Templeton Fortitude Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

For good or for ill, Templeton is one of the most storied names to come out of the American whiskey boom of the 21st Century. Getting their start as a sourced brand in the 2000s, they spun a story of being inspired by Iowa bootleggers who supplied rye whiskey to Chicago gangsters. The gaps between Templeton’s marketing tales and its reality as a sourced-and-bottled whiskey originating from MGP in Indiana were hardly unique, but by the early 2010s a chunk of the American whiskey blogosphere had become fanatical about the very issue of sourcing, viewing all non-distiller producers (NDPs) with disdain and being hypercritical of all that were not fully transparent.

They croaked loudest against Templeton, which is why the company was actually sued. We reviewed the case against Templeton Rye (the company is now Templeton Distillery) in 2014, and despite being the strongest of case of its type, it turns out the blogosphere made as many misleading claims as the company they were attacking. That prejudice continues, albeit weakly, to this day: there are some out there claiming that in making Templeton Fortitude a no age statement whiskey, the company is obviously trying to hide something.

The writers who fostered that animostiy have since either left the scene or faded into obscurity. Templeton went from having a hobby scale distillery to a large production facility in 2018. This year, the distillery unveiled its first in house whiskey, which was curiously not replacement for their foundational rye whiskeys. Instead, it was a bourbon.

I suppose that makes sense, because despite Prohibition-era Templeton, Iowa rye moonshine being a real thing, Iowa is famed as the best place to grow corn on earth. The state is known for corn first, pig farming as a close second, and collegiate wrestling third. That doesn’t mean they left the rye behind in their bourbon, however: it is a very high rye bourbon, with 55% corn and 45% rye, plus 5% malted barley. It’s bottled at a respectable 92 proof.

The Bourbon
Despite being bottled at 92 proof, the key descriptor for Templeton Fortitude is its lightness. On the nose, it’s so light as to be thin. The aroma mixes the scent of a fresh-cut hay field with a caramel candy pear. Add in a dash of pepper, and you’ve got it.

The palate has a little more heft, but is still very on the light side. The flavor takes that caramel pear and gives it a light dusting of cookie spices. It’s only on the finish that the very high rye nature of the bourbon comes out and makes itself felt, with pumpernickel, pepper and hot cinnamon stepping up and taking over. The finish is light, but lingering, and is really the best part of the experience.

The Price
Templeton Fortitude is $40 a bottle.