“Age is a matter of thoughts over matter; if you happen to don’t thoughts, it doesn’t matter.” – Mark Twain
Did you recognize that New England borders New York? As a local New Jerseyan with in depth New York ties, I’m ashamed to say I by no means realized that, such is the regional exceptionality fostered within the larger Metropolitan space. New England formally consists of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The New England Barrel Firm (NebCo for brief) was based by a Boston, MA native and has its residence in New Hampshire. The overall space is ripe with American historical past as it’s the web site of this nation’s second established English settlement (Plymouth Colony), the breeding floor for the Revolutionary Conflict, and the area with one of many United States’ worst accents.
Kidding apart, New England can be residence to a good bit of distilling historical past. Massachusetts, particularly, was famend for being the main exporter of America’s best-selling spirit of yesteryear: rum. Right now there are comparatively few whiskey distilleries staking their declare within the area however NebCo founder James Saunders is in search of to vary that narrative and reclaim a few of the native pioneer spirit.
Based in October 2020, New England Barrel Firm adopted a playbook laid out by a number of different nascent manufacturers. James was an avid member of the native bourbon group and went from being a hobbyist who chosen distinctive barrels for whiskey teams and liquor shops to starting his personal model the place he might totally showcase his famend palate. In actual fact, James credit his youngsters for being the impetus behind him beginning the model.
The primary barrels he ever purchased for himself have been ones he sought out from the beginning yr of every of his youngsters, a mission he started with the hope of maturing and ultimately gifting these barrels to them as they reached ingesting age. Nevertheless, as soon as he had a number of barrels in his stock, that mission quickly grew into the inspiration for New England Barrel Firm. It’s a neat private anecdote that’s indicative of the spirit behind this new wave of NDP firms which have been cropping up because the starting of the bourbon growth. An increasing number of, we’re seeing passionate hobbyists flip their zeal for whiskey and regionally famend palates into nationwide manufacturers worthy of discerning customers’ consideration.
To that final level: regardless of being solely two years previous, NebCo has gained quite a few awards from a few of the nation’s most prestigious panels for his or her bourbon and rye, plus a few of their rum and Armagnac as nicely. It was that very string of awards that put them on my radar and led to me reaching out to James Saunders for a pattern of his small batch bourbon, the topic of as we speak’s assessment. I first tried it whereas speaking to James early one morning in an effort to be taught extra about his motivation behind the model, however I interrupted him mid-sentence the second I took my first sip.
A 3-year-old product shouldn’t be sometimes one thing that leaves me impressed. There have been exceptions at concerning the four-year mark; lately, Corey famous how taken he was with Jim Beam’s two-year-old providing. However, usually talking, younger whiskey merely tastes like younger whiskey. That’s to say: it’s virtually uniformly harsh on the palate, unpleasantly grain-forward, and underdeveloped. What I skilled after I first tasted NebCo’s 99 proof three-year expression, nonetheless, was not solely shocking in how developed the flavors are, but in addition in how a lot stability it shows.
Let’s pull the reins right here to acknowledge that a lot ink has been spilled about NDPs (a few of it right here on this very web site) and their modus operandi. The cynical tack says “why ought to or not it’s any higher than the whiskey being produced by the corporate they purchased it from?” A good level.
Many firms that supply whiskey stake their high quality on the palate of their founder or their head blender or their liquid advisor or no matter moniker they’ll provide you with that instills confidence within the client base. It’s an more and more common – albeit finally dangerous – proposition that boils right down to “it is best to belief our choice and mixing course of.” For all of the inroads James Saunders has made regionally, nationally he’s unproven and that very anonymity might’ve led to calamity or, worse, continued obscurity.
After all, as I famous above, it could additionally function a bonus. When a comparatively unknown firm wins a string of awards, irrespective of how you’re feeling about whiskey award panels, it definitely raises consciousness. Properly, as we speak – with my consciousness raised – I’m able to revisit New England Barrel Firm’s small batch bourbon with the hope of doing the identical for you. Regardless of chatting with James Saunders personally and being despatched this bottle freed from cost, I solely owed him then what I owe you now, and that’s my unfettered honesty. You possibly can totally anticipate it to observe.
However first, the salient specs on this bottle: New England Barrel Firm Small Batch Bourbon clocks in at 99 proof (49.5% ABV) is aged for “at the very least three years” and priced at $35. Moreover, this expression is non-chill filtered which is one thing their founder is adamant about. He instructed me “Whenever you chill filter you pull out numerous taste from that whiskey, proper? And also you do this since you’re apprehensive about how steady that product goes to be on the shelf. You don’t need somebody to choose up a bottle and have issues be cloudy or have issues floating in it. In case your product is shifting fairly quickly off the shelf then you definately don’t have to fret about that, as a result of the bottle is getting cracked and loved. A whole lot of the very best whiskey on the market for my part is NCF since you need [to come] as near that straight from the barrel expertise as potential.”
Let’s see how James’ barrel choice expertise, mixing method, and manufacturing philosophies translate within the glass, lets?
New England Barrel Firm Small Batch Bourbon – Evaluation
Shade: Skinny honey.
On the nostril: Cinnamon dusted cantaloupe jumps out at me first, adopted by some juicy citrus notes plus brown sugar, tobacco leaf, and faint maple syrup. Because it sits within the glass there are peppercorn and baking spice notes that emerge together with an virtually Nutella-like creamy, chocolate-inflected aroma.
Within the mouth: It instantly warms the mouth because the flavors radiate out over the tongue. The cinnamon-dusted cantaloupe, true to the nostril, is the primary taste out the gate earlier than tobacco leaf, hazelnut, and milk chocolate discover their method. As the flavour settles, there’s a pleasant scorching warmth that adheres to the roof of the mouth that makes its technique to and thru the end. This drinks barely above its proof, which is a praise right here because it appears to make the flavour notes pop a bit extra prominently. There’s some inexperienced and black pepper hiding on the finish of the end that undergirds a few of the sweeter flavors and balances out every sip permitting for the earthiness to function a reset button earlier than repeated enjoyment.
Conclusions:
After having this bottle open for a couple of weeks and making an attempt it over a number of nights I stay as impressed now as I used to be after I first sampled it. The mouthfeel is creamy, not one of the flavors are harsh, and so they carry each a light-weight sweetness and a restrained spice to maintain them balanced. Moreover, the proof level makes it excellent for sipping neat throughout these heat summer time months and serves to reinforce the flavour with out being distractingly scorching or noticeably lean.
That stated, there are nonetheless telltale indicators of youth on this pour and, although none of them are offensive, they won’t be in your wheelhouse if you happen to want the darker and richer flavors imparted by longer growing old. Some could be inclined right here to say “this tastes good for a three-year-old bourbon,” and they’d be proper to say so. Nevertheless, I believe it performs a notch above that low bar and might simply stand toe to toe with some whiskeys twice its age. Due to this, and the pocket pleasant pricing, I really feel comfy scoring NebCo’s small batch bourbon a notch above common in accordance with Malt’s Scoring Bands and calling it “Good.”
