Whiskey Review: Larceny

• 750 mL bottle 
• ~$21.99
• Purchased from Riverside Wine & Spirits

Background

Jason, who used to work at the cigar shop, let the name Larceny slip one evening while he was in. He wasn’t really trying to keep it a secret, but maybe he should have. A few weeks later, I was at Riverside Wine & Spirits on the north shore of the Tennessee River opposite Downtown Chattanooga when I saw the name and remembered how good Jason said it was. The price was right, too.

Turns out Larceny is a product of Heaven Hill Distillery, also the home of one of my other favorite Bourbons, Elijah Craig. The Larceny blend is in some ways a rehabilitation of the Old Fitzgerald brand of whiskey, named for John E. Fitzgerald, who is name-checked on the bottle. He was apparently a bonded treasury agent and one of the only people who was legally allowed to carry keys to the barrel storage houses.

He had a taste for the best whiskies and used his keys for access to them, causing distillery owners S.C. Herbst and Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle to name the Old Fitzgerald brand for him…and his lawless ways were the inspiration for the Larceny name now.

While all Bourbons have to be at least 51% corn for the mash bill (and most are far higher in corn percentage than that), many use rye as the secondary grain. Maker’s Mark famously uses “red winter wheat” as its secondary grain…Larceny also turns to wheat as its second ingredient. Larceny is positioned as a “small batch bourbon” with fewer than 100 barrels chosen at a time. It is bottled at 92 proof (46 percent alcohol by volume).

Notes

The notes online describe the color as “bright new copper” and I can accept that. I would probably normally refer to it as a medium amber coloration. Putting it up to my nose, the first thing I noticed was the oakiness and alcohol vapors. Not a surprise to get this much of the vapors with a higher-than-average proof liquor, I guess. Further sniffing got some vanilla and faint notes of yeast.

Taking a sip, I got a remarkable smoothness on the lips and tongue, almost a velvety mouthfeel. Subsequent sips brought out sweet corn, wood and hints of vanilla. The finish is a good, long one, with a little burn as the whiskey tracks down the throat, but not nearly as much spice as you normally get from a rye-enhanced Bourbon.

In the last couple weeks, I’ve paired Larceny successfully with several cigars in the medium and full-bodied ranges. I found that it worked very well with all of them. For purposes of this article today, I smoked a Les CHATTeaux with the whiskey. Les CHATTeaux is a Burns exclusive, made by Crowned Heads. It is a “close cousin” to the fabled Mule Kick Limited Edition.

The whiskey didn’t overpower the cigar, but did enhance some of the sweeter notes that Les CHATTeaux has hidden within.

The more I drink through this bottle of Larceny, the more I really believe this is a truly great Bourbon at a very good price. I wouldn’t expect the price to stay this low forever, though…as people discover it, no doubt the supply will get constrained and prices will go up. Get some now!