Backbone 8 Year Bourbon Finished in Tawny Port - “The Knights Who Say (Taw)Ni”

Picked By: Dusty Dan, Hello Again Whiskey Friends, World’s Worst Bourbon Channel, and Drifting Drams

Distilled by: MGP

Mashbill: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley

Age: 8 Years

Finished: Tawny Port

Finishing Time: ~4 Years

Proof: 128  proof

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, the Tawny Port influence is all over this one, with a rich, grapey fruit profile that almost smells like an old Cognac. Black raspberry, blackberry, dark cherry, and sweet tobacco sit on top of a deep oak profile, with plenty of wood sugars coming through. There’s also a softer dessert side underneath it, with honey bun, sweet dough, orange peel, and even a little chocolate giving it that black raspberry chip ice cream feel.

On the palate up front, it is rich and jammy, with dark berry, grape, and sweet oak coming in hard alongside a spicy rye punch. That fruit starts to feel like a jelly-filled honey bun, while the bourbon underneath still shows itself through the spice and caramel sweetness. As it transitions, the doughiness fades and the darker oak, concentrated caramel, butterscotch, orange zest, and grapey Tawny Port notes take over.  The finish hangs with dark cherry, smashed blackberry, grape, sweet oak, rye spice, and a lingering honey-bun sweetness that keeps the fruit and wood sugars going long after the sip.