Tasting notes

nose

Toasted kasha and grain lead, with a mint-like herbal lift, roasted malt, citrus peel and a hint of lavender

palate

Oily and mouth-coating from the start, with maple-tinged sweetness giving way to butter-roasted almond, honeyed oats and orange, then nutty toasted grain and a light prickly pear jelly at the back

finish

Long and coating, holding herbal mint and honeyed peanut over toasted grain, then drying toward oak, cinnamon, a touch of cayenne and dark chocolate as it fades

Mash bill

66% corn, 12% rye, 16% kasha, 2% buckwheat, 4% malt. Kasha is toasted buckwheat, and it is paired here with a small share of raw buckwheat. Together the toasted and raw buckwheat give the whiskey a nutty, savory, roasted-grain character, one of several alternative grains the distillery works with.

Why it's craft

The Morning Glory puts 18% buckwheat into the mash, most of it toasted as kasha, a grain rarely seen in bourbon. It ages only in the distillery's chai cellar after double pot distillation, and is named for a historic tavern near Campbellsburg, Indiana. Spirits of French Lick is owned by the Doty family, who founded it in 2016 alongside their winery and do every step from mash to bottle themselves.