Hooten Young 12 Year American Whiskey (Batch No. 1)

Nose: Rich honey dew sweetness, as it opens up you get some buttered corn with the grain alcohol ethyl being notable, just a tinge of a lime note, perhaps some of the barrel tannin creeping in. Front: this is salted butter corn on a Dickel level, it is after all, a 99% corn mash, as we get to the back of the mouth, the lime note kicks in, not sure what MGP is using for barrel wood here, it almost has a walnut aspect. The very salty butter corn stays in play through the finish, vanilla and dark sugars are extremely light but detectable. All of that high salt butter and base tartness of lime make for an interesting if extremely unusual profile. MGP know's what they are doing, no question, but that 1% malt means some chemical reagents are needed to get the fermentation complete(as any Fred Noe student can tell you). Can't help but wonder if some of the odd flavor angles are a product of added chemicals. Hooten & Young are another Service Veterans co startup, in the vein of Star vodka and Leadslingers, however they are at least attempting something respectable by going out and procuring 12 year old MGP juice, I'm just not sure what MGP was thinking aging a pure corn to that length. That aging does make this a pleasantly sipable whiskey in an old fashioned corn lighting style, but not one that will rock your world the way an Old Fitz or BTAC bottle can. A decently executed startup even if perhaps a bit lacking in vision. Cheers!

One of the most interesting whiskies I've sipped. Nose has strong vanilla notes, initially presenting as a bourbon. Give it a few more whiffs and you'll smell some apples and pears, more like a sherry-aged single malt...which is exactly what you get on the palate. There is a bit of that syrupy bourbon flavor with lots of baking spices at first, but those fade quickly in favor of pears, apple pie, sherry, and butterscotch. Finish doesn't change much from the palate but it lingers a while and is pleasant. Its sophisticated and subtle. Do NOT go into it expecting a bourbon, because it isn't, or expecting an intense barrel-proof palate bomb, because it isn't that either. But as someone who loves both bourbon and scotch, this is an intriguing blend of key characteristics of each - and makes for a very pleasant sip too. Well done.

NOSE Spirity and cloying with notes of orchard fruit, banana, vanilla custard, spice, creamy citrus and a heavy butterscotch that reminds me a bit of Canadian Whisky. This reminds me a lot of that High West 14 Years Light Whiskey. It’s light, topical, and hits some weirdly cloying sweet notes while being spirity. PALATE Spirity vanilla, cloying butterscotch (Canadian-like), orchard fruit, banana taffy, vanilla custard, spice and some creamy citrus hints. Wow, that Canadian butterscotch note is so heavy on the Hooten Young Whiskey 12 Years’ palate. I keep thinking of Black Velvet mixed with that High West… FINISH Med-short -> Canadian whisky butterscotch and baking spice fade to a banana taffy and woody profile.

Goody goody twisted my arm to pick this up with my old soul single barrel. It’s good. Definitely complicated, and fresh to me considering it’s not a true bourbon. The story intrigues me. Distilled by MGP, aged 12 years, then produced by another much smaller distillery in Ohio. Want to know the mashbill. I get a lot of corn, and probably some malted barley in there. The spice is evident but very light. A lingering intensity lives on in it and it punches pretty well for something I know almost nothing about. Would love to see batch 2 of this come out at cask strength, or in some form of a single barrel. Would buy again for the price as a unique bottle to keep around, but tell me more Hooten Young!

Nose is sweet, sweet corn, hints of orangey tropical fruits, banana, and more corn. Flavor is unique for me...the corn notes are still prevalent, but there's a sticky sweetness...a cross between caramel and butterscotch, some apple notes, and finishes with an important dose of young wood that levels the playing field. Palate is light on it's feet and a very easy drinker.

Eye: very light hue pushing to the yellow and orange side. Nose: vanilla, salted peanut on the nose. Palette: vanilla, brown sugar and honey with a peanut butter cookie finish. Little bite that is short and midway through. Very light on the tongue and far less thick than I expected for a 12 year. There is a dryness to the finish that feels like biting into an apple.