There’s not really any doubt that as the practice of secondary maturation, or “barrel finishes” has become commonplace and widespread in the American whiskey world, that the Angel’s Envy brand has been one of the most visible and influential examples. Back in 2010, when the company began selling bourbon finished in port wine casks, such an extra step was seen as various shades of exotic or even sacrilegious–a perversion, some would have said, of the natural Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey order. Bourbon was a pretty staid corner of the whiskey industry, dominated by big, historic companies that preferred to largely keep doing things the way they had been done for decades or centuries. It was distilleries in the generation of Angel’s Envy that forced certain conversations into the public spotlight, and secondary barrel finishes was one of the most prominent. In the years since, the company has likewise debuted its flagship rye whiskey finished in rum casks, but hadn’t done a straight oak finish until now, with the arrival of the newest entry in its flagship Signature Series, Angel’s Envy Triple Oak.
Where the company’s original bourbon is famously influenced by port wine casks, and the rye reflects Caribbean rum, Triple Oak is more or less what it sounds like: Angel’s Envy Bourbon that is finished in three styles of newly charred oak casks before blending. Those styles are Chinkapin oak from Kentucky, joined by what the distillery amusingly and redundantly refers to in their press release as “Hungarian oak from Hungary” and “French oak from France,” in case you were wondering about the provenance of “French oak.” Triple Oak seeks to blend together the influence of each distinct style of oak to make a harmonious whole. The distillery doesn’t provide a lot of specifics about how those barrels were treated, but I am assuming that each was charred, as the company probably would have played up the “toasted” angle if they had all merely been toasted and not charred. This is meant to be a major, permanent release–the third entry in Signature Series, which means the company probably has pretty high hopes for the brand.
Regardless, the resulting whiskey should be pretty accented with oak, and weighs in at a moderate 46% ABV (92 proof). It carries a $75 MSRP, which is notably higher than the flagship bourbon, but perhaps a touch lower than the more expensive rye whiskey. So with that said, let’s get to tasting this new expression.
On the nose, you certainly get the oak-forward nature of this dram right away, with different elements of each secondary oak finish contributing their own elements. There’s a good amount of toasted wood spice, with some cinnamon, and then a deeper layer of American oak char, vanilla and a little dark chocolate. Under the wood influence there’s a slightly more youthful core bourbon profile, with caramel corn, honey and a slightly grainy impression, with hints of baked apple and stone fruit.
On the palate, this leads off with woody and peppery character, although there’s a decent charge of honey and toffee sweetness present as well. Cracked pepper and mild cinnamon meld with some ginger and apple/plum-like fruitiness. It’s actually a little on the leathery side as well despite a presumed young-to-moderate age statement, suggesting a certain, “dustier” oak character that has been leeched from the wood here. It turns fairly dry on the back end, having taken on a decent amount of tannin in its secondary finishing. Triple Oak closes with more spice focus, bringing out notes of root beer, cardamom and cream soda, but overall finishes a tad dry. This has perhaps just a touch more tannin than I’d like, but it’s not too distracting at the end of the day.
All in all, I can see what the company is trying to do here, though I’m not sure the results really have the depth of flavor that is going to wow the average American whiskey geek. With that said, I do believe I like this a bit more than the flagship Angel’s Envy bourbon, which has never really been a favorite–though not as much as I enjoyed the attention-grabbing cask strength rye last year, which was very nice indeed. Time will tell if Triple Oak can make a big enough splash to stick around in the Angel’s Envy lineup, or whether it can ultimately have the same depth of influence that the port cask-finished bourbon has had through the years.
Distillery: Angel’s Envy
City: Louisville, KY
Style: Straight bourbon whiskey
ABV: 46% (92 proof)
Availability: 750 ml bottles, $75 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.