Whiskey Mafia’Tasting of Daviess County

So if you know me you know I like to procrastinate. I would much prefer to sit with good friends and drink whiskey than to write blog posts. So to say this is a little late might be a tad of a understatement. But better late than never right!

Back when Kentucky was young and before Carrie Nation started protesting the evils of alcohol Daviess County was a major hub of Whiskey production with over 20 distilleries located in the county. One of the most well known was Daviess County Distilling company founded in 1874 it quickly became one of the largest and best known brands of the time even surviving prohibition by earning a license to distill medical whiskey. Unfortunately prohibition took its toll on the county and by the end of prohibition there were few distilleries left open. Indeed not many years after even the once great Daviess County Distilling was forced to shutter its doors. But In 1993 the Daviess county brand was purchased by David Sherman and is now one of the many Luxco Brands.  In 2020 Luxco brought this brand back to life to honor the great distilling contributions of Daviess County. 

Currently Daviess County offers three variations.  All three are the same identical  4 grain mashbill containing corn, rye, wheat and barely.  This already makes for a interesting flavor profile not compare I left to most other our ones on the market, but what really sets them apart is how they are each finished.  They are all aged in the normal charred new oak barrel for 4 years. At that point the KY straight bourbon is done and ready for the bottle, but the other two are moved into finishing cask for an additional 6 months. One in a French Oak Barrel, the other a Cabernet Sauvignon barrel. This subtle difference gives each bottle a unique taste, and really allows the drinker to understand how the wood effects the flavor of whiskey. 

I really enjoyed sharing these three whiskeys with Trevor and Mitch unfortunately our individual tasting notes are lost to time and good whiskey. But we did all agree the French oak was our favorite.  The French Oak gives the flavor of Dark chocolate, with a hint of dry oak and had a spicier finish than the other two without any bitterness. 

If I could only buy one of the three the French Oak would be my favorite, but the real fun and experience in Daviess County is to have all three and pick out how the wood changes the taste. 

Cheers