Tasting notes

nose

lime zest and dark fruit jam over brown sugar and pipe tobacco, with black tea and a marigold-like floral note

palate

fudge and chocolate pecan pie with cinnamon, dried mango and a sweet, herbal thread of cooked agave

finish

green and black peppercorn with roasted agave and coffee bean, then cocoa and a slightly bitter, earthy, mineral close

Mash bill

Recipe not published: the base is Widow Jane's 10-year blend of straight bourbons, whose distilleries and grain recipes are undisclosed. What sets this bottle apart is the cask, not the grain: the barrels last held Tequila Ocho's aged tequilas, made from agave in Arandas, Jalisco.

Why it's craft

This is the first bourbon finished in Tequila Ocho's casks: Ocho had never before let the barrels from its aged tequilas go to whiskey. The trade runs both ways, since Ocho aged a 2022 reposado in used barrels from Widow Jane's Conover Street rick house in Red Hook. Widow Jane gave its 10-year blend of straight bourbons eight months in the Ocho casks, then cut it with Rosendale limestone water and bottled it without chill filtration. The Brooklyn house has belonged to Heaven Hill Brands since 2022.