Rabbit Hole Dareringer Straight Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks

RABBIT HOLE SHOWDOWN Rabbit Hole Heigold Kentucky Straight Bourbon Rabbit Hole Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Rabbit Hole Dareringer Straight Bourbon Finished In Px Sherry Casks Rabbit Hole Starlino I was introduced to Rabbit Hole at a tasting I attended a few years ago with the founder, Kaveh Zamanian. I’d seen the distinctive bottles on store shelves, but never pulled the trigger. In my experience, distinctive bottles and labels are often more about marketing than the whiskey they contain. That is not the case with Rabbit Hole. I’m very impressed with the quality, attention to detail, and information transparency that this distillery embraces. Rabbit Hole Heigold Bright orange amber (Pantone 152). Nose shows chocolate covered cherries, a touch of peanut brittle, buttered pancakes, apple cider, balsam, a little spearmint. Pleasantly viscous mouthfeel, with orange oil and clove coming on, followed by a little heat kicking in on the finish, with more chocolate-covered cherries and some oaky vanilla, akin to a woody orange creamsicle (in a pleasant way), followed by a lingering spiciness. Great depth of flavor, sweet, and very smooth. Rabbit Hole Heigold can be found for under $65. Would I buy it again? Yes. 4.25 on the Distiller scale. Fingers crossed that RH won’t start raising prices too much once they have age-statement releases available. 95 proof. NAS. Non-chill filtered. Mashbill: 70% Corn, 25% Malted Rye, 5% Malted Barley Rabbit Hole Cavehill Virtually identical orange amber as the Heigold (Pantone 152). Nose shows caramel apples, Honey Nut Cheerios, balsam, and some ethanol. There’s a whiff of dust that I typically associate with Wild Turkey. Similar light viscosity as the Heigold. I get some peanut on the palate. Some oaky woodiness on the back end, along with cinnamon red hots, vanilla, and again, chocolate covered cherries. The heat comes across a bit more than what one would think given the 95 proof. Rabbit Hole Cavehill is very good, and smoother than the high-rye Heigold, but lack’s the Heigold’s complexity. It’s very good, and can be found for $55-60. Would I buy it again? Yes. 4.0 on the Distiller scale. 95 proof. NAS. Non-chill filtered. Mashbill: 70% corn, 10% malted wheat, 10% honey malted barley, 10% malted barley. Rabbit Hole Dareringer Dark amber with a faint rust tint (Pantone 159). Chocolaty notes of fudge, cocoa powder, Cocoa Puffs cereal, raisins, honey, spearmint. Almost like a mudslide slushy cocktail. Palate has both breadth and depth, and more intensity than the nose. The ethanol, shrouded on the nose, makes an appearance on the finish. Angel’s Envy was the first (or one of the first) bourbons to follow the common Scotch whisky practice of finishing maturation in sherry casks. But Dareringer does it far better (side note: I need to do a sherry-finished bourbon Showdown). Rabbit Hole Dareringer can be found for around $80. Would I buy it again? Yes. It’s very, very good. 4.5 on the Distiller scale, consistent with my last review. 93 Proof. NAS. Non-chill filtered. Mashbill: 65% corn, 25% wheat, 10% malted barley. Rabbit Hole Starlino A shade lighter amber than the Heigold and Cavehill (Pantone 138). Unmistakably rye. Sweet red grapes, rosemary, sage, rye, baking chocolate, mown grass, and some cooling menthol. The chocolate and herbal notes predominate on the palate; some nice rye spice kicks in on the back and. The higher alcohol is kept in check (despite this being the highest proof of the four), and a sweet medium-length finish follows. Rabbit Hole Starlino is finished in Hotel Starlino Rosso vermouth. I received this bottle as a gift at the aforementioned Rabbit Hole tasting that I attended a couple years back. Only 2112 375ml bottles were produced, and it was available only at the distillery. It does not seem to be available online, and I have no idea what it was priced at. Would I buy it again? Yes, assuming the price was right. It’s very good. 4.0 on the Distiller scale. 105.6 proof. NAS. Bottle #446 of 2112. These four Rabbit Hole bottlings (there are others) are different whiskies. The Heigold is “high rye”; the Cavehill has a four-grain bourbon mashbill; the Dareringer is a sherry-finished bourbon; and the Starlino is a Kentucky rye finished in vermouth casks. I prefer the Heigold to the Cavehill; it is sweeter and more complex. The Dareinger is a different animal, and arguably more complex than the Heigold, with a great depth of flavor. The Starlino, being a rye, is a different animal. Not that these Showdowns are contests: rather, they are exercises meant to show the different aromas and flavors that one can detect when compared against other whiskies or spirits, and hopefully provide a clearer picture of the relative aspects of each, in a way that may offer more focus than in a single-whisk(e)y tasting (though of course I do those as well). When Rabbit Hole was created in 2012, they sourced whiskey from New Riff distillery. However, they’ve been producing their own product since 2018 (I think the Starlino was the first release that was entirely from the distillery). The company touts their offerings as “super premium” on its website, and who am I to disagree? They are very good, and my sense is that Rabbit Hole bourbons and ryes are only going to improve as their stocks continue to age. N.B. All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

The nose is sweet of wine and charred oak, balanced by a wonderful mix of vanilla and brown sugar in a very straight forward experience. Not complicated, not pretentious, this is bourbon finished in PX casks and you can tell immediately that it was done right. The palate is a great mix of the PX and charred oak that subtly reaches the corners of the mouth. It is very smooth and non descript, as the most perfectly balanced of flavors are always there. They are always there because this is effortless to sip on, requires no thought, it is just good. Not overpoweringly good, but is a masterful blend of bourbon and sherry which highlights the best of both worlds. Sweetness and oak. The finish is medium and isn't exactly memorable, but with every glance at the glass you see the treat that is before you. For this to be good, it doesn't need to be intense. It just needs to be. It is wonderful to sip on in every ounce of it being unpretentious.

On the nose I get some earthiness which is probably part of the sherry cask and part the fact this is wheated bourbon. You also get some dark and dried fruits, like cherries, figs or cranberries. On the first sip I am hit with a little spice, some slight earthiness and the very ripe fruit, like a raspberry or strawberry jam that is a little sweet and a little tart. After a little bit more, some vanilla notes sneak in. Finally a few sips more I am getting a raspberry ice cream as the fruits and vanilla mix. The finish is somewhat short and drying. However, after more sips, the raspberry ice cream flavor seems to linger. Overall this is a great, tasty bourbon especially if you like some big fruit notes.

The nose has an abundance of sweet notes. Brown sugar, caramel, and light vanilla dominate. Raisins, black pepper, apricot, and black cherries are also present making the nose inviting and complex. Extremely pleasant nose. Upon tasting the sugar notes are immediately apparent with black currant and light pepper. Not as complex as the nose, but the PX Sherry cask finish does show up with call me crazy a slight coffee note. The finish is fairly fleeting, a artifact of the somewhat low proof. Overall impression: Nose 4.5/5; Taste 4.0/5 Total 4.25/5 Repurchase: Yes Type: Friday Night Pour/Special Occassion

I got this bottle as a gift, and althought i have seen this brand before, i was never inclined to get one. It was aleays, one of these days. So, the first surprise was the nose, didnt get any spicies, but instead what i attributed to berries, fruity but not super sweet. This is interesting because on some PX sherry scothes i get at times a little funkiness. The palate was soft with some fruits in the middle with a little pepper. The finish was a little short, but flavourful. In summary, this is a very enjoyable whiskey to me (neat). Cheers

Promising nose of currant, cherry, brown sugar and raisin overlayed on the hay, honey and vanilla that’s a staple of Rabbit Hole. The taste could almost be mistsken for a tawny port - my wife would like this. Berry jam with creme brulee, corn bread drizzled with strawberry syrup, nuts dusted with sugar, a dessert bourbon for sure. Gentle, mildly spicy finish. On the sweet side for me but clearly a bourbon that just wants everyone to relax and get along.