His & Her Reviews: his review of Mystic Farm Distillery Cask Strength Single Barrel Bourbon

Don’t you draw the Queen of Diamonds boy, she’ll beat you if she’s able. You know the Queen of Hearts is your best bet.

For the unfamiliar, North Carolina’s local distillation scene writ large has a, uh, *rightfully earned* lack of reputation in the broader whiskey ecosystem. And as someone who has sampled more than a little of the Old North State’s native whiskies, I can say with some authority that most range from forgettable to outright terrible.

Thankfully, we at least have Mystic Farm.

Mystic is a grain-to-glass working farm and distillery just outside Durham, and they’ve been slowly expanding their straight bourbon offerings as their juice ages. Mystic also uses a completely unique 55% corn/45% wheat mashbill, with the farm serving as the source for the distillery’s grains.

This is a non-chill filtered, cask strength single barrel straight bourbon bottled at 120.5 proof. I’ve reached out to Mystic to see if they didn’t mind sharing the barrel age, but I’d guess this is 4-6 years old.

Nose: Fresh cut grass and wet earth combined with chocolate syrup. We’re firmly in classic wheater territory, with just a bit of the classic craft grain note in the far back.

Palate: A notably luxuriant-soft mouthfeel catches your attention first. Dark chocolate fudge leads off, with an Aberlour-like cinnamon explosion of heat following in the mid-palate. Imagine crushing, then snorting, a fresh cinnamon stick. The cinnamon transitions to a syrupy-thick cherry cola that’s straight out of Makers Mark’s or Elijah Craig’s usual playbooks.

Finish: The cinnamon and cherry cola share co-honors in a pleasingly lengthy finish. It’s just a tad shorter than Weller 107’s finish but it’s got meat on its bones. The finish doesn’t throw anything new at you, but it has a very satisfying Kentucky/Carolina hug.

Summary: This is craft done right. Quite frankly, take the craft out of it, this is just good bourbon. I’m a huge fan of funky mashbill experiments, and Mystic Farm has zeroed in on a wildcat of a wheater that isn’t content to just mimic the big boys. Buy this ticket and take the ride.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

Low Class & High Proof

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