Tasting notes

nose

butterscotch and vanilla with stone fruit, orange peel, gingerbread and a buttery edge

palate

caramel and maple over baked apple and dried fruit, with tobacco, leather and cinnamon

finish

medium length; ripe fruit and baking spice stay longest, with a hint of cocoa and a faintly bitter citrus note as the oak takes over

Mash bill

Michter's does not publish the grains or their proportions for this whiskey. What sets it apart is the wood rather than the recipe: because it is sold as American whiskey and not as bourbon or rye, it can age in barrels that have already held whiskey instead of new charred oak.

Why it's craft

This is the only US★1 whiskey that does not go into new charred oak: it ages in barrels that have already held whiskey, which neither bourbon nor rye rules allow. Michter's calls it unblended because it never contains grain neutral spirits. It returned in late 2013 after nearly three years off the market, once then-Master Distiller Willie Pratt judged it ready. Michter's does not say where the whiskey in this bottle was distilled; its own Louisville stills began filling barrels in 2015.