J. Henry & Sons Cask Strength 5 Year Patton Road Reserve

A little background

J. Henry & Sons is a family run distillery located in Wisconsin. According to J. Henry & Sons the barrels that go into making Patton Road Reserve are the best barrels in their rickhouse, so good in fact that they do not want to proof them down in any way, or blend them together with other barrels to hide their uniqueness. They pride themselves on the fact that all of their bourbon is aged for a minimum of 5 years and all their staves spend 2 years seasoning.. Their bourbon has a mash bill of 60% Red Heirloom Corn, 14% Heirloom Winter Wheat, 14% Heirloom Spooner Rye, 12% Malted Barley. The particular sample of 5 Year Patton Road Reserve used for this review was drawn from Barrell #441.

(Tasted neat from a Glencairn Glass)

Color

Honey

Nose

Warm sweet corn, toasted vanilla, caramel, and dark cocoa are the first notes that hit my nose. The second waft allowed more toasted oak and light clove to come through.

Palate

The rich flavors of vanilla and caramel first hit the front of the palate. A bit of rye spice hits the sides of the palate but not enough to overcome the sweet toasted corn. Light notes of dark cocoa.

Finish

The finish ended on a sweeter note. A nice medium full finish took over my palate.

In closing

Patton Road Reserve was different and different in a good way. After tasting this Cask Strength whiskey, I decided to dig deeper into their processes. I was delighted to learn that they season their staves prior to aging their bourbon a minimum for 2 years. There was a complexity to this whiskey that isn’t often found in whiskies. The flavors on the palate were much more complex than those I found on the nose. If you come across this, give it a go and let me know what you think about it!