The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
Corrected June 15, 2021
By Richard Thomas
Rating: A-
Angel’s Envy Madeira Cask Finished Bourbon
(Credit: Angel’s Envy/Bacardi)
When the father and son team of Lincoln and Wes Henderson founded Angel’s Envy, it was based squarely on taking mature bourbon and finishing it in Port casks. That might seem like a no-brainer in today’s world, when cask finished limited editions are everywhere, but not so when the Hendersons started the company in 2006. Back then, secondary maturation (as it is properly, technically known) was gaining speed in the Scotch industry, but was virtually unheard of in America. Even today, few brands stake their flagship expression on the concept.
I moved to Portugal only a couple of years after Angel’s Envy was created. As a Kentucky horse farmer’s son, I continue to joke to this day that the brand is my life story in a bottle. But there is another fortified wine that comes from Portugal: madeira. And now Angel’s Envy has taken up that up as a cask finishing project.
Wes Henderson and at least one of his sons took a trip to the semi-tropical island of Madeira in 2015, and sampled widely in Madeira wines. They were looking for “the dryness of a good sherry and the richness of tawny port to our bourbon,” said Henderson. This third installment of the distillery’s Cellar Collection spent a year in those chosen casks, before being bottled at 100 proof.
The Bourbon
My pour of Angel’s Envy Madeira Cask came across with a mid-amber look. Whiffing at the nose, I got a solid shot of bourbonesque vanilla and cinnamon coupled to a strong current of the damp, rotten wood that only a good Madeira makes into a virtue. Notes of boozy raisins and non-descript nuttiness complete the scent.
The flavor continues in that bourbon and Madeira, hand in glove pairing. Melted brown sugar and caramelized bananas lead off, with again that boozy dried fruit serving as the main notes, in this case becoming a little more complex with raisins and dried cherries. This is served up on a foundation of hoary, leathery and dry oak. The finish ran dry, woody and peppery.
The Angel’s Envy Cellar Collection has thus far yielded an Oloroso Sherry Cask and a Tawny Port Cask finished bourbon, and both have been marvelous, a full cut above the regular Angel’s Envy standard. Their Madeira Cask Finished Bourbon continues along in that vein. It has taken what Angel’s Envy is well-known for and raised it up to the next level.
The Price
Officially, this item is priced at $229 a bottle.
