Ceaselessly in the past, again in 2019, once we reviewed Rabbit Gap’s Heigold Bourbon, we up to date you on the distillery’s rebranding earlier that yr through which the unique bourbon, rye, and PX completed bourbon every acquired some new duds together with a brand-new title. At a current sit-down with Rabbit Gap’s founder, Kaveh Zamanian, we tasted by way of contemporary bottlings of the core lineup and found that way over packaging had modified since our preliminary opinions in 2017. These earliest merchandise had been contract distilled and bottled at simply over two years previous. However since opening the doorways to their very own distillery in downtown Louisville in 2018, Rabbit Gap has been producing every little thing in-house and as of this yr, every little thing is being bottled at just below 4 years previous. We thought that warranted a contemporary have a look at the unique lineup. Ideas observe.
Rabbit Gap Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon (2022) – As a refresher, it is a 4 grain, triple malt bourbon constituted of 70% corn, 10% malted wheat, 10% malted barley, and 10% honey malted barley. Not practically as restrained and fortunately now lacking that menthol character, the aroma right here is extra fully-formed with bready notes of uncooked honey and baked apples. The grain nonetheless lurks a bit beneath all of it with candy cornflakes, however the richness of the malt and baking spice make it nearly irrelevant. The palate nonetheless maintains a youthful, rustic edge, however a honeyed texture and a few wood-driven spice assist to distract from that. Notes of orange marmalade and buttery cinnamon toast reveal a complexity missing within the older bottlings, whereas notes of tobacco and darkish baking chocolate linger on the end with a bit extra tannic grip, suggesting age has been a pal to this one however which may additionally take it even additional. 95 proof. B+ / $46 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
Rabbit Gap Dareringer Straight Bourbon Completed in PX Sherry Casks (2022) – Once we first encountered this one in 2019, it was a sourced six-year-old product, however the aroma on this youthful, house-distilled model by some means reveals extra rounded maturity with silky caramel notes, marzipan, and sultry darkish fruits that intensify as issues open within the glass. The palate is significantly richer and higher balanced than its predecessor with an preliminary burst of juicy raisin and darkish berries joined ultimately by some slivered almonds and dried orange peel. Issues stay fairly lush till the end the place all that fruit begins to dry out with lingering notes of cocktail cherry and damp oak. 93 proof. A- / $80 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
Rabbit Gap Boxergrail Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (2022) – Rabbit Gap’s Kentucky tackle the venerable 95/5 rye recipe, this whiskey is probably essentially the most unchanged from the earliest lineup. Which is an effective factor. Rather less brash on the nostril, the additional years of getting old have clearly given the aroma extra wood-driven sweetness with notes of caramel-kissed rye spice, muddled mint, and torched sugar. The palate is probably a contact much less candy than the unique with extra woody spice including a pleasant distinction to the sweeter, fruitier notes, banana chips, sweet apple, and lemon peel amongst them. The end is a contact dry however lingers with spicy gingerbread, tea leaves, and funky wintergreen. 95 proof. A- / $59 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
Rabbit Gap Dareringer Straight Bourbon Completed in PX Sherry Casks (2022)
$80
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