Fiddler Unison Bourbon

Review by By BRAD KAPLAN Thursday November 10, 2016 published in Creative Loafing The facts: The new Fiddler bourbon whiskey comes from a line of “foraged” spirits to complement ASW’s house-distilled products — meaning ASW bought the stuff from another distillery but have fiddled with it in some way, mainly through aging in different types of casks and blending. This particular release came out Nov. 1 and amounts to a mere 450 bottles, or roughly two barrels. It is a high-wheat bourbon, meaning that wheat makes up a good percentage of the mash bill — 45 percent for this particular whiskey. Other notable wheated bourbons on the market are Maker’s Mark and Pappy Van Winkle, both of which have a much smaller wheat component than ASW’s. This Fiddler release is relatively young — “aged at least 18 months,” according to ASW, in full size new American oak barrels followed by quarter casks. Suggested retail price is around $35. How it tastes: At 86 proof, Fiddler makes for a smooth and balanced sipper, remarkably so for such a young bourbon. You can use it in cocktails, but doing so would knock out the pleasant wheat presence here. The grain notes are prominent and lightly toasty — no heavy oak or dark brown sugar in sight. A young corn whiskey might have you thinking tortilla chips, but this Fiddler wheat is all graham crackers. A hint of orange peel with clove and nutmeg keeps it interesting. Where to find it: The best place to find Fiddler is at ASW Distillery, where you can tour and take home a bottle. Local bottle shops like Tower, Green’s, and Decatur Package have it in limited supply. Expect the next limited release before the holidays, though the exact finishing age and casks may vary from release to release. ASW Distillery. 199 Armour Drive N.E. 404-590-2279. www.aswdistillery.com.

A Georgia only whiskey picked one up while down there and wish I could have gotten a regular wheat whiskey by ASW distilling. From what I understand this is a wheat whiskey merged in "Unison" with a 5 grain high malt (large amount is malted barley) whiskey meaning corn, rye, wheat, barley and oats all except the corn is malted. Personally I think malting all the grains and the addition of oats hurt this bourbon and keeps it from it's true potential. I drink scotch so the high malt doesn't detract at all in fact it adds an oily quality many equate with smooth. The oats however in combination with malting everything under the sun adds a monkey shoulder/bruichladdich type funk, a real wet barn door wood note and oddly enough a flatness on the nose that buries many flavors. Nose is wet wood, malt funk, dusty corn sweetness, light caramel, slight vanilla cream from the wheat and milk chocolate note but very hard to find, and slight alcohol note. Taste is oily and silky, the malty note really comes through first with a slight sour note that I'm attributing to the oats, then the rye and wheat spice ramp up mid palate fading quickly into corn and wood sugar sweetness mixed with a heavy does of vanilla cream (very close to a weller) and even some charred oak notes at the end. Finish is almost medium with the charred oak most prevalent and falling away into dryness where the vanilla cream, sugar sweet note and again almost a weller/pappy mix of peaches and apricot can be appreciated. This would be a 4.5 or 5 star and the wheated portion could be a pappy killer whiskey is they could remove the sour note and all the malty funk that hold this whiskey down. Still there is ALOT going on on the palate and finish but the nose is really so so and uninspired.

A very dark amber glowing bottle, Fiddler is from ASW, another local Georgia startup distillery trying to break into the market. Reputed to be a blend of high wheat and high malt (malts of various grain) the blending apparently leads to the name "fiddling". The nose gives a big sour mash note not unlike Beam, some dark sugars and malt spices also blend in nicely, making for a relatively pleasant bouquet. First and foremost we get that wheated sensation, nearly a Larceny like front, the sugars are prevalent and hold on through to the end, while malty spices take over for the wheat. The advertised nutmeg and perhaps a feint orchard note get the larger share of the finish. The dark malt chocolate tones are present but not overpowering. A pretty fair attempt for a new label and an interesting, reasonably balanced, blend to say the least. The one thing the experienced bourbonir will not be confused by are any well aged components, because there aren't any. I'd say the blenders did a nice job working with what they have, this is all young product that while delivering a pretty decent profile , will not be bumping aside any 9 to 13 year or even better aged juice. Like their counterparts up the road a piece in Chatanooga who are banking on Solera over aging, using a nice blending process in no way makes up for those many years of good ole warehouse time. I'd say the malted fans will probably get better mileage out of this bottle than the wheat fans of Weller. Given you can find this in the low 30's it's an interesting enough dram to make it worth your time and effort to pick one up, just to try out a good, if young, blend. Cheers!

Trying hard to like this, but alas I don't think it's for me. At least I'm learning what I like and what I clearly have a distaste for...tasted it at the distillery and was impressed, or so I thought ...had my bottle for a few months now and finally opened it last week. I'm on my third dram and all I'm getting is wheat and grass and malt on my palate. Nose is impeccable though- sweet and light, tiny bit of grassiness. The finish is bitter to me from the malt. It's a bit young and underdeveloped. Going back to the distillery twice this weekend for events. I'll see what else they have to offer. Buy and drink local.

Nothing wrong here. Just that there's nothing exciting either. Caramel with the slightest touch of spice. Minimal finish. Water actually helps quite a bit in opening this up. I get soapy notes (this isn't a negative and I'm still looking for a better way to express, but some Bourbons hit me this way. Maybe floral)

This whiskey has a rich amber color, and is surprisingly dark for its age, presumably due to the high wheat whiskey it’s mixed with. Nose is sweet, with some dried fruit and light vanilla. Sips smoothly, not too much of a bite. Not as grainy tasting as you would think. Overall, a solid bourbon.