Michter’s Toasted Barrel Sour Mash Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Michter’s released their Toasted Barrel Sour Mash Whiskey this month, completing a series of double new oak barrel aged whiskeys in irregular and limited edition release. Their popular Toasted Barrel Bourbon was followed in 2017 by a limited edition release that gave their rye whiskey a double new oak barrel treatment. Now the Sour Mash Whiskey has gotten the same treatment, and I suspect that concludes the eligible candidates. Michter’s American Whiskey is aged in used barrels (basically an upscale version of Early Times); even if it were to receive a toasted, new oak barrel finish, it wouldn’t fit into the growing double new oak barrel aging category.

Micther’s Sour Mash Whiskey follows in the tradition of what was the most popular product from “Old Michter’s,” made at the defunct Bomberger Distillery in Pennsylvania. It is called Sour Mash because it is made with the sour mash process (as are so many other whiskeys, although that was unusual in Pennsylvania at the time of the original brand), and because it’s production details don’t fit under any major or minor category of whiskey. The corn, rye and malted barley mash bill has no lead grain, so it qualifies as neither a bourbon or a rye.

So, the regular Sour Mash Whiskey has been given a finish using the distillery’s specially toasted, new oak barrels. Although Michter’s didn’t reinvent the concept of double new oak aging for modern times (that was Brown-Forman), they are arguably the best practitioners of it. The strength remains the same as the precursor whiskey, at 86 proof.

The Whiskey
The Toasted Barrel Sour Mash has a copper look in the glass, while the swish and coat leaves behind a few large tears. The nose leads with a mix of gingerbread and cinnamon graham crackers, accented with a drizzle of vanilla syrup. Mint and pine come up at the end and elbow onto center stage, giving the scent real complexity.

The flavor is quite light-bodied, which is a surprise given that the nose wasn’t, but shouldn’t be when one remembers the below 90 proof. Despite that, it manages to hold onto a creamy texture. It’s not as sophisticated a whiskey on the palate as in the nose, coming across with candy corn and caramel sweetness, balanced by minty spiciness and rounded out with a touch of wood. I didn’t find the step back a bad thing though, and this whiskey makes for a simply lovely sipper.

The finish lacks substance, though. I found traces of mint and pine, and these faded very fast. That is what really held this whiskey back in my opinion; a finish that hung on to me for a bit would have earned it an A-. Nonetheless, it’s just a lovely sipping whiskey.

The Price
Michter’s Toasted Barrel Sour Mash Whiskey will fetch $60 a bottle.