The Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey

Tasting notes:
This whiskey reminds me, appropriately enough, of my childhood in Tennessee. Not that I drank whiskey as a child there–I did not–but more that the sensations this whiskey engenders remind me of my home state. The nose offers notes of wood honey, crushed ivy leaves, and daffodils churned through a mower on a dewy morning. But more than anything else, it’s the magnolia flowers here that remind me of Tennessee: sweet and perfumed, but here as if they were under a layer of lacquer. There’s also some burnt oak that’s been used to candy ginger for gingersnap cookies, but inflected with orange zest. 

The mouth is hot for a 93 proofer! Yet it’s simultaneously cool and slick, like a mountain stream. We added water and then all we could taste was a runner doused in Jasmine perfume running by. Though Bill did wonder aloud if he also caught a whiff of pumpernickel. Being duly skeptical about the existence of other minds, we didn’t think the question worth pursuing further.

The finish is a lemon Easter egg accompanied by a long, full-mouth tingle. It holds on and on and has a distinct Bourbon note on the finish, even though this is a product of the Lincoln County Process. Bright and lively, this one stays with you.

   

Rating:
On the scale of quotes on the history of race in America–

The Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey is Paul Mooney’s line: “I could drop dead tomorrow, the truth will be here. Truth is forever; when you read our history, truth is forever, and it always outs itself.”–Mr. Mooney passed recently, we’re sorry to add, but the truth is still there. And we’re glad the Uncle Nearest brand is making more people aware of this one part of the history.

   

   

                                                                                      —Stephen

   

   

–Our thanks to Uncle Nearest for the sample!