Let’s just get this out of the way, the current interpretation of patriotism and nationalism is in a weird place in America right now, and given this it’s kind of hard to try and be objective about this in a meaningful way, but we’ve stated before that the reason we break down our scores is that we care more about what’s in the bottle than everything else so – eh? (It is actually pretty good)
The caveat to that rant?diatribe?preface? is while this is good – it’s only good neat, because as is often the case with single malt whiskeys of any kind – some are good neat, some with ice/water, some can be both. This is a nice mix of smoke, spice, and sweet, but it fails to excel beyond the smell.
What they Say: “Proudly American Made
Mash Bill – Belgian ale inspired mash with Rye Malt, Honey Malt and Pale Malt
Fermentation – 14 days with Belgian Trappist Style Yeast
Distillation – Double distilled to an average of 124 proof
Barrels – Minimum of 16 months in Newly Charred American Oak
Finishing – Non-chill filtered. No flavorings or coloring added
No revolution is won without a BATTLE CRY”
Taste: 6.5 – It’s basically a combo of sweetness with a sorta peppery like spice going on. The taste is good, but not great.
Aftertaste: 6.0 – Here it’s much more smoke and wood and coal, but you still have some of that sweetness from the initial taste. As before while it’s nice it’s not superb.
Burn/Smooth: 6.5 – While you may see single malt and think smooth – it’s not. This does burn a bit but makes up for it with a long lingering and tingling warmth.
Aroma: 8.0 – It’s certainly a much more complex and enjoyable product than you’d figure for bourbon or such. There’s some heat, some wood, some smoke, some spice – it delightful.
Honesty: 5.0 – Unfortunately the naming and ethos here isn’t exactly the best thing to see at a time when things like mass shootings are all too common in the States. That being said it’s not expounded upon too much and focuses mostly on the process which is good. It overall washes out.
Mixability: 5.5
W/ Rocks: 5.0 – It’s much better neat, you lose too much of the whiskey on rocks.
Whiskey and Coke: 5.5 – It’s good, but like again – you lost something here.
Whiskey Sour: 6.0 – It’s actually enjoyable there. Still – keep this straight or chilled.
Value: 4.0 – For a single malt that’s not too crazy, and if it mixed just a little bit better somewhere we could maybe give them a pass – but as it stands that’s just a few fistfuls of dollars too many.
Google Shop Average: $46
Website: http://www.solspirits.com/home
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 5.5
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Metric Score: 41.5/70 |+| Metric Average: 5.93 |+| Reviewer Average: 5.5
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Final Thoughts: Really wish this just had something different to bring to the rocks game, but the main issue is that while it’s certainly better neat, none of it lives up to that smell, and you really wish it did. For us, though this was a gift to the lounge, and not something we’d likely buy again, or could recommend you to buy as well.
