In
Wisconsin, we have some of the most fertile cropland in the country. If you
head up to Door County, you’ll find drop-dead gorgeous scenery on top of that
farmland. Door County is both a rural area and a popular tourist destination,
attracting millions of people each year.
In
Door County, a village called Egg Harbor is home to slightly over 200 people. Chris Roedl founded Hatch Distilling Co.
in August 2017. Chris was a beekeeper, and as his hives grew in size and
number, he dreamed of distilling their raw honey. He didn’t just think of
mead; he was distilling gin and vodka from honey.
Later,
Hatch Distilling added brandy, liqueurs, Mezcal-style agave spirit, and whiskey
to its repertoire. Most of everything is grown locally in Egg Harbor, and Chris does the foraging, fermenting, distilling, aging, barreling, and
bottling in-house.
Today,
we’ll explore 1916
Bourbon Whiskey. If you’re left wondering what is so
special about 1916 that they’d name a whiskey after it, I have the answer!
Dateline:
April 24th, 1916, Easter Monday, Dublin, Ireland. Three groups of irate
citizens, one led by Patrick
Pearse, a schoolmaster and Irish language
activist and his Irish Volunteers, a second by trade union leader James Connolly,
who led the Irish Citizen Army, and (here’s something you don’t come across
every day) 200 women from Cumann na mBan captured the Post Office in Dublin and
proclaimed their independence from the United Kingdom. In total, there were
just over 1200 rebels directly involved.
In
response, London sent 16,000 British troops to quell the uprising. The Irish
were able to hold off the British for five days before surrendering. The rebel
leaders were executed, 16 in all. The combined number of dead, including
civilians, was 485.
It
is known as the Easter Rebellion, while others refer to it as the Easter
Uprising. That, however, leads us to a second question: What does the
Easter Rebellion have to do with Bourbon? I’ve got that answer, too.
“1916 Bourbon Whiskey is the rebellious child of a voluptuous Irish Whiskey making love to a tender-hearted American Bourbon.” – Hatch Distilling Co.
The
mashbill uses only corn and both malted and unmalted barleys, which is more
common for traditional Irish whiskey than Bourbon.
We
have one more question to deal with: How does it taste? To answer that, we have
to #DrinkCurious. And I’ll start that right after thanking Hatch Distilling Co.
for providing me with a sample of 1916 Bourbon in exchange for my
no-strings-attached, honest review.
- Whiskey Type: Bourbon
- Distiller: Hatch Distilling Co.
- Age: NAS (at least four years)
- Mashbill: Corn, malted barley, and unmalted barley
- Cooperage: 53-gallon new, charred oak barrels
- Alcohol Content: 45% ABV (90°)
- Price per 750mL: $35.00
Appearance: I used
a Glencairn glass to sip this Bourbon neat. The copper liquid produced a thin,
jagged rim with thick, fast, and tightly spaced tears.
Nose: 1916
Bourbon was very fragrant and filled my whiskey library with floral notes. After
about ten minutes, I brought the glass underneath my nose and inhaled. Behind
the floral quality was plenty of malt. As I continued sniffing, I found honey,
vanilla, and apples. Drawing that air through my lips exposed me to apples and
pears.
Palate: The
light, buttery mouthfeel introduced the front of my palate to thick caramel, vanilla
cream, and green apples. Next came pears, honey, and lemon zest. The back
included milk chocolate, a touch of clove, and oak spice.
Finish: Green
apples, honey, milk chocolate, clove, and oak spice remained. The oak and clove
spice slowly ramped to a very warm crescendo. The sweet notes tempered the
spice. The duration ran 2:10, making it very long.
Bottle, Bar, or Bust: If you handed
me 1916 Bourbon and didn’t tell me what it was, I would have guaranteed you it
was an Irish whiskey when I encountered the aroma. And I would have hung my hat
on that once I tasted it. Knowing that it is Bourbon just confused me more than
anything else. It can’t be the high barley content because I’ve had high barley
Bourbons (going up to 49% malt) before, and they acted nothing like the 1916
Bourbon. Was it the unmalted barley content?
As my mind wandered, one
thought kept coming to my mind: 1916 Bourbon tastes a whole lot like something
out of Ireland’s Midleton Distillery. I’ve never, ever had a Bourbon
fool me like this!
So, kudos to Chris for making something so off-profile that I didn’t know what to think aside from,
“This is damned good!”
Irish whiskey lovers who
think they don’t like Bourbon need to try Hatch 1916 Bourbon. Bourbon lovers
who think they don’t like Irish whiskey must experience this. These days, $35.00
is highly affordable, and the only thing that makes buying a Bottle of
it difficult is finding one. Cheers!
My Simple, Easy-to-Understand
Rating System
- Bottle = Buy It
- Bar = Try It
- Bust = Leave It
Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit
but begs you to do so responsibly.
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