Laws Whiskey Bonded Four Grain Bourbon 8 Year
STATS:
Laws Whiskey House in Denver, CO
Four Grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mash Bill: 60% corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, 10% heirloom malted barley
100 Proof (50% ABV)
Aged 8 Years
Laws Whiskey House Website
Laws Whiskey House out of Denver Colorado has created a name for itself with its heirloom grain whiskeys. They focus on transparency, passion, patience, and skill to put out consistently delicious products.
This expression stands, alongside their new bonded rye, as this year’s new entry into their bonded series. This series highlights the innovation and skill of their distillers, while also paying respects to the traditional art of blending and bonded expressions.
The Bonded 8 Year Four Grain Bourbon is a blend of two batches. They used 18 barrels from Batch #6-S, which was barreled in the Spring of 2013 making it 8 years and 5 months old. The second batch, #6-F, was barreled in the Fall of 2013 and had 9 barrels selected at an age of 8 years and 2 months.
This shows the patience and foresight that Laws had to ensure multiple batches were available to blend a worthy bonded release. Not to mention to keep it going into much higher ages for bonded whiskeys, giving us a unique opportunity to affordably try a less available whiskey expression.
It’s also somewhat of a piece of Colorado spirits history. When Laws came out with their initial bonded release, it was the first bonded whiskey ever to be made in Colorado.
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Nose
(4.5)
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Palate
(4)
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Finish
(4)
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Heat vs Proof
(3.5)
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Value
(4)
Notes & Review
Nose: There’s a beautiful amount of dried orange peel, smoked earl grey tea, baked caramel, wood spice, and leather.
Palate: Full-bodied and full mouthfeel with a bit of oiliness. Really has a nice coating of flavor without it being too viscous or overwhelming. Stone fruit, roasted oak, dried dates, cracked leather, black pepper, torched brown sugar, and brown butter.
Finish: Medium finish. Charred oak, black pepper, leather, torched brown sugar, tobacco, and dried stone fruit.
Review:
I love well-done four-grain whiskies. It adds a unique level of depth and viscosity to the entry that I think is multi-sensory.
Laws Whiskey’s bourbon releases have a tendency to be bold. That makes them great for a lot of things. Their entry-level bourbons and ryes can stand up to cocktails quite well, allowing you to have the critical element of still tasting the underlying spirit tastable under all the ingredients. But, these bonded expressions really take that boldness up a notch, and not in an unpleasant way.
It’s definitely a big, bold whiskey that comes out of the gate swinging. For people that love flavor bombs with a good backbone, this one is definitely made for you. However, even newer enthusiasts who may not be used to some spice behind their pours can pour this over ice to open up some of the more delicate flavors and cut the heat. Though, I definitely would recommend this as a pour to enjoy neat. There’s just something about these flavors that come together as-is that makes it really just one of those great pours you keep coming back to.
Overall, I really enjoyed it a lot. Colorado whiskey has a lot going for it, and Laws Whiskey House clearly knows what the heck they’re doing with these releases. This is probably one of my new favorite bonded expressions. Even better, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg or go on a multi-year quest to find them, making picking one up a no-brainer.
Greg Sinadinos started his spirits journey writing a whiskey periodical for Fine Tobacco NYC Magazine. He began answering review requests under a social media page he named “Whiskey Culture,” which quickly merged with Greg’s passion for connecting with others and his interest in history.
Today, Greg travels the country not just looking for great whiskey, but also exploring the history and individuals that the whiskey community is founded upon. He has authored “Whiskey History From Around The World” and is the host of “The Rickhouse” web series.
