Treaty Oak Red Handed Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

The joke about the Red Handed whiskeys from Treaty Oak Distilling is that they are sourced; “you caught us red-handed.” The company was founded in 2006 on a ranch outside of Austin, Texas, although it was only in recent years that they got a distillery up and running. That has led to the launch of their in-house brand, Ghost Hill Bourbon, a youthful, wheated bourbon.

Their Red Handed Bourbon is, unlike the also sourced Red Handed Rye, only somewhat older. The stock comes from O.Z. Tyler in Owensboro, Kentucky (home of Terressentia’s sonic aging process) and the Davis Valley Distillery in Virginia. The former provides two year old whiskey (roughly the same age as Ghost Hill, actually) and the latter four year old juice. The result is bottled at 95 proof.

The Bourbon
Red Handed Bourbon has a bright coppery color in the glass, a coat of which leaves behind a sheet of tears. The nose is a lovely mix of creamy vanilla, tart cherry, mint and pine. The flavor leads with more vanilla and butterscotch, followed up with notes of pepper, pine and barrel char. The whiskey closes out a touch peppery and ashy.

Treaty Oak’s Red Handed Bourbon defied my expectations, and I was frankly quite surprised that a whiskey so youthful proved this good. It’s flavorful and even shows a moderate amount of sophistication.

The Price
A survey of online retailers gave me $31 to $40 a bottle.