More to Enjoy
Keeper’s Heart Stout Barrel Finished Irish + American Whiskey S1B57
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Distiller:
Various
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Bottler:
Keeper's Heart
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ABV:
57.64%
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Age:
4 Years
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Price:
$$$$$
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Intro:
A blend of Irish and American whiskey, this release takes the previous MO of Keeper's Heart and cranks it up a notch, not only increasing to cask strength but featuring a finish in a stout cask. If that sounds like a unique combination, it's because, well, it is. We've seen a lot of interesting approaches here at Raiders, but this is surely a new one. A worthwhile experiment? Let's dive in.
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Nose:
The nose is packed with crème brûlée, sweet honey, butterscotch candies and a hint of espresso and fresh-roasted coffee beans. The stout character is here, adding that coffee character for sure, but the really impressive facet is the amount of brûlée and butterscotch on the nose.
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Taste:
Rich on the palate, there's a faint prickle of ethanol, which lets you know this is one of Keeper's Heart's highest-proof expressions to date. With plenty of caramel candies and fresh wafer cookies, this whiskey delivers a rich, complex mouthfeel that's layered and full of dessert and sweet oak. The stout character once again chimes in with notes of semisweet chocolate, espresso beans and a hint of barrel char. Really surprising stuff. This stout cask is doing all adding and no taking.
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Finish:
This is easily the best finish from a Keeper's release that we've tried. This long finish is packed full of honeycomb, ginger, sweet oak, espresso and more barrel char.
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Overall:
Sometimes it's hard to tell if a single barrel from a brand can truly stand out from its standard offerings, but there's no question here with this release. I like the addition of the viscosity thanks to the proof and the coffee. The cocoa and caramel character from the stout cask really works well. Stout cask finishing is a fairly new technique in whiskey, but between past Westward expressions I've tried and now this release, I'm convinced it's here to stay.
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Score:
8
- Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources