Distillery: Ragged Branch Distillery
Proof: 90
Age: 4 years
Mashbill: 66% corn, 17% wheat, & 17% malted Barley
BACKGROUND: Ragged Branch is a craft distillery out of Virginia that specializes in producing whiskey & beef. Dave Pickrell, master distiller was responsible for building the distillation process that Ragged Branch uses today. All of the grains used in Ragged Branch are grown on the property or on land that is leased by the distillery. The mash is then moved to fermentation tanks for 4 days then distilled in a 500 gallon custom built still that produces a barrel per day. The whiskey is then moved to new charred American White Oak barrels until it reaches full maturity, where it is then cut and bottled on site.
NOSE: Ragged Branch’s nose opens with a very raw flavor palate. Most noticeably, the raw oak and grain notes. The new oak barrels definitely leave their mark, as your senses adjust, some notes of sawdust, leather, some light floral notes, & spice, come together concocting with an underlying light caramel scent. (20/25)
PALATE: The first thing you feel when you take your first sip is the spice most comparable to cracked black pepper mixed with malted barley. The texture of the whiskey is quite lite and oily, moving about so freely as you let it sit. As the spice turns to the raw grainy oak flavor that came with the nose, a chalky flavor starts to come about from the back of your tongue, coating the walls of your mouth. An interesting combination, yet quite enjoyable. (29/40)
FINISH: The finish is quite short and dry. Showing one last flash of the malted barley flavor, then facing out with a heaving oaky spice until nothing is left but the slight remnants of heat coming from your chest (19/25)
VALUE: For $45 I think this is a nice bottle to bring out when you are with a group. It is a nice traditional wheated bourbon that would pair wonderfully with an old fashion or a mixed cocktail. (6/10)
Overall: 74/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Ragged Branch is a delicious wheated bourbon that highlights the flavors that whiskey has been built on. I would keep this whiskey for making cocktails or as a benchmark for raw flavors when doing whiskey tasting. Overall this is a wonderful bottle for a very fair price.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Old Forester 1910
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Wild Turkey Longbranch
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Redemption Wheated Bourbon
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
I did a tasting at their distillery. I like how they have a rye and wheated bourbon, and a double oaked version of both. I felt their double oaked rye bourbon was their best bourbon. Their straight rye and their wine cask finish bourbon are both excellent.