Review: Angel’s Envy Bourbon Finished in Stout & Amburana Barrels

Angel’s Envy’s latest Distillery Series bottling — its third — carries a doozy of a name — and a finishing regimen. This straight bourbon leans on two finishing barrels, which seemingly couldn’t be further apart from one another: stout beer and exotic amburana wood.

The stout finishing dominates: 99% of the whiskey in this batch was finished in Goose Island and Trellis Brewing stout barrels, including both first-fill (40%) and second-fill (60%) barrels, for up to two years.

Only 1% of the whiskey touches polarizing amburana wood, and even then it was only in amburana for a month.

You’ll need to head to Angel’s Envy‘s distillery in Louisville to pick up a bottle, and if you do, here’s what to expect.

Angel’s Envy Bourbon Finished in Stout & Amburana Barrels Review

This may have just the lightest kiss of amburana in production, but its evidence is decidedly outsized in the finished product. It’s most visible on the nose: sweet and maple syrupy, punctuated heavily with candy corn and caramel corn notes. Things get a bit more traditional from there, with notes of vanilla and some rustic barrel char in attendance, though the syrupy amburana never recedes far from view.

It’s tough to suss out exactly what a year or two in stout barrels has done to this whiskey, though the palate offers a few hints, at least. A dark chocolate character builds quickly, perhaps evoking stout, and is chased by vanilla, butterscotch, and, finally, more of that maple character, which lingers well into the finish. That’s amburana, it seems, roaring back into the limelight and giving the outro a real cake frosting quality that clings to you for the long haul. The rest of the experience? Buried in the dessert aisle.

I enjoyed this well enough, but I sure would love to see how it fared without the amburana at all. 100 proof. B+ / $55 (375ml)

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