside a cask power rye, a primary for Angel’s Envy, which grasp distiller Owen Martin was significantly pleased with. “I feel [the rye] is likely one of the finest issues I ever made,” he stated. “Realizing it was going to make a splash, and understanding we weren’t going to do it 12 months over 12 months, we didn’t need there to be a vacuum that adopted it.” Aiming to fill that void, Martin went again to the drafting board with the intention of constructing some modifications to Cask Energy Port Cask’s recipe. “It was most likely the correct time to evolve it,” he says, noting that the objective was to pivot the expression in a brand new route that might make it stand out with out fully reinventing it.
Martin took inspiration from one among his favourite Angel’s Envy expressions: Cellar Assortment Chapter 2, a tawny port cask-finished particular launch from February 2020. Reasonably than exchange the ruby port casks completely, he determined to mix the 2 casks collectively. From the outset, the concept was for this 12 months’s batch to be sweeter and extra bourbon-centric than 2023’s model. The concept was to make use of the tawny port-finished elements as a balancing agent, which might rein in and easy out among the extra dominant oak flavors discovered within the ruby cask-finished elements.
That was completed by choosing the youngest whiskeys within the mix—which he stated had been far much less oaky than among the older shares—to be completed within the tawny port barrels. As well as, Martin deliberately stuffed the tawny port casks in January and emptied them in June, which gave him a full 6 month-long end whereas avoiding a summer time warmth wave that might’ve ramped up oak notes within the whiskey.
This launch additionally marks the primary time Angel’s Envy has used a solera-like methodology to supply a whiskey. Every time Martin assembles a brand new batch, he deliberately produces greater than is required for the discharge—setting apart that further whiskey for use in a future challenge. Round 20% of Batch C13’s total mix is identical liquid used to make final 12 months’s Cask Energy Port Cask bourbon. Going ahead, the plan is to carry again an undisclosed portion of every 12 months’s expression to be used within the subsequent 12 months’s mix.
Whereas that course of appears like a solera on paper, Martin is fast to level out that it technically isn’t a true solera system. Reasonably than make the most of the barrel pyramids or foeder vats present in conventional soleras, Angel’s Envy returns the whiskeys to their authentic barrels for an prolonged marrying interval.
Simply over 23,000 bottles of Batch C13 had been produced, and each carries a beneficial retail worth of $230. It’s at the moment obtainable for buy on the distillery, nevertheless it’s slated to hit cabinets at retailers nationwide beginning subsequent month.
Angel’s Envy Cask Energy Port Cask Bourbon Batch C13, Reviewed
Rating: 92
ABV: 59.4%
Value: $230
The nostril is fragrant and mild regardless of the proof, with scents of vanilla fudge, salted caramel, cotton sweet, and dried strawberries, balanced by oak, cedar closet, and earthiness. The large palate gives extra vanilla, plus purple berry, baked cherries, espresso, and a beneficiant sprint of pepper spice. The fruit and sweetness stand as much as the warmth properly. The end is mid-length, with comparable flavors and a good quantity of oak affect.—David Fleming
