When I first started learning about whiskey, I got it into my head that I wanted to start a craft distillery. I tried to learn everything I could about whiskey. That learning eventually led to the creation of this site…because what else was I going to do with all that learnin’ after the impulse to start my own distillery had passed? But there was one experiment that I had envisioned way back then that has stuck with me.
I wanted to take barrels of the same distillate and age it in different regions of the country for the same length of time and then sell it as a set. Just to let consumers see the effect of the local climates on the aging of bourbon. I thought it would be a neat idea, mostly because it was a product that I would have wanted to buy.
I envisioned five areas you could have barrels aging. Of course Kentucky as a control. From there I thought somewhere near the Southeast US coastline for a hot and humid climate, maybe even with an ocean breeze since we are dreaming right now. The tour I took at the Stranahan’s distillery mentioned that because their climate is cool year-round, the pressure differentials affected the aging whiskey more than the temperature swings did. So the Rocky Mountains would be a fun addition to our set of mythical bourbons. I also think that the cool and humid climate of the Pacific Northwest would be an interesting counterpoint to the hot humid Southeast. To round out the package, and as I live here, I figured that I’d find someplace in Northern Minnesota for the cold, Canada-like climate. Each of these would bring a different set of conditions, and hopefully flavors, to the distillate.
Of course, as I didn’t have a distillery, nor did I have the capital or relationships to purchase a batch of bourbon big enough for this experiment to work, the idea has stayed an idle musing. I still think it would be interesting though. If you have the resources to try it out, send me a bottle of each when you get it finished.
The reason I bring all this up is that I happened to stumble across a bourbon that was aged four years in the Canada-like climate of Northern Minnesota. In fact, last week I talked about being open to trying the one bourbon claimed on the Phillips Distilling website. This is that bourbon.
At launch in 2018, Douglass & Todd was a collaboration between Panther Distillery and Phillips Distilling Company. Though I’m not too sure how official that collaboration is anymore. The Phillips website has the following to say about the bourbon:
Douglas & Todd is a small batch, handcrafted, straight bourbon born and raised on the unforgiving plains of Minnesota. Our bourbon is aged a minimum of four hard years in handmade oak barrels that provide D&T its distinctive character. Distilled and rested in two historic counties at the first craft distillery in Minnesota, Douglas & Todd was built to be a bourbon drinker's bourbon.
Panther Distillery says that they were Minnesota’s first craft distillery. And there is a cheeky statement on their products page stating “We have another product available but due to trademark laws we are unable to have the product displayed here. Be on the lookout at your local liquor store for our mystery product!” So there’s that. But of course, what anyone says about a product isn’t nearly as important as how that product tastes. So, let's dig in.
Douglas & Todd Small Batch Bourbon
Purchase Info: $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Village Liquor, Prior Lake, MN
Price per Drink (50mL): $2.00
Details: 4 years old. 46.5% ABV.
Nose: Grain forward on the nose with notes of candied fruit and faint hints of mint and caramel.
Mouth: Thin in the mouth with notes of grain, mint, and baking spice.
Finish: Medium length and warm. Notes of dried grain, candied fruit, and cinnamon.
Thoughts: This is a meh bourbon that has the bones to have been really good. It still tastes really young. The Northern Minnesota climate is much closer to that of Winnipeg—where they age the whisky for decades—than that of Louisville where four-year-old whiskey is mature and perfectly drinkable. Though I think it could have spent many more years in the barrel, it isn't terrible. This bottle will get consumed. Might be in a cocktail or a home blend, but it isn't one that I'll be dumping out. Unlike its cousin Cooper’s Mark which has already been introduced to my kitchen sink.
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