15 Stars Triple Cask

Some call this a cigar blend kind of whiskey, I just call it a flavor bomb that requires a steady hand and a contemplative moment. After getting our maple syrup evaporation set up and building the fire to achieve optimal evaporation, I decided to take a contemplative moment to catch my breath and enjoy the early spring firepit along with a healthy pour from this newly acquired bottle!

15 Stars is a non distilling producer or "NDP" comprised of a father and son blending team who have taken it upon themselves to produce some exciting offerings over the past couple of years. One of which is their First West Rye that ranked 2nd in my end of 2024 Best Ryes, so needless to say seeing a bottle like this was hard to pass up. What is a NDP? Well simply put, they do not distill whiskey but instead blend whiskey that they purchase on the open market and through relationships they have built in the industry. Along with buying barrels they source some unique empty barrels for finishing off these purchased whiskeys. This concept is not new and in fact is a very regular method in Scotland for Scotch, but until recently it was seen as something to hide from the consumer and not something to open the conversation with. However in recent years, projects like Barrell, Penelope, Found North, Lost Lantern and countless others have steered the whiskey connoisseurs like myself into the world of NDP's and what once seemed taboo is now home to some of the most highly sought after bottles hitting the market today. Also important to note along with blending and finishing, 15 Stars has also created custom mash bills that they have contract distilled through Bardstown and part of those mash bills contain some specialty heirloom grains that they have contracted directly with local farmers in their area! It is NDP projects such as these that I daydream about as I construct my own lil 5 gallon barrel blends in the homestead cellar. Keeping on top of what flavors these blenders and finishing operations are creating is not only inspiring but also informative in helping me guide my own actions, flavor profiles and overall understanding of barrel characteristics of wood and grain varieties along with mashbills. I guess its time to get on top of this recently acquired bottle of 15 Stars Triple Cask.

15 STARS TRIPLE CASK WHISKEY (105 proof)

(a Blend of Straight 16yr & 8yr Bourbon Whiskey finished in Cognac, Port & Rum Casks)

 

My Thoughts:

Pours a deep caramel amber color with long, slow tears and a touch of fading leading into the edges.

Nose is straight up peanut butter and jelly off the pour, leading into more complexity of macerated raspberry, honey roasted peanuts, cocoa powder, black plum skins, graham cracker, spicy clove, orange peel and toffee.

Palate evolves just like the nose with creamy caramel & burnt sugar notes coaxing the layers of jammy berry, soft nutty richness and layered dark fruit complexity across the length of the sip. Spice, sweet heat and rolling layers of powdered jelly donuts, pine needles, vanilla, classic burnt sugar caramel, almond joy candy and tannic plum soaked old wood. Everything comes together harmoniously and ebbs and flows with grace on the palate from start to finish.

(Final Score: 95pt)  

Another fantastic expression from 15 Stars that I would highly recommend if you can find it.

Ok, I got to go stoke this fire back up and split some more wood for now!

the Brighter Side of Japanese Whisky Blind Tasting.

Another weekend and another blind whiskey tasting. 

I have always had a soft place in my heart for japanese whiskey. 

To be honest its not just whiskey that inspires me from Japan, I also have a deep infinity for the culture as a whole. From music, to food, art and philosophy. I find the older I get the more influence and inspiration pulls me to the depth of japans rich culture and values. As far as whiskey goes I found Japans offerings to be a little more elegant and soft handed than its scotch counterparts. They came across softer and more nuanced than the few scotches I had tried and honestly to this day I still feel like that statement rings true, though I have started to grow a softer spot for some choice scotch producers as well, and the value that was once found in the Japanese sector of whiskey is long gone!

After spending a couple recent evenings diving into a few pours accompanied by a book "Whisky Rising" by Stefan Van Eycken, lovingly gifted to me by my wonderful and supportive wife! I was inspired to taste a few blindly and kind of picked a few from my Japan shelf that I thought were on the lighter side of offerings for a fair comparison. 

the LINEUP

Hatozaki Small Batch 12yr Umeshu Cask

Hibiki Japanese Harmony

Kaiyo Whisky

As you can see in the glass they all have a similar color and are on the lighter side of the spectrum. Stay tuned for a part two where I will include those on the darker side.

 Back to the task at hand...

It was really interesting going back and forth with these selections. One glass evoked a scotch personality, while the other two leaned more on the sweeter toastier side of the spectrum. Honestly, even knowing I have sipped all these on their own and thoroughly enjoyed them. Tasting them void of my preconceived notions based on price and packaging and just analyzing and enjoying them side by side really opened up my senses to understand their complexity! Hence the reason I enjoy tasting things "blind"!

FINAL RESULTS

WINNER ** KAIYO WHISKY ** WINNER (90pts)

(Light Straw, Earthy Truffle, Sawdust, Pecan, Unified Fruit & Burnt Sugar Harmony, Vanilla Custard, Pralines, Baked Apple, Sage Brush, Smoked Maple, Focused Rich Barrel Notes with a Long Herbaceous Forest note that lingers)

HATOZAKI 12yr SMALL BATCH UMESHU CASK (88pts)

(Toasted Barley, Grilled Pear, Phenolic Citrus Oils, Plumy, Old Wood, Warm Spice, Soft Grain Backdrop, Buckwheat Honey, Jasmine Tea, Scotchesque, Great Movement on the Palate, Touch of Heat, Tannic Fruit Skin Finish, Floral Balance)

HIBIKI JAPANESE HARMONY (87pts)

(Burnt Sugar, Toasted Coconut, Pear, Hay, Bread Pudding, Buttery Shortbread, Vanilla, Almond Blossoms, Light Stonefruit, Touch Thin but Delicious)

Penelope Havana

 Fresh off the truck here in Maine and the latest release from Penelopes Cooper Series.

Penelope Havana

93 Proof / 46.5% 

Mash Bill: 74% Corn / 16% Wheat  / 7% Rye / 3% Malted Barley

This whiskey is a straight four grain blend of bourbon that is double cask finished in both Caribbean rum barrels and farmsourced maple syrup barrels.

As you can see in this picture,  I am a fan of Penelope! Penelope is a blender and finishing operation that built up such a following for their product that the company they source their whiskey from, Midwest Grain Products or MGP as the whiskey world refers to them as, purchased the company in 2023. This partnership opened the door for Penelope to expand production and also access some of the premium barrels in MGPs Rickhouses. 

This current release has been on the "coming soon" releases for some time and as the calendar rolled into 2025 I noticed a few sightings and whispers that January was its official roll out. After stopping in a few shops and doing some casual foraging with no luck, I started to get a little desperate and took it to the next level and started asking around... "did Maine get much?",  "is it gonna end up a being a lottery bottle?"  Luckily after a short conversation one shop offered up that they had one out back and allowed me to purchase it.

Not being one to sit on unpopped bottles, I figured I should crack it open and give you my thoughts on this latest offering from Penelope.

My Thoughts:

Pours a deep caramel color with sticky legs and a touch of clarifying on the rim.

Aromas are full of rustic grain, toasted brown sugar, sawdust and banana bread, with hints of raisin, pecan pie, kola nut, coconut cream and dried apricot.

The palate follows and is accentuated by a nice medium viscosity leaving a warm oily mouthfeel after each sip. The flavors evolve with a soft approachable entry that layers notes of salted caramel, tobacco spice, earthy mellow grain...slowly midpalate the sweetness of the finishing rolls into a warm buttery maple note with hints of rum raisin, gingerbread, clove, raw sugar, nilla wafers and cardamom linger and draw out the layers. 

Really enjoying this as neither the rum or the maple take lead role in the flavors but rather accentuate each other while never giving up the grainy bourbon hug that bring cohesion from front to back. 

(FINAL SCORE 94pts)

Will probably snag a second bottle if I stumble upon one and would highly recommend you picking one up if you can find it!

Happy Foraging.