Black Feather Bourbon Review

By Debbie Shocair

Rating: B

Black Feather Bourbon
(Credit: Black Feather)

In the vast expansion of American craft distilling, there is a tremendous consistency in one regard: passion. For quite some time, I would speak of craft distillers, whiskey-makers in particular, as a sparse group, because whiskey is time-consuming, laborious and expensive to produce. Not so these days, as more men and women are happily indulging in the production of fine craft spirits. Yet even with the expanded numbers, the passion remains. Most of them still have days jobs, and certainly they hope to make a living at distilling, but because it is a passionate endeavor, the amber gold being made is almost always quite good.

Such is the case with Black Feather Bourbon, which shows how that applies as much to sourced spirits as to anything else.

According to Black Feather, their whiskey “is made from two & three-year hand-picked allotments, allotments from Indiana, bottling in Houston, Texas, and headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah,” with a mash bill of  70% Corn, 21% Rye, 9% Malted Barley. They bottled Black Feather at 86 proof.

The Bourbon

On the nose, Black Feather bourbon was rife with caramel and marshmallow, with softer but clear undertones of peach, raisin, & spice cake with vanilla.

Breaking the whiskey with ½ teaspoon of water brightened the peach notes noticeably, along with revealing light aromas of hay.

The mouthfeel was unusually gentle, with a bit of tingle at the roof of the mouth.

The finish was fairly long and pleasant: oaky, lighty smokey, followed by burnt caramel, cloves, then spice cake, and a touch of mint , finally finishing with something like dark toast.

It was surprisingly spicy for a bourbon. Try this one neat, then make a great cocktail.

The Price
It’s affordable, at about $30, and good bang for your buck. Currently available in Texas, Utah, Colorado, and California, Black Feather plans to expand into more states in the coming months.