Owning a whiskey website requires a certain amount of focus. Even if my liver is what we call “totalflex” around here, the ethanol world is very vast, and liver and financial resources are limited. I often find myself forced to choose battle fronts, and, naturally, my favorite combat zone is whiskey. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy other fields. I’m passionate about cocktails, I’ve always liked beer, and I have an ignorant fascination with rum and cachaça. In the field of wines, I assume I’m on the fortified team. Especially port.
And sometimes, I don’t even have to choose. Because there are hundreds of whiskies that are finished in port casks. And that for me is almost an alcoholic megazord. Just seeing a whiskey that passed through such casks makes me feel irremediably compelled to try it. Imagine then, when I discovered a bourbon that goes through the same process – Angel’s Envy Bourbon.
The biggest difference between Angel’s Envy Bourbon – as well as its brother, Angel’s Envy Finished Rye, already reviewed here – is precisely its somewhat unusual maturation. The whiskey, after spending around five years in virgin and toasted American oak barrels, is finished for a period of three to six months in port wine barrels. This gives the whiskey a certain sweet and fruity wine aroma, reminiscent of raisins.
The idea of finishing a whiskey in a barrel previously used for another drink is not new. It has long been used in Scotland – the pioneers were Glenmorangie, The Balvenie and Glen Moray. However, in the United States, the technique is still little used and only gained momentum when Woodford Reserve and its former master distiller, Lincoln Henderson, decided to try it in special limited versions of the distillery. Lincoln Henderson, who later, a few years before he passed away, founded Angel’s Envy.
Angel’s Envy Bourbon’s Mashbill is made up of 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malted barley. It’s a recipe very close to that of another bourbon whiskey famous for unusual finishes, Woodford Reserve. It is also a mashbill with a considerable amount of rye, which brings balance to the sweetness provided by the corn.
The launch of Angel’ Envy Bourbon took place in 2011. However, until 2015, Angel’s Envy did not have its own distillery. Their whiskey was produced by Midwest Grain Products of Indiana (MGP) under request from Angel’s Envy, which curated the barrels and designed the product profile. MGP – once the huge Seagram’s distillery – also produces or has produced custom whiskey for several other brands, such as George Dickel, High West, Redemption and Smooth Ambler. Currently, however, Angel’s Envy is produced in their own distillery in Kentucky.
Angel’s Envy arrives in Brazil through the hands of its owner – Bacardi. The price is close to that asked for other sophisticated bourbons, a category that has grown a lot in our market recently. Its biggest difference is the port finish – although it is difficult to ignore the beautiful bottle. It is a bourbon that will please everyone: lovers of fortified wines, bourbons and single malts. In the case of Angel’s Envy, there’s no need to choose fronts.
ANGEL’S ENVY BOURBON
- Type: Bourbon
- Brand: Angel’s Envy
- Region: N/A
- ABV: 43.3%
Profile
- Aroma: Caramel. Brown sugar, honey, dried fruits.
- Flavor: Caramel, honey, vanilla, creme brulee. Long and progressively more fruity finish, with raisins.