Spirit Review: Cleveland Bourbon

Paid about $33 for 750 mL bottle
Purchased at Bacchus Spirits

Background

Always on the lookout for something new and different, the bottle of Cleveland Bourbon Whiskey caught my eye a few weeks ago, not the least of which was because of the strangely dark color of the liquid within. I looked over the bottle, noting that it was billed as “Batch 005” and “Limited Production” “Black Reserve – Finished with an oxygen enriched, accelerated process.” What does all that mean? I did some more research to find out…

So it turns out that Tom Lix, the founder of Cleveland Whiskey, just didn’t want to take the time to age whiskey for “8, 10 or 12 years,” all the while taking the chance that something would happen to ruin it, so he started looking into what actually happens during that aging process…and he began to work on a method to speed it up. His thought was to replace some of the art of whiskey making with good, solid science.

After the whiskey spends about 6 months aging normally, in a charred oak barrel, it is removed to stainless steel tanks. The barrel itself is “cut up, processed, and put into the tank as well. Within the tank, the spirit is agitated, and undergoes a series of differences in pressure to squeeze in and out of the wood pores.” The resulting product is a whiskey that (hopefully) tastes like something that has been aged much longer.

(For the whole story on the process and founding, take a look at these articles at Forbes and ABC Channel 5 in Ohio.)

I have to admit to being skeptical about the whole thing right from the start. The normal way to get whiskey aged quickly is to use smaller barrels, and it does work to a certain extent, but the whiskey still tends to be young, grainy and raw tasting. Sometimes there’s just no substitute for a long period of time. I have to say in many things I’m a traditionalist…but I won’t dismiss technological advances out of hand, so I decided to give this beverage a shot. So the big question is, will this Cleveland end up being referred to as “another mistake by the lake?” Let’s find out…

Notes

In the bottle and in the glass, the Cleveland Bourbon is noticeably darker than almost any other Bourbon I’ve brought home. They call it “Black Reserve” but it’s really just a dark amber color, heavy on the reddish tones.

At 100 Proof, it’s not a huge surprise that alcohol vapors are one of the first notes when I lift the glass to my nose. Backing off from the schnoz a bit, I got a stronger oak aroma and some corn. Sticking my nose in the glass and getting past the vapor part, I did pick up some vanilla.

Swirling it around in the glass, the liquid takes a few seconds to bead up along the swirl line and begin to slowly drip back to the level of the whiskey. A good thick fluid, then.

I took a sip and held it on the tip of my tongue. First it was cool, then it burned and I got sweet corn and strong vanilla flavors, along with a hint of maple syrup. I believe the majority of the burn is a contribution of the high ABV, not something in the recipe.

While this isn’t the most complex whiskey I’ve ever had, it is definitely tasty, while being fairly aggressive and “in your face.”

It’s hard to argue with a price of $30/bottle (or thereabouts) for something with an excellent flavor, high ABV, and small batch production.

After getting the pairing a bit “off” once or twice lately, I elected to take the safer route this time, taking a glass of Cleveland Bourbon neat outside a Tennessee Waltz cigar (by Crowned Heads and sold only through Tennessee retailers). I thought the combinations of sweet, spicy and medium to full body present in both cigar and whiskey might really work well together.

This pairing worked and most other cigars above the full-bodied level and with some pepper present should work well with the Cleveland Bourbon. I am happy to report that this is one time when tech has definitely helped the whiskey world; Cleveland is definitely not a mistake.