Taste Test: This Bourbon Traveled From Tennessee to Scotland to Vermont. It’s Worth the Splurge.
Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.
Bhakta Spirits founder Raj Bhakta isn’t exactly known for introspection, at least as far as his public persona is concerned. No, his vibe is more brash spirits maven with a healthy dose of ego, but admittedly a ton of high-quality booze releases to back it up. However when discussing his latest release, an expensive 2005 vintage bourbon, he became decidedly thoughtful—and as it turns out, this is a whiskey worth the splurge.
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Bhakta refers to the bourbon as the Elijah Prophecy, and here’s why: The vintage year is 2005, there are 555 bottles being released, and the whiskey comes to market not long after the birth of his fifth child (Elijah) on the fifth day of May, the fifth month of the year. Okay. That’s kind of reflective, but also not a bad marketing story. And the bourbon itself, which is priced at a very fancy $1,000 per bottle, is superb.
Bhakta founded WhistlePig, and as has been well documented he was forced out of the company back in 2016. He was from from destitute upon leaving, however, and picked up a few years later with his new company, Bhakta Spirits. The through-line of this brand is Armagnac and vintage spirits, and sometimes a combination of the two like a rye whiskey blended with Armagnac and calvados, or a vintage whiskey that is finished in Armagnac casks. This new release falls into the latter category, but it went on an interesting voyage before that final barrel finish.
Bhakta 2005 Bourbon was aged for 19 years and three months, which Bhakta himself admits is pretty old for a bourbon, possibly teetering on the edge of drinkable. That being said, there are some pretty good 20-year-old bourbons out there from brands like Michter’s and Pappy Van Winkle, although for some people those are going to be overly oaky (and this one might be too). It was made from a mashbill of 84 percent corn, eight percent rye, and eight percent malted barley in Tennessee—so, while the distillery is not disclosed, it’s most certainly Dickel, and that whiskey’s signature grainy pencil eraser note comes through on the palate, which again is not for everyone. The whiskey traveled to Indiana and then to Scotland, where it was put into a used scotch cask and stored in a former Rolls-Royce factory where WWII-era Merlin aircraft engines were once manufactured. That, according to Bhakta, was an expensive way of slowing down the maturation speed in a cooler climate. Finally, it landed in Vermont where it was finished in a barrel that once contained 1975 vintage Armagnac, the signature Bhakta move, and it was bottled at 107.4 proof.
This is very clearly (if unofficially) an ultra-aged Dickel whiskey, in the best sense, but with some added features. There are notes of stewed fruits and oak on the palate, along with caramel, dusty leather, fig, apple fruit leather, black pepper, and some Red Hots. This is a tasty and complex sipper that has been on quite a journey and is better off for it. Each bottle comes with a topper that is supposed to depict Bhakta’s campaign stunt when he brought an elephant to the Rio Grande to highlight illegal immigration or something in the mid-aughts (basically, he wants to BUILD THAT WALL), and it comes housed in a hand-crafted wooden box. This is the highest priced release from Bhakta Spirits to date, and it remains to be seen if people are going to be willing to drop a G on a bourbon from a lesser known name. Despite all the noise and the esoteric numerology, this is just a really good whiskey, and one that you won’t regret buying if you do decide to spend the money.
Score: 94
100 Worth trading your first born for
95 – 99 In the Pantheon: A trophy for the cabinet
90 – 94 Great: An excited nod from friends when you pour them a dram
85 – 89 Very Good: Delicious enough to buy, but not quite special enough to chase on the secondary market
80 – 84 Good: More of your everyday drinker, solid and reliable
Below 80 It’s alright: Honestly, we probably won’t waste your time and ours with this
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