Review: Weldon Mills Select Bourbon and Reserve Bourbon
Resting on the banks of the Roanoke River in Weldon, North Carolina, Weldon Mills Distillery occupies a space where industrial history meets modern craftsmanship. Established in 2018 by Bruce Tyler and Michael Hinderliter, the operation faced an immediate hurdle when it secured its distilling permit in November 2019, only to see global events stall production. In a pivot typical of the era, the distillery initially dedicated its resources to manufacturing hand sanitizer. Today, however, the spirit of the site is fully realized within a complex that spans centuries. The tasting room and event space sit atop 1830s stone foundations, housed in an 1892 brick and timber grist mill, while the heavy lifting of distillation takes place nearby in a repurposed 1950s garment plant.
The distillery maintains a commitment to its regional roots by sourcing every grain from within North Carolina. This local connection is best illustrated by the corn, which is harvested from a farm just fifteen minutes down the road. In a poetic nod to the past, that very same land supplied grain to the original mill over a hundred years ago. This agricultural heritage forms the foundation of their whiskey, which features a mashbill of corn, malted wheat, and malted barley. Eschewing mass production methods, the team employs sour mash fermentation and 300 gallon batch distillation using hybrid stills.
To bring their spirits to maturity, Weldon Mills uses combination of 15, 30, and 53 gallon barrels, all treated with a #4 char. This variety of cask sizes allows the wood to influence the spirit more rapidly, a technique reflected in Batch 3 of their Select and Reserve Straight Bourbons. Both expressions are aged for at least two years and bottled without chill filtration. With young age statements bolstered by the assistance of small barrels, do these two offerings serve as testament to the fact that age isn’t everything? Let’s find out!
Weldon Mills Select Straight Bourbon Review
The scent starts out with the smell of freshly cut pine lumber, which is a common trait in younger craft whiskeys. Tucked behind that young graininess, there are bits of lemon peel mixed with bottled peach tea and the bite of pickled ginger. It shows some potential at first, but it never really moves into the territory of a fully aged spirit. The first sip brings a quick hit of caramel donut frosting and more of that ginger, which starts off well, but does not stick around. Very quickly, a sharp and heavy black tea bitterness takes over the tongue, followed by a strong flavor of grapefruit skin.
The viscosity in the mouth is fairly heavy, feeling almost like the oily residue left behind by citrus peels. That grapefruit oil stays put for a long time, eventually cooling off into a slight taste of fried plantains and toasted barley. Throughout the entire experience, there are small signs that things could improve later on, but right now the whole thing is just too harsh and dry. It would be interesting to see how this liquid holds up after four or five years in the wood, but at only two years old, it is not something I would reach for to sip or even to use in a mixed drink. 94 proof. C+ / $55
Weldon Mills Reserve Straight Bourbon Review
The nose shows a clear step up from Select. Butterscotch jumps out of the glass right away, followed by the scent of sugar cookies left in the oven a little too long. After a moment, rhubarb stalk shows up, along with the note of wintergreen gum that has already lost most of its bite. With at least two years in the barrel, the aroma comes across as more settled and put together than its Select counterpart. Even so, that overdone cookie note still pushes a tannic edge that keeps it from feeling fully rounded.
The palate begins with a hit of toffee-like sweetness before it quickly swings toward heavy oak influence. That shift leans into burnt pecans, cinnamon-raisin bagels pushed far past the toaster’s comfort zone, and a dusty corn note that hangs around the edges. The mouthfeel lands on the dry side, leaving the tongue a bit stripped rather than coated.
The finish carries more of the same direction. Bananas Foster cooked a little too far and pie crust left in the oven a bit longer than intended show up as the last impact before it fades away.
Weldon Mills Reserve comes across as a more developed pour when placed next to Select, yet it still falls short of something I would reach for. At two years old, it shows signs that it could become something worthwhile. Right now though, it feels like a work in progress that likely needs a few more years in the barrel before it fully finds its footing. 114.5 proof. B- / $65
The post Review: Weldon Mills Select Bourbon and Reserve Bourbon appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider’s Guide to Good Drinking.