Deerhammer American Single Malt

I received a bottle of this Colorado whiskey from my friend Pranay, as a belated birthday gift back in April and I decided to open it and enjoy it both neat and as a mixer for my favorite soda, Coca Cola. This whiskey is sourced and distilled completely in-house, aged for 2 years in virgin oak with a #2 char. This is the newest batch, number 41, and is bottled at a robust 46% ABV. It’s a shiny, new penny copper in color and makes some seriously thick and oily legs when you give it a spin. I believe it retails for around $40 and as far as I know it’s distributed only in Colorado- for now. The nose is delicious: caramel, cinnamon and milk chocolate dominate the profile. Most, if not all, of the barrel notes and heat from the ABV are cleverly well hidden. The palate is warm and surprisingly smooth for only being 2 years old. There’s more toffee and chocolate tidbits rolling around with a nice spicy kick from the oak finally making its presence felt. There’s plenty of bite to counter the sweetness. The finish is on the short side and rather weak given the nose and palate. There’s more than enough faint oak here to push the sweetness away. I ended up mixing maybe 1/3 of this bottle with Coke, over the course of a week and some nights it felt quite tasty while other nights seemingly too sweet. The Cola notes and the chocolate didn’t seem to jive the way I’d hoped. Overall, this is a fantastic sipper, though. $40 is a steal as well. It’s got plenty of power to knock you on your ass, but it’s smooth enough to make a fine after dinner treat all the same. If you pass through Colorado and see bottles of this sitting on local shelves I highly recommend picking one up. Hell, pick up 2 or 3 and I’ll trade you something for one. Good stuff. 4-4.25 stars. Thanks again, @PBMichiganWolverine. This one hit the spot. Cheers.

(Recalling this from memory a few weeks back in Denver). I'm loving the American whiskey craft scene. Granted you have some bombs, and then you have some hits (High West, Westland, Coppersea), and then you have these little micro-craft distillers that are merely one or two men /women shops ( like this one, and Wyoming 's Single Track) which are producing really amazing whiskies at affordable prices, but only available in local areas because of a lack of distribution supply chain. I had a pour of this, and subsequently bought a full bottle. Like having liquified chocolate. You get cinnamon and cloves on the nose, then turns to liquid chocolate and caramel on the taste. Might be too sweet if you're only a fan of the Island or Islay style malts, but if you're open to once in while breaking the peat, smoke and brine with a bit of dessert malt, this is a worthwhile try especially considering the price ( I got it for about $45 I think). Considering I'm in Denver once a month, I might have a regular supply of this one going on now 😊

Returning to a western region craft distillery, this round is Deerhammer American Single Malt from Colorado. It’s a one-stop ‘milled, mashed, fermented, distilled, and bottled’ shop in a relatively sleepy mountain town. Kinda rad little story. Straightaway I didn’t really enjoy the nose. A sour, hot pleather meets grass scent you might find in a park landscaping shop. Not too pleasant. Normally a subpar nose can ruin a pour, but Deerhammer redeems itself on the taste & finish. It’s cacao nibs combined with a prickly sweetness. Really pleasant. Rating: While this is a worthy offering from a cool distillery, the 92 score is much too generous in my book. Probably deserves mid 80s. As far as I know, this is only available in Colo and at $47 I thought this was a respectable buy. I’d for sure check out another bottle down the road. Cheers peoples Batch:41

My family came back from Colorado and brought this with them. I get chocolate covered raisins on the nose. There’s some cinnamon/nutmeg in there too. Reminds me of raisin bread. Deep, dark bitter chocolate flavors on palate. I get some some vanilla in there. There’s spiciness to this whiskey throughout. You can feel the spice in this too. Also, I get a nutty sweetness on the finish. This is so interesting and worth exploring more. I’m really curious how the open top fermentation and the direct flame pot distillation affects the taste too. Mad props to Deerhammer for this whiskey. Now if only they could distribute in Texas...

The label says it's aged for at least 2 years, which I take to mean that MOST of the stock is aged 2 years with some older barrels vatted with each batch to round it out. I'd like to try this at an older age statement, because I like what Deerhammer is doing but it needs more time to soften the edges. N: Nougat and chocolate on first sniff. A bit dusty. P: Sweet. Orange, coffee, cocoa, a bit of menthol. A bit harsh. F: More coffee, and an acetone aftertaste. There's a good beginning here but even a couple more years I think would help round this out.

The color of this single malt is similar to polished brass, and thick watery legs stream down the glass. The nose is sweet with notes of green apple, cinnamon sugar cookie, lemon rind, red grapes, chocolate, honey, and vanilla. The palate has an oily mouthfeel and notes of tangy clementine, plum, strawberry, caramel, milk chocolate, and honey. The finish is long, has some initial heat, and has a Raisin Bran cereal note to send you off. Cheers!