Tasting notes

nose

Root beer float sweetness with honeysuckle and bright orange marmalade

palate

Orange-vanilla cola and vanilla bean with warm fig

finish

Cinnamon-vanilla frosting and candied orange over sweet oak, with allspice lingering

Mash bill

70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley. The barrels came from a Kentucky distillery that Pursuit does not name, and the recipe is the high-rye 70/21/9 one, so rye spice runs under the vanilla and orange.

Why it's craft

Old Anvil was a small Louisville brand bottled at General Distillers, and Pursuit revived the name for one bottling from barrels it found in its own warehouse when it moved to Mellwood Avenue. The bourbon is eleven summers old, bottled at barrel proof without filtering, and was sold only through the distillery in 375 ml flasks. The whiskey is sourced from a Kentucky distillery Pursuit does not name.