Rating 2.5 Glasses

Distillery: Tuthilltown Spririts (Gardiner, NY)
Years Aged: < 4
Proof: 92
Local Price (USD): $49.95
Availability: Widespread

Tasting Notes

Color & Consistency: Honey with medium legs and pretty close to the consistency of fresh motor oil.
Nose: Rubbing alcohol, burns pretty good, citrus, oaky. Peeled the phlegm off the back of Russ' throat.
Taste: The initial hit burns just like the nose followed by dark fruits, red grapes and raisins.
Finish: A bit weak with tanniny sweetness and hints of charred oak and maple.
Conclusion: Year 2016, Batch 13, Bottle 3973, non-chill filtered, 100% New York Corn and the “first legal pot-distilled whiskey made in New York since prohibition”. Tuthilltown ages their Baby in “special small American Oak Barrels” which explains how they achieve such a dark color and heavy oak influence from such a young whiskey. The other unique thing about Hudson Baby Bourbon apart from aging in 3-gallon instead of 53-gallon barrels and the fact that it’s 100% instead of the required 51% corn, is their use of sonic maturation by playing loud music to agitate the whiskey inside the barrels instead of moving the barrels themselves for the liquid to interact with the wood.
The oak is really the front man of the band but feels just a bit sharp in this particular batch. Definitely makes a killer (albeit expensive) whiskey & coke and would feel right at home in an old fashioned but we would hold off seeking this one out and stick to your local watering hole for a short pour. It’s balls still haven’t dropped and feels too young despite its forced aging to demand a $50 price point. All this along with the acquired flavor profile brought the glass rating for us down to 2.5.

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