Tasting notes

nose

cranberry, mulled apple cider, dried fig and sweetened black tea, with olive oil cake, grape syrup and dark chocolate

palate

dark mulled fruit, glazed honeybun, cherry, persimmon and cinnamon sugar, with black walnut, vanilla and old oak

finish

dry and lingering, with burnt brown butter, aged oak, old leather and a little berry

Mash bill

Widow Jane has not published a recipe for this bottle. It blends straight bourbons from several distilleries, so no single grain split applies. Bourbon is made from at least 51% corn, with rye or wheat and malted barley making up the rest.

Why it's craft

Widow Jane does not distill this bourbon. It blends and finishes bought bourbon aged 15 years in Brooklyn, and says so on the label. The finish is the point: the barrels are Mythological Oak, harvested in Amfilochia, western Greece. Only 15,672 bottles were released nationally. The Vaults is Widow Jane's annual limited release, and 2025 is the seventh edition. Widow Jane is owned by Heaven Hill, which bought its parent company in 2022.