Daddy Rack Small Batch Cask Strength Straight Tennessee Whiskey

Product of: United States

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First released in December 2021 as a cask-strength bottling of seven single barrels, ranging from 60.5% 63% alc./vol., each aged for 4 years in level 3 charred new American oak barrels. Double mellowed dripped through maple charcoal before and after maturation.

Daddy Rack is made with a mashbill of 80% corn, 10% rye and 10% malted barley. All the corn used is sourced from farmers within a 50-mile radius of the distillery in Columbia, Tennessee. The grain is milled and mashed in a 72-hour sour mash process.

The first distillation is in a copper column still, followed by a second distillation in a traditional pot "doubler" still to produce a spirit with an approx. 67.5% alc./vol..

The distillate then undergoes its first Lincoln Country Process filtration through a dense layer of sugar maple charcoal before filling into new light char No.3 American oak barrels.

Each cask for single barrel bottling is selected by James Arthur Rackham and undergoes a light second maple charcoal filtration before bottling without added colouring, caramel, sugar or other additives. The individually numbered bottles also show the barrel number (my sample bottle is from barrel No.1) and year of release (2021).

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 22/03/2022

Appearance:

(sample bottle No. 107 of 228 from barrel No.1) Clear, golden amber.

Aroma:

Toasted oak, pencil shavings and vanilla fudge with pear, green apple and ripe peach.

Taste:

(with a splash of water to reduce to circa 46% alc./vol. ) Spicy dry toasty oak with pecan nuts, walnut, cocoa, green apple and toffee. Enlivening crack black pepper spice.

Aftertaste:

Black pepper spice, dry oak, pecan nuts and vanilla fudge.

Overall:

At four years old this whiskey still shows youthful spiced oak exuberance, although mellowed by the Lincoln Country Process. Fruit notes on the nose turn nuttier on the palate. We sampled our bottle of barrel No.1 alongside samples from barrel No.6 (61.6% alc./vol.) which was a touch more fruity, and barrel No. 10 (61.2% alc./vol.) which had butterscotch and leather notes. All three cask samples were recognisably the same DNA - important if you buy a bottle and find yourself wanting to acquire another similar bottle of whiskey.