Tasting notes

nose

Vanilla and caramel lead, with molasses and toasted oak beneath

palate

Baking spice and oak over a light brown sugar sweetness, with touches of coffee, rye spice and light pepper

finish

Lingering; lightly toasted oak and soft caramel stay, with gentle spice as it fades

Mash bill

75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley. Hung Jury shares that recipe with both whiskeys it is blended from, Guilty and Not Guilty, all distilled in Indiana by a distillery Verdict does not name. The grain varieties and where they were grown have not been published.

Why it's craft

Hung Jury is a blend of Verdict's two other bottles, the Guilty straight bourbon and the brown-sugar Not Guilty, made to pair Guilty's oak and spice with a subtler brown sugar richness. Both components are six-year-old bourbon produced in Indiana; Verdict, an Arizona brand founded by partners Brandon and Jim, bottles them in Frederick, Maryland, and does not distill. The front label carries the six-year age statement and the class straight bourbon whiskey with natural flavor.