Whiskey Of The Week: Angel’s Envy 2023 Cask Strength Rye

Forbes Lifestyle Spirits Whiskey Of The Week: Angel’s Envy 2023 Cask Strength Rye Tony Sachs Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover spirits, cocktails and the stories and people behind them. Following Oct 18, 2023, 03:51pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Angel’s Envy is so well established today that it’s easy to forget how controversial it was when it debuted in 2010.

Lincoln Henderson , the longtime distiller at Brown-Forman who’d had a hand in the creation of such seminal brands as Woodford Reserve and Gentleman Jack , came out of retirement to create the new brand with his son Wes through his own Louisville Distilling Co. — which is said to have not pleased his former employers. The flagship bourbon was finished in port barrels, common today but almost unheard of at the time.

Many a pearl was clutched by purists who argued that the barrel finish disqualified it from even being called a bourbon. But whatever you wanted to call it, Angel’s Envy was good. And successful, to the extent that it was acquired by Bacardi in 2015, two years after Lincoln Henderson’s death.

I’ve been an Angel’s Envy fan pretty much since I first tasted it, but it’s the rye — finished in Caribbean rum casks and first released in 2013 — that really grabs me. I’ve enjoyed it from the get-go, but I really fell in love with it at the Kentucky Derby a few years ago, when I got tired of drinking bourbon and mint juleps all weekend and decided to switch to perfect Angel’s Envy rye Manhattans. The sweetness from the rum casks and the spice of the rye combined with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth hit the spot, and it’s been one of my go-to Manhattans ever since.

This is supposedly an overhead shot, which would mean the bottle is lying horizontally, but look at . . .

[+] the liquid by the neck of the bottle. Weird, right? Photo courtesy Angel’s Envy When Angel’s Envy launched, its distillery hadn’t yet been built. The brand relied on sourced whiskey, and still does to a certain extent, with its rye coming from the famed MGP distillery (now called Ross & Squibb) in Indiana.

The brand didn’t have an official master distiller after Lincoln Henderson’s death. Not that they really needed one. “Master distillers” are on the road promoting their brands as often as they’re in the distillery nowadays.

With Wes Henderson taking on the role of Innovation Manager and his son Kyle assuming the role of production manager, along with a less public-facing team, Angel’s Envy turned out a lot of quality whiskey. But with Wes’ retirement and Kyle’s departure from the brand shortly thereafter, a shakeup was inevitable. Owen Martin , late of Stranahan’s in Colorado, took the reins as master distiller and the face of Angel’s Envy in late 2022.

Martin has made a splashy debut with Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Rye Whiskey Finished In Sauternes & Toasted Oak Barrels — the first ever limited edition cask-strength rye released by AE (their 12th annual cask-strength bourbon was released at the same time). It’s a blend of two separate batches of MGP’s classic 95% rye/5% malted barley mashbill, aged between five and seven years. One batch was then further matured in Sauternes wine casks for three years, while the other aged in a combo of American and French toasted oak barrels or six months.

It’s bottled at 57. 2% ABV The sweetness of the Sauternes comes through both on the nose and the palate, with notes of chocolate-covered cherries, nougat and caramel offsetting the dry oak, peppery rye spice, and the whomp of the alcohol. A little water reduces the whomp factor and brings up sweet vanilla and toffee notes.

Personally, I’ll take the whomp and the more complex flavors. Limited to 5,500 bottles, this is one of those whiskeys that people line up for days in advance outside distilleries and allocated stores, and then skyrockets in price on the secondary market (suggested retail price is $269. 99).

It’s not out until December 1, so I’m giving you some lead time to get your whiskey hunting shoes and your sleeping bags ready. MORE FOR YOU Can Small Breweries Save Craft Beer? Industry Data Suggests Yes El Tesoro Tequila Unveils 2 New Additions To Its Mundial Collection—One Finished In Knob Creek Rye And Another In Laphroaig 10 ‘50 Best’ Announces World’s Top Bars For 2023 Follow me on Twitter . Check out my website .

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