Review: Burnt Church Bluffton Whiskey

The road of the American craft whiskey movement was paved by craft beer. The spirit of craft beer and whiskey are similar, but in their respective infancies, they were not exactly equal. Craft beer was a response to a rather bland and homogenous beer industry. Craft beer needed to exist because “big beer” was uninspiring. Craft whiskey was born of the desire to drink local and innovate, but “big whiskey” was far from bland or uninspiring. Mass-produced homogenous beer is only something I’ll consume if it’s the only option at a wedding reception. It was merely a few years ago craft whiskey was only something I’d purchase when trying to keep dollars in my local community, fully realizing that “big whiskey” was just much better in quality. That bottle of craft booze I took home to support local sat on my shelf for years, never to be touched again.

We’ve come a long way since those early days. In 2024, I’m fully comfortable asserting that craft whiskey is putting out a lot of fantastic tipples. I no longer purchase craft simply to support local, but I seek it out because it’s really good and interesting.

In 2022, USA Today named Burnt Church Distillery in Bluffton, SC as their Readers’ Choice Best New Craft Distillery. Burnt Church is actively distilling and has recently released some of their own aged whiskey, after previously contracting Jeptha Creed in Kentucky to distill custom runs of whiskey on their behalf. Today we look at one of their homegrown whiskeys.

Bluffton Whiskey isn’t a bourbon, but a rice whiskey. Sourcing all grains from South Carolina, Bluffton is comprised of 80% Carolina Gold rice, 10% wheat, and 10% malted barley. As if a rice whiskey isn’t already interesting enough, Burnt Church utilizes 25 gallon barrels with a No. 3 char for at least 3.5 years of aging.

Interesting is fun, but is it good? Let’s wade into the paddy.

Bluffton opens with the aroma of sweet vanilla ice cream followed by Lemonheads candy. I often pick up lemon zest, but Bluffton distinctly conjures up memories of a favorite childhood candy. The nose is initially sweet, but the balance comes with apricot and black cherry. Adding balance to the sweet and fruity is a delightful floral note. Bringing nose all together, the subtle scent of barrel char shows up. I really enjoyed this nosing experience.

The palate begins with a familiar vanilla expressed as a thick buttercream frosting. While not bourbon, this rice whiskey shares the standard sensations of cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel as America’s classic whiskey. However, the midpalate is where Bluffton starts to shine. The influence of the 25 gallon barrels is made known through a slight but pleasing amount of astringency that hits the palate as iced tea. In continuity with the nose, sweet lemon is also present. The combination of iced tea and lemon candy brings me back to a jug of Arnold Palmer’s Half & Half.  The mouthfeel is thick, but not particularly oily. Bluffton has a lot going on with the palate and it’s all pleasing.

All good things must come to an end, but I didn’t really want this sipping experience to end. The cinnamon and lemon notes from the palate carry to the finish. However, the lemon candy here feels much more like bright lemon zest. There’s a slight cooling sensation that is best described as eucalyptus. Wrapping things up, a new player enters the arena in the form of black pepper. The finish is intriguing as it keeps going and going with relatively no burn.

Burnt Church put together a fantastic whiskey in Bluffton. It’s honestly hard to find anything not to like about this one. The 95 proof certainly works, but I’d love to see a higher proof offering just out of curiosity. This is one of those whiskeys that you probably need to try blind in order to fully give it its due. It would be extremely easy to develop preconceived notions and bias against a whiskey with knowledge that it’s aged in small barrels and is under 4 years old, a recipe that often leads to an overly tannic and grainy mess. Bluffton is far from being overly tannic and is extremely balanced. I’ve been able to sample three whiskeys from Burnt Church and it’s clear that as a distillery, they understand how to artfully manage small barrels. I highly recommend seeking out Bluffton for the sake of simply tasting good whiskey. It’s simply extra interesting if you’re looking for something unique due to the rice mashbill and small barrel aging.

95 proof.

A / $71 / burntchurchdistillery.com

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