Review: Hoot + Howl Armagnac Cask Bourbon

Hoot + Howl (or Hoot and Howl, if you like) is a Colorado distillery that just launched in 2025, one of its first products being a bourbon finished in an Armagnac barrel. The sourced product starts with a seven year old bourbon from MGP that spends a full extra year in the brandy barrel before bottling.

We received a small sample. Thoughts follow.

Hoot + Howl Armagnac Cask Bourbon Review

The Armagnac cask has done a real number on this whiskey, the nose brooding with cloves and anise, the spice character coming to a boil with more time in glass. Peppery and mushroomy, the whiskey’s savory side beats down more layered notes of caramel and brown sugar, ultimately evoking incense and dusty, antique rug shop aromas.

The palate is equally pastoral and savory, those dusty textile notes becoming leathery with time in glass, eventually becoming a bit nutty, heavy on the walnuts — shells and all. It’s slightly pruny on the midpalate — and that’s about all the fruit you’re going to get here. Cloves make a strong reprise on the finish, with flavors of very dark chocolate and licorice lingering. All told, though I gravitate to sweeter styles of bourbon, I really enjoyed the more cerebral presentation of the spirit, which effectively evoked some fond memories of time sipping Armagnac in France.

100 proof.

B+ / $79

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