Ironroot Harbinger (115 Proof)

Ironroot Republic Harbinger Bourbon 2019-B 115 proof 27 months aged It’s no secret to anyone that knows me, I’ve been a total fan boy of Ironroot whiskies since discovering them near two years ago. Their Harbinger Bourbon has reigned supreme as my favorite bourbon since the first sip and this expression does not disappoint in the least. This is the 2019-B...the winner of the World Whiskey Awards Best Bourbon of 2020. Digging into this one it’s not hard to see why. The Likarish Bros learned some of their distilling arts under the tutelage of Hubert Germain-Robin, the famed California Cognac maker. They have translated that style to their Texas whiskey. And, the Harbinger, is what I would describe as the Armagnac of Bourbon. From the nose to the palate, the mouthfeel to the finish; this is a brandy drinkers whiskey. Yet, it’s got that Texas influence of funky oak character that sets it apart. Nose: Your nostrils are greeted with a punch of ethanol intertwined with the sweetness of macerated grapes. Sweet vanilla frosting, buttered corn, petricor, warm caramel popcorn, dusty feed sack and brown sugar. The nose is rich and deep and there’s a lot to dig out. Spend some time over the glass and it will reveal nuances like: fruit salad with coconut and a splash of Cava, dry straw bales, grape Nerds candy, apples in cinnamon butter and cloves, candied lemon peel, Assam tea and honey. Palate: Dense, velvety, rich. And it packs the mids like Rich Robinson in open G tuning playing the opening riffs of Black Moon Rising. It’s all as dark and brooding as the song! Grilled sweet corn, elderberries, honey butter, muscadines, grape skins, raspberries with cream coconut on sponge cake, black tea with honey and a squeeze of lemon. On the swallow, that Texas oak vanilla tops it all off. Finish: Erupts in black pepper spice and a punch of proof. There’s a twinge of smoked habanero heat. Flambéed apples over vanilla ice cream and rubbed mint, worn leather, and sweet oak char round out the long and astringent finish. You really don’t want the ride to end. It’s absolutely delicious but it also commands your attention from the first nosing until 20 minutes later and the lingering notes of the oils that still cling to your cheeks remind you to take another sip. It’s an absolute beautiful marriage of heirloom corns and oak cask. Synchrony, harmony, the distillers and blenders art on full display. Texas has made its mark on the whiskey world but that train is just leaving the station and picking up speed. Come and taste it is their mantra...and yeah, you better.

Been wanting to try an Ironroot for a while, they hype on these is beyond words. Nose - Oh god....clay putty, please don't like this be another turd like Garrison Brothers! Ok a bit more nosing and there's some sweet notes, its' way better than Garrison brothers. Overall still the nose on this sucks and frankly it smells nothing like bourbon. taste - So I brought the abv way down for this review as I want to get into the notes. There's that clay funk that I get in Garrisons which is simply off putting and frankly if Texas bourbon wants to be a quality product long term they need to get rid of it. I get maple notes which is unique. some red hots, and there's a good nice sweetness. At the end of the day this tastes like younger whisky. It has off notes. It does have some redeeming quality elements. It's complex, actually really complex, and I think there's some real quality going into this one. I personally can't get past the nose or that clay flavor to give this a high score but once again I can tell they're on their way. Over priced for the flavor, absolutely. But for a startup distillery trying to find their grounds and for how unique it is, I'm pretty happy with the price. For bourbon drinkers this is a 0 out of 100. It doesn't taste like bourbon. For people who love whisky this is a 50 out of 100, it's really interesting but you'll likely not enjoy it. For whisky geeks looking to explore, this is a 75. For a distillers score I don't know. Calling it bourbon is really a problem for me as there is no bourbon note in this bottle. I don't see this going in coke well. OK I'm adding ice - the way bourbon drinkers drink their stuff normally anyway. OK I'm getting waxy corn and vanilla. This is starting to taste like bourbon. Oddly enough I don't get the oak notes of a bourbon. That's what's killing this for me. One would think massive oak in that heat but instead I don't get the oak. I think that's the issue. This isn't bourbon tasting because I don't get the first charred oak. As you can clearly tell I really want to give this a high score. I don't think that texas heat works with grain whisky. Going 1.5. There's quality here, there really is but this isn't bourbon and it isn't one I'll ever buy again. A 1.5 isn't bad though, it's a good fair score for a whisky that frankly for me isn't good but I can see the quality and realize there is a niche for this.

Nose - toffee, dusty corn, deep floral notes, sweet dough, grass, Turkish delight, vanilla, lemon, orange, berry, black pepper, candy corn, rose, buttered popcorn, dry oak, nutmeg, clove, earthy mint, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - lemon, tangerine, berry, rich floral notes, toffee, vanilla, grass, cocoa, marshmallow, black pepper, clay, mint, sour oak, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, buttered popcorn, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with deep citrus, floral, mint, and baking spice flavors. Ironroot Republic flew onto my radar after I tasted an amazing single cask bottling by Lost Lantern a few months back. Around the same time, I discovered that this Harbinger release was awarded “World’s Best Bourbon” by the World Whiskies Awards in 2020. After chuckling about the name of the award, as bourbon can only be produced in America, I set out to track it down. This proved difficult until recently, as some small amount of distribution has made it to the east coast. So is this the world’s best bourbon? No. But it’s pretty good. Ironroot produces some really interesting aromas and flavors out of what is essentially corn whiskey. Ironroot products seem to always have this really nice, deep floral quality, and this is no exception. There’s also a doughy attribute, not completely unlike Garrison Brothers’. Finally, I dug deep and found a powdery rose flavored Turkish delight note. The palate isn’t quite as good as the nose. Many of the aromas transfer over, but there’s an insidious sourness in the experience that holds it back from greatness. Overall, this is good whiskey that’s priced right at $50 a bottle, but it’s extremely far from being “the best.” Tomorrow, I’ll review the new single cask Ironroot release, which is significantly better than this.

Ironroot Republic is a distillery in Denison, TX opened in 2013 by two brothers, Robert and Jonathan Likarish. The name Ironroot pays tribute to Texas "iron" grape roots that were used to save the French wine industry from an invasive insect that was killing the vines in 1800's. The brothers found it inspirational in adapting the process of distilling to unique climate of Texas instead of attempting to copy a specific flavor profile. The Likarish brothers are constantly experimenting with different barrel sizes, different barrel entry proofs, as well as using heirloom grains. Earlier releases I've seen were 18 months old and 118.5 proof. This particular bottle is aged 27 months and 115 proof. The mash bill supposedly contains 4 different types of corn, including purple and Bloody Butcher heirloom varieties, as well as rye. This is definitely not your average bourbon. While it does have some telltale notes that give away its relatively young age, it's easily forgivable due to the bomb of flavors it packs. On the nose there's maple syrup, baked cinnamon apple, toasted oak, and some ethanol burn. On the palate you get hit with molasses, cinnamon brown sugar, maple syrup, coffee, more oak, fresh cut grass notes and orchard fruit flavors. Finish is fairly long with cinnamon spice and heat, more oak, brown sugar, and grassy notes which is probably from the rye in mash bill. The mouthfeel ends very dry and tannic which is a quality I tend to pick up in whiskey aged in smaller barrels. However, I'm not certain what size of barrels are used here and it could very well be the result of Texas climate. I was told by the spirit manager at a Total Wine that this bottle will soon be extremely hard to find, not sure what that means but I'm glad I picked it up!

The nose starts with a freshly opened bag of candy corn followed by some cotton candy then fruity notes of Swedish fish candy and sour apple caramel lollipop that fades to light floral vanilla before transitioning to spices of black pepper, ginger, leather and medium oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a thick mouthfeel that starts with a freshly opened bag of candy corn followed by some cotton candy then a moderate sourness comes in with lemon juice and sour apple that eventually fades to light floral vanilla before transitioning to spices of black pepper, ginger, cloves, leather and raw cinnamon roll dough with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with sour apple, lemon juice, caramel corn, fresh baked cornbread, ginger, cloves and raw cinnamon roll dough. The nose started out promising with sweets, citrus, floral and medium spices before the taste that has an enjoyable mouthfeel but unfortunately turns into a sour patch kid style of whiskey that starts sweet then turns sour quickly before fading to barrel spices and raw cinnamon roll that finishes with a mix of sour, sweet and doughy. Overall, a pretty enjoyable pour but no where near some of their incredible single cask offerings by Lost Lantern that I’ve tried and certainly doesn’t seem fitting to be called World’s Best Bourbon 2020. A huge Texas size thank you to @ctbeck11 for the generous pour of this one.

Nose brings brown sugar, molasses, dried apricot, furniture varnish, barrel char, cashew nut, maple, an appealing smoked oak note, and a hint of pencil eraser. Ethanol present thooughout which was a bit of a bummer since the aroma was otherwise enjoyable. Palate offers the brown sugar and wood varnish from the nose along with apple, vanilla, cinnamon, candy corn, smoke, and flan. Almost no mid-palate at all; rushes to the finish. Flavors are not well integrated and clash with one another. Finish brings some slight improvement in the form of cotton candy, grape must, pink peppercorn, clove, molasses, sour apple, and oak which turns toward bitter astringency. A long slow peppery/spicy burn lingers after everything else fades. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but pretty grainy which unfortunately I have found to be a trend with Texas whiskey. While this is held is decently high regard in whisky circles in my area, I found it to be kind of weird and disjointed with plenty of off notes. Not the best example of the Texas style, as Balcones has several expressions which blow this out of the water. Like your typical teenager, this is young, weird, and unruly. At 69.99, it’s extremely hard to justify a rebuy.