Review: Spirits of French Lick Psyche Smoked Gin (Plus Interview)

For the better part of the last decade, Spirits of French Lick in southern Indiana has been under the distilling leadership of Alan Bishop. During this span, SOFL has come to be known for innovative spirits and thinking outside of the proverbial box. However, in April 2024, Alan Bishop announced his departure for an upstart distillery in southern Indiana, Old Homestead. French Lick quickly announced their next Head Distiller, Justin Whaley. Fitting the tradition of SOFL, Whaley is also an innovative mind, but largely unknown to the spirits community. To shed some light on the new guy leading one of the most innovative distilleries in America, I spoke with Justin. Let’s meet him!

Drinkhacker: SOFL has long been associated with Alan Bishop, but before taking the reins, you worked under Alan. How would you describe your role at SOFL before fully taking over to do your own thing?

JW: I’ve been working at SOFL for over two years. I started coming in and hanging out and learning before I was hired. I’ve filled most of the roles here at one point or another. I tell everyone that I started as a still hand doing grunt-style work. I performed each job until I was comfortable doing the whole job. At that point, I moved on to the next lesson in another area. I spent the last two years trying to soak up as much knowledge and controlled failure as I could.

How did you come to be interested in distilling and end up at SOFL?

JW: I won’t say that I have a big romantic history with distilling, because I don’t. I had an uncle who ran shine, but he passed well before I was able to show my interest. Knowing that I had a history in my family always piqued an interest in me for distilling. I’ve enjoyed whiskey for as long as legally allowed to do so. Just prior to the pandemic, I began enjoying quality whiskey, so I started a small collection of bottles. I started doing reviews for fun, mainly on TikTok. Those two things coupled together led me to be interested in learning the process. I honestly fell into my place at SOFL after coming for a tour with friends and I guess I never left. I have my wife to thank because she mentioned that I had done some photography and offered for me to come hang out and possibly provide some pictures for advertising.

SOFL is known for thinking outside of the box. What is your vision for the future of SOFL?

JW: We will continue to think outside of the box. It seems like there is a new distillery popping up every week with a new story and new products. For SOFL to stay relevant and on the shelf, we have to be innovative. We’ll keep making great spirits, but also pushing the envelope. I want to be able to connect with people on a different level, whether that is through libations or what these spirits remind them of… a memory, a meal, or a vacation.

Can you shed light on any creative projects you have in mind for the future?

JW: I want to play heavily into the blending aspect of running a distillery. There is something magical about combining things to make something greater than the sum of its parts. I want to try to bring worlds together when it comes to different types of spirits.

SOFL makes a wide assortment of spirits. Tell me about your preferred spirt to drink when off the clock?

JW: Up until two years ago, I couldn’t find a single rye I liked. Most fell flat or tasted like a mixture of grass and medicine. Now, my favorite spirit that we make that is readily available is our Solomon Scott Rye. For other spirits, I have begun enjoying botanical spirits, such as gin.

Are there any philosophical differences from Alan Bishop that you plan on implementing to make your mark in French Lick?

JW: I’m a different person. I came into this industry knowing very little about distilling and even less about philosophy that goes into making truly unique spirits. There are lessons and ways of thinking that I learned from Alan. I’ll now need to take those lessons and blend them with what I know and believe to build a philosophy of my own. Distilling is a simple science that isn’t so simple. It’s very easy to come up with a mash bill that produces a good spirit. Running the stills can be fairly simple once that skill is learned and you’ve messed up a few times. After maturation, blending is probably the most difficult aspect in my mind. However, it becomes not so simple when you take into account that I want to drive forward and improve on what is there.  Regarding specific things I’d like to do differently, I would like to do barrel a batch or two of our whiskeys at a higher proof than what we traditionally do. I’ve seen a big drive from “proof chasers”. I think we need to have that up our sleeves for coming years.

[interview ends]

Now that we’ve met Justin Whaley, let’s take a look at his first creation as the Head Distiller at Spirits of French Lick.

Psyche Smoked Gin is not constructed liked a typical gin. Psyche is distilled from a whiskey mash consisting of the same grains as SOFL’s four-grain Lee W. Sinclair bourbon, but with one alteration. For this mash, the wheat and oats are malted and smoked with SOFL bourbon barrels as the fuel source. Adding to this, the bourbon barrels of choice originally matured their catawba brandy before maturing their high-rye bourbon, The Mattie Gladden. Character from the fuel source is smoked into the malted grains. The malting is done by Sugar Creek Malt Compnay. For the Psyche mash, the corn and rye are standard issue.

Botanicals utilized include juniper, star anise, licorice root, lemon peel, grapefruit peel, angelica root, valerian root, sweet cinnamon chips, cocoa nibs, caraway, coriander, grains of paradise, and cherries.

The grains are mashed exactly like whiskey. However, once the cook temperature hits the gelatinization temperature of 190 degrees, the botanicals are added to the mash. The majority of the botanicals remain in the mash throughout the entire 8-day fermentation and distillation process. The star anise is removed during the distillation to keep that particular flavor at bay. Psyche is the result of a single pass distillation with reflux. The only part of Psyche that utilizes a gin basket is the cherries. After the cuts are made, Psyche is bottled at 100 proof.

Psyche is not your typical gin construct, but how did it turn out?  Let’s find out.

The nose is immediately bright with spearmint and cedar. The beauty of gin is that a plethora of individual botanicals combine to make a greater picture than they are as single parts. For Psyche, the juniper presents as cedar and overripe banana. Given the utilized botanicals, it’s expected that black licorice will be prominent, and it is. While both lemon and grapefruit peel are included, the grapefruit zest stands out far more than the lemon. The cherries in the gin basket show up as a very slight plum note.

The palate is equally bright, but the smoked grain shows up on the palate as well. Grapefruit zest is the first note to hit. The juniper expresses itself as a piney or rosemary note. Matching the nose, the cherries are again noted as is a slight plum character. The smoke and cocoa nibs provide a lovely bitter dark chocolate note to counterbalance the brightness and crispness. The midpalate hits with a noticeable black licorice, while the mouthfeel seems to alternate between oily and dry.

Psyche’s finish is every bit as interesting as the nose and palate. Black licorice continues to make itself known. While grapefruit zest shows up in both the nose and palate, the finish is much more lemon zest. Rounding out the finish is a nice spearmint. Psyche is a unique experience and thankfully the finish is long and enjoyable.

Justin Whaley’s initial offering to the spirits world is a success. Psyche is a bold flavor that will stand up well in a cocktail, but is also worthy of sipping neat. Gin is a common staple for those who enjoy mixed drinks, but might be a foreign entity for those who exclusively drink whiskey neat. Psyche is an excellent gin option for whiskey drinkers who are might be slightly gin-curious, but don’t know where to start.

100 proof.

A- / $45 / spiritsoffrenchlick.com

The post Review: Spirits of French Lick Psyche Smoked Gin (Plus Interview) appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider’s Guide to Good Drinking.