Tasting Notes – O.H. Ingram River Aged Whiskey
This O.H. Ingram River Aged is a whiskey, not a Bourbon. It is a combination of two whiskeys with two different mash bills.
This O.H. Ingram River Aged is a whiskey, not a Bourbon. It is a combination of two whiskeys with two different mash bills. The first is a Rye whiskey 95% rye, 5% malted barley whiskey mash bill. The other whiskey is a Bourbon with 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley mash bill. The whiskey is aged for three years in new charred oak barrels. The interesting part of the aging is that the barrels are aged on a “floating warehouse on the Mississippi River”. This aging allows for the constant flow of the river with its rising and falling water level, to create a constant movement of the whiskey in the barrel. Think of it as taking the barrel from Kentucky to New Orleans on a flat boat, but never leaving the dock for several years. It is an interesting concept that in this case, does create a nice whiskey.
O.H. Ingram Distilling Company is in Ballard County, Kentucky, on the Mississippi River. The whiskey is distilled in Indiana and bottled by Brown Water Spirits of Owensboro, Kentucky. Hank Ingram is the founder and Proprietor of O.H. Ingram Distilling Company. This is a sourced whiskey and there is no indication that they are planning to open their own distillery to make their own whiskey. That is fine as long as they continue to source good barrels of new make spirit and age them in their own floating warehouse. This makes the whiskey their own product since about 50% of the flavor comes from the maturation process and they have a unique process. I look forward to when they release a Bourbon and a Rye using this process.
O.H. Ingram River Aged Whiskey
Proof: 96
Age: 3 Years Old
Nose: Caramel, corn, a little baking spice and apricots with hints of sweet oak.
Taste: Caramel, allspice and cardamom, apricots with a hint of dates, oak wood and maybe a hint of a river breeze. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the spices are toned down and the fruits become filled with dates and walnuts. Tasted with a pecan and the caramel is enhanced with a bit more wood and less spice.
Finish: dry and spicy with oak tannins and baking spices balanced with a little sweet caramel. The cranberry makes the whiskey less spicy and the finish shorter. The pecan brings out the spices in the finish and adds a little cinnamon to the mix.
I would pair this whiskey with a nice Maduro cigar like a My Father – The Judge. I think the chocolate notes of the smoke would pair well with the spiciness of the whiskey.