CENTRAL OHIO WHISKEY SOCIETY'S DOUBLE OAKED BATCH #4 REVIEW
COLUMBUS, OH — Our Whiskey War Double Oaked Batch #3 release sold out in under 8 minutes. Does Batch #4 live up to the hype? The founder of the Central Ohio Whiskey Society, Eric Smith, tasted our newest limited release & gives his expert opinion.
Read below for his thoughts.
Locally one of the most popular releases from a local distillery has to be the Whiskey War Double Oaked. Your back in luck as High Bank Distillery is release batch 4 this July 1st. Every single batch has been very unique from any of the others. Let’s see what kind of clothes this whiskey put on this time.
Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.
NAME – Whiskey War Double Oaked Batch 4
PROOF – 100
AGE – non-age stated – Distillery advertised that this is the first one using their 4 year batch and after the double oak process pushed it over 5 years.
COLOR – weathered leather (1.6 mahogany, henna notes on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)
NOSE – Butterscotch, vanilla and toasted oak leap into your nose at the beginning which are the notes you expect in a double oak. As you continue to explore you get the rye spice from the heavy mash bill, stewed cherries, cinnamon and tobacco
TASTE – Rich caramel and toasted oak but the tobacco comes out more in the palate than in the nose. Baking spices, ginger, and some floral notes come out after the initial notes. Almost like drinking 2 different whiskies at once.
FINISH – I would call this a long finish. The cinnamon, aged oak and cinnamon last a pretty long time. At the very end reminds me of the taste and feeling of eating Red Hots.
REVIEW – I’ll cut to the chase and let you know I think this is the best Whiskey War Double Oaked that has been released. The interesting “2 whiskies in 1” makes it very unique. The opening on the palate gives you all the traditional double oaked flavors that people that like this style will recognize. Then it transitions and lets you know that this was a Whiskey War to start with. Gives all the flavor profile that you recognize from a Whiskey War Barrel Proof. There is no doubt that the extra age has increased the richness, the complexity and the finish.
FINAL COMMENTS – Thanks to High Bank Distillery for providing this sample to review.
All bottles will go on sale Friday, July 1st at 11AM. Online purchases only. Limit 2 bottles per person. Pickup at our Grandview location only (1051 Goodale Blvd).
Now I have an action item for all that read this. Whiskey War Double Oaked needs to be a bottle that you can get at your liquor store instead of just the time it is released. I want you to call, email, DM, send a letter or even smoke signals to High Bank Distillery and demand that they make this a “shelfer.” It is un-American (maybe too far but let’s go with it) for this not to be on every shelf in Ohio. So maybe we need to call our congressman (yes, I have gone to far) to demand that this product be on the shelf for every (liquor) tax paying American. Let it be so.
-- written by Eric Smith, founder of the Central Ohio Whiskey Society
About High Bank Distillery Co.
High Bank Distillery Co. is a local Columbus distillery, founded in 2017. Operating an award-winning distillery that obsesses on the creation of high quality, handmade spirits with a focus on blended whiskey. High Bank's Whiskey War Barrel Proof recently won Best Blended Whiskey in America by the San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition in 2021.
Drink Local. Drink High Bank. For more information, visit highbankdistillery.com.