Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

This was one of the reviews lost during The Whiskey Reviewer‘s hacking incident in late October/early November 2024. So, this is the second (and hopefully last) time I am writing up the latest release from Angel’s Envy, their Triple Oak bourbon.

More than a decade ago, Lincoln Henderson and his son Wes teamed up to start their own independent company, built around the principle of sourcing bourbon and then giving it a spell of secondary maturation in Ruby Port casks. That company, Angel’s Envy, came just as the Bourbon Boom took off in earnest. In the early 2010s, cask finishing was not the way of life for the American whiskey business that it is today. Although it was a gaining fixture in the Scotch Whisky industry, in the United States it was so unknown that veteran Brown-Forman whiskey-maker Lincoln Henderson claimed he did not borrow the idea from the Scotch industry, but from wine-makers. More than any other company concerned, Angel’s Envy is most responsible for the popularization of the cask finish in America.

For most of the company’s history, Angel’s Envy has had two regular release expressions and one annual limited edition: the flagship bourbon, their rum cask rye whiskey and their annual cask strength bourbon, the latter of which has become one of the hotly sought-after whiskey of the autumnal release season. Lincoln Henderson passed away in 2013, Angel’s Envy was acquired by Bacardi in 2015. Wes Henderson and some of his sons stayed on and opened the distillery in downtown Louisville in 2016, but finally left the company to start a new company, True Story Whiskey, in 2024. And in all that time, the company left their core line-up alone. There were one-shot limited edition releases, but no permanent brand extensions… until the end of this past summer.

Angel’s Envy Triple Oak is so named because it draws on three relatively exotic casks types for secondary maturation. The process begins with Angel’s Envy bourbon, made with a fairly typical bourbon mash and aged four to six years in new American Standard Barrels (ASBs) with a #3 char. From there, Master Distiller Owen Martin carries out three separate finishes: one in Kentucky Chinkapin oak and other two in new Hungarian and French oak. The French oak is used for approximately three months, while the other two are used for roughly six months. The French oak is the most potent and familiar of the three wood types, known for its earthy and spicy character. The Chinkapin doubles down on caramel sweetness, but with a tannic coffee edge, while the Hungarian wood has a balanced flavor profile that rounds the entire picture out. The end bourbon is bottled at 92 proof.

The Bourbon
The look on this pour was a bright, reddened amber after it hit the glass. I found the nose came across as toasted graham crackers plus mint and vanilla bean. Further nosing draws out a light current of cookie spices.

Sipping fetches up a base of honey and candy corn sweetness plus more development of the combination of mint and cookie spices. The latter is now clearly peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The caramel/vanilla note moves into the background. From there, the finish is lightly spiced, dry and carries a sliver of wood.

Angel’s Envy Triple Oak offers a quite different experience from the flagship Angel’s Envy. As to whether it is intrinsically better than the core expression, I think most drinkers would say no. Different, but not broadly superior. There is a segment that has a clear appreciation for the sort of herbal/incense/spice rack flavor notes one gets from Angel’s Envy Triple Oak, and for them this bottle is a gold mine. I certainly appreciate it for that. But keeping in mind what most people go for, it’s more an interesting, good bottle rather than a typical-but-great one.

The Price
Expect to pay $75 for Angel’s Envy Triple Oak.