Distillery: Blue Spirits Distilling
Proof: 91
Age: NAS
Mashbill: 75% corn, 21% rye, & 4% malted Barley
BACKGROUND: Blue Spirits Distillery bottles their first bottles in 2012 out of Leavenworth Washington by Lake Chelan. Their whiskey is hand picked from the master distiller coming from Indiana. Over the last 9 years Blue Spirits has grown to be quite successful, and have said their biggest assets is the limitless supply of pristine water from Lake Chelan, which is restocked yearly by the Cascade Mountain Snow, claiming, “No spirit can be better that the water that makes its proof.” On top of the pristine water, Blue Spirits barrels the whiskey in #2 charred oak barrels, overlooked by the 2016 distiller of the year, before going through the unique process to barrel and age each batch at the lakeside barrel house. They believe barrels should not be blended & be unique to its batch before adding the Chelan water.
NOSE: For a 91 proof whiskey, Blue Spirits Bourbon has quite the strong nose. Bold flavors of sweet corn, dried nuts, and lite remnants of toasted barley. As I palate adjusted to the whiskey, I was astounded at how fresh the smell was, something that could only be compared to fresh nature, which has to be contributed to the Lake Chelan water, absolutely delightful. (21/25)
PALATE: When the first sip hits your tongue you immediately feel the sweet oily dram coat your mouth leaving bursts of different flavors starting with a deep charred oak flavor that meshed with a cracked pepper flavor leaving the sides of your tongue tingling. Upon second sip flavors of toffee, molasse, and dark cherries start to show starting from the back of your mouth until they combine with the cracked pepper flavor bring the sweet and spicy together, while not going overboard and remaining smooth and enjoyable. (31/40)
FINISH: The malted barley comes back to play as you swallow coming up from your chest mixing with the cherry flavor. As the two combine you can only compare the taste to that of dark licorice. As the sweets fade, the charred oak comes back in to play slowly fading leaving you waiting for that next sip. (19/25)
VALUE: For $45 Blue spirits is a wonderful addition to any whiskey lovers collection. Bold flavors that mesh well together and keep a smooth profile. (7/10)
Overall: 74/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Blue Spirits Bourbon is a delightful expression of traditional whiskey. Although the rye was good, I think the bourbon really knocked it out of the park. The best way I can describe this whiskey is smooth and fresh.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Eagle Rare
Similar & Equal Whiskey: 1792 Small Batch
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Basil Hayden
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
