MB Roland Kentucky Black Patch Whiskey


MB Roland Kentucky Black Patch Whiskey

When I attended Distiller’s Boot Camp at MB Roland in Pembroke KY we where introduced to Black Patch Whiskey. This is a single barrel whiskey bottled at barrel strength. It was in the barrel for a year and is an interesting whiskey. In the interest of full disclosure MB Roland is a customer of mine.
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Since is was aged in an used barrel this is not a bourbon. The smoke corn in the mash bill gives it a Scotch Whisky like character. Since it is not made from Single Malt nor in Scotland is is not Scotch. But that should not stop you from trying this whiskey.

Appearance

As you can see the color is light amber color. The whiskey does cling to the glass a little bit indicating that it does have some body.
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The bottle has a cork stopper and nice simple shape. This is the small 375 ml bottle. This size is nice because you don’t have to make the same investment as a 750 ml. This whiskey is bottled at 110.7 Proof (55.35 ABV). It is fun to read the label.

Smell

The smoke smell if very strong. Talking to Paul the distiller owner at MB Roland they used 25% smoke corn in this mash bill. They smoke the corn themselves.

Taste Strait

The smell is a very good indication of the taste. Very smokey like Barbecue. The high alcohol gives the finish a good bite. In the background there is a little sweetness from the corn and just a hit of wood. The year in the barrel did add something but not much.

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Taste With Ice

The ice did bring down the alcoholic bite. It also helped mellow out the smoke a little. The people at the distillery say to drink this strait and it did taste better strait.

After Thoughts

It would be nice in a tumbler taking small sips. It would also be fun to to shots with the guys. The would be great to take to a Barbecue. The fun thing about craft spirits is they distillers are experimenting with new ideas. To smoke corn and make whiskey with it is not something you will find everyday. I would not think of this like American Whiskey but like a Scottish Single Malt. That is about the peat smoked barley malt. This is about the hickory smoked corn because it is American.

Other Notes

I have quite the collection of bourbons and other spirits at my bar. The plan is to taste each one and post about them to this bog every week. I hope people find this interesting. If you read this far thank you.