Tasting notes

nose

vanilla pod and buttered orange crêpe with espresso, a pinch of sea salt and a lily-like floral note

palate

caramelized canelé and rock candy with manuka honey, sweet red bean paste and white miso, a thread of frankincense and chocolate-dipped orange

finish

blackstrap molasses and coffee bean over cocoa and cinnamon, with roasted root vegetables and a last cool note of mint chocolate

Mash bill

Recipe not published: a blend of straight bourbons from undisclosed distilleries in Tennessee and Kentucky. Each is made from at least 51% corn, as bourbon must be, and drawing on two states means more than one recipe is in the bottle.

Why it's craft

Widow Jane did not distill Black Opal: it is a blend of Tennessee and Kentucky bourbons aged at least 20 years, chosen by head distiller and blender Sienna Jevremov after tasting more than 50 barrels. What Widow Jane adds is the finish, 13 months in casks of Hokkaido Mizunara oak in its Red Hook rick house, nearly a year longer than the first Black Opal of 2024. Only 3,300 bottles were made, each cut with water from the Rosendale limestone mines. The house has been part of Heaven Hill Brands since 2022.