Credit: Lost Cargo
Smoke Wagon Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey was first released in 2016.
This high-rye (~36%) bourbon is a blend of younger ryes, which still have a good amount of rye spice, with older ryes that have more complexity and body, but lack many rye characteristics.
The problem is that rye ages much faster than corn. So while our younger vintages had a big rye spice flavor (which we love) the mouth feel was too thin and it lacked the sweet, delicate complexity of a well aged spirit. Our older vintages had the smoothness and sweet notes that can only be achieved by moving in and out of #4 char and caramelized oak for many, many years, but the nice rye spice had been aged out! So what to do? Find the perfect blend. We combined the two. The younger vintages maintain the bold spiciness of the rye, cut down on the tannins and keep it fruit forward. The older vintage brings in a creamy mouth feel with sweet aromas and taste notes that only appear over time from aging in a barrel.
– Nevada H&C Distilling
