[youtube height=”720″ width=”1280″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jBZKp7KYE&index=5&list=PL36O7QkNnc2MzmBPqoF80uezxARJRVgaJ[/youtube]
Rating
Price:
Circa £30
In a Nutshell:
Some unusual spicy flavours matched up with the familiar bourbon taste, a nice finish and a cool branding. I’d call it pretty good value for money.
Turns out they make whiskey in Colorado…
Tin Cup is a relatively new whiskey hailing from Colorado, USA. It’s technically a bourbon, but is higher in rye than most other bourbon whiskies.
It’s the product of Jess Graber, who by all accounts is a pretty busy guy who’s been distilling stuff for 40odd years on the side whilst he did other stuff with his life. He recently went full time as a distiller, which sounds like my kind of fun.
Tin Cup’s name is a homage to miners in Colarado who would drink their whiskey out of tin cups (in between hours of hacking away at rock with a pickaxe, I imagine…).
It is apparently made using grains exclusively from the Mid West, and cut with Rocky Mountain water – making it very much a product of its environment (and what a beautiful environment that is!).
There’s another place in Colorado actually called Tin Cup, though I dunno if that’s anywhere near where Jess is (Colorado is quite big). I think Jess was involved with Stranahan’s whiskey as well.
We Drink It, Stuff Happens
Nose:
First impression? Creamy American Oak (read: ‘Bourbon vanilla’) and some sweetness. Continue sniffing to unlock some spiciness – juniper berries and green cardamom, maybe. At no point does it sear your face, suggesting a whisky that might be rather smooth once you get it on the tongue
Palette:
The nose’s hunch is correct, this is smoother than Chet Baker and possesses an equivalent amount of character (disclaimer: I never met Chet Baker). With the spice it’s a little tingly on the tongue, the allspice and cardamom being quite prominent, sitting on top of the vanilla. It’s a lovely light gold colour.
So yes, it’s a dry, sweet whiskey, with some complimentary sharpness coming from those spicy berry/cardamom notes. Easy drinking, that’s for sure. The dry, herbal combination seems to evoke mental images of herbs growing on the Colorado desert in my mind’s eye.
That’s right, I possess a mind’s eye and it’s regularly/mostly used for whiskey drinking.
Finish:
Better than expected. Rather long, with those spicy notes lingering on the front of your tongue, and the vanilla sitting kinda on the back. It seems to feel a lot more creamy once you’ve let the finish sit for a while – which seems to come from the vanilla flavours fading away. Good staying power here!
Verdict
Well, I’m impressed. Eminently drinkable, visually appealing, full of some interesting flavours and with a nice finish to boot. I can’t really complain.
Also you get 750ml in the bottle, instead of the usual 50 (that’s like an extra double measure thrown in). Is this how the Americans do things?
So no, I’m not an expert on bourbon by any stretch of the imagination, but for around £30 this feels like a very good deal.