Koval Bourbon Whiskey / Koval Four Grain

Koval Bourbon Whiskey

I smelled and tasted the Koval Bourbon Whiskey. I have tasted the millet whisky of Koval and you may find the blog entry Here.

Koval Bourbon Whiskey

Short information list about the Bourbon Whisky:

• It's organic.
• It's kosher.
• It's "Gluten-free". (Question to myself: Isn't all Whisky "gluten-free?)
• It's family owned by Robert and Sonat Birnecker.
• It's independent.
• It's 51% Corn and 49% organic Midwest Millet mash.
• It's fresh American Minnisota white oak.
• It's 47% ABV, 94 proof.
• It's 0.5 Liter per bottle.
• It's unchill filtered.
• It's natural colour.
• It's from Chicaco in the USA.

The nose of this Dram is a tad confusing for me, but there are some notes that I spot rather soon. The is the spice, the oak (now that I know how it smells it is so there!), some saw dust, some orange, vanilla. I thought I smelled rye, but that would be rather odd, since the other 49% of the mash bill is millet. I do pick up some nutmeg as well. Banana? Yup. 

The palate is harder to pin down for me at first. First thing I wrote was "spice". Then it to some time for my mind to find tasted I could bring home. After couple of tastes I wrote down "if mouth full it's pleasantly burning", not to smooth, not to soft. Brown sugar I get. And even though I don't smoke I do pick up a hint of tobacco. Something salty. 

The finish is not to long, but rather ok. Light honey. And, oddly enough something I can only describe as "wokkels". This "Wokkels" is something that view people will spot, since it is a crisp that I think is only sold in Holland. 

Wokkels

Do I like this dram? Yes I do. I do not do ratings, so I will say this is for me a above average dram. How does it hold ip to others? It is not really important how it holds up. I is a dram on its on like all others. Would I buy this? Probably yes!

Koval Four Grain Whiskey

Next up is the sample of the Koval Four Grain Whiskey.

Koval Four Grain Whiskey

The Koval Website mentions:

The Four Grain is distilled from a mash bill of oat, malted barley, rye, and wheat. This whiskey is aged in heavily charred new oak barrels from Minnesota and bottled single barrel at 94 proof. The four grains define its depth with a banana nose, creamy palate, and spicy finish. Only the “heart cut” of the distillate, no “heads” or “tails.” Grains sourced from a local organic farmer collective in the Midwest.

Small Batch. Single Barrel. Unfiltered. Heart cut. Organic. 

Notes of 16 July 2016

My notes say is "Softer"  than the Rye of the Bourbon. 

The nose has a little Spice, oak, honey, banana, pear, and quite oddly something that smells like the butter i put on my sand-wedges. Quite a pleasant nose. 

The palette has Pear, a little Rye, orange, some slight pepper, grainy, creamy, buttery sweet vanilla.

The finish is not long. It changes from how long you let it in the glass. It was bland finish at one point and quite sharp the next ... odd. 

I sorta like this. It's I am not sure if I would buy this again. Even though it has many flavours that I would label on a Rye or a Bourbon, this has a bit of everything. Not to distinct!

UPDATE: 06 November 2016:

HA! apparently this dram according to https://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2016/10/jim-murrays-whisky-bible-2017-the-winners/ has won the US Micro Whisky of the Year (Runner Up) award in the 2017 Jim Murray's Whisky bible 2017. Cool!