~$30 for 750mL can- Purchased at Riley’s Wine & Spirits (Hixson, TN)
Background
Stillhouse Spirits started shipping whiskey and other products in “turpentine cans” back in 2016. I’m sure I’ve seen them in stores before, but I was probably on the hunt for something else and didn’t pay them a lot of attention before this last week when I stopped in to Riley’s Wine & Spirits in Hixson, Tennessee, and walked out with a can of “Black Bourbon.”
Yes, not in a jar, not in a bottle…in a can. As I remarked to the proprietor when I bought it, “It’s unique and interesting looking…isn’t that how most of the new brands in this store are sold?” The answer was, “Actually…yeah!”
So, what I got is the Black Bourbon. True to the brand, it comes in a stainless steel can. True to the name, the label wrapped around the can is black. It’s described on the can as:
A masterful blend of corn, rye, barley, and limestone water. Barreled in charred new American oak, charcoal filtered, rested and mellowed in roasted small batch coffee beans, giving it a uniquely complex balance and a smooth finish.
It is “bottled” (canned?) at 40% ABV (80 proof) in 750 mL portions at Stillhouse Spirits Co. in Columbia, Tennessee. According to their website, it was first released in 2018.
Notes
I paired the Stillhouse Black Bourbon with a Tatuaje Monster Series “The Bride,” which features Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with a Connecticut Broadleaf Rosado wrapper.
The Black Bourbon was definitely different in appearance when I poured it into a glass. The website photos show it as a slightly-darker-than-normal amber color, but I don’t think those photos really capture the brown color that has come into the whiskey through the coffee mellowing process. It’s almost the color of a really really weak coffee rather than the amber of Bourbon.
The aroma was strikingly different from the beginning, as well, with vanilla and oak coming forward at first, but being quickly joined by the aroma of coffee beans. The grain notes of the corns were subsumed almost completely in this mix and the more I sniffed it the more coffee I got from it.
Caramel was right up front on the first sip, with vanilla and black coffee coming right behind. The coffee flavor grew stronger after sipping, until the finish where it was about equal with the alcohol vapor and spice. After taking a couple sips, I was sold…this is a game-changing idea for Bourbon. The coffee “mellowing” doesn’t strip the character of the Bourbon away, so much as imbue it with something totally different, but completely complementary. I wondered how well this whiskey would go in a cup of coffee…something I’ve tried often with Bourbon, but never really been happy with. I might try that later and add the results to this review.
Overall, I enjoyed this whiskey neat and feel like Stillhouse Black Bourbon is an excellent change of pace from my normal “straight Bourbon neat” fixation. It went well with the cigar, as well, which was as expected. I would say it should pair successfully with most Nicaraguan blends with medium or more body and strength, but I would expect it to go especially well with a Maduro wrapper of just about any sort.
