Adam Hines and his dad turened a motorcycle ride through Kentucky and Tennessee into a dream, which eventually became an award-winning and groundbreaking distillery..... in Ohio! After tons of blood, sweat and tears, High Bank Distillery Company has found its foothold and Hines is dubbed the most awarded Master Distiller in Ohio. For those of you who only believe that good whiskey is born in Kentucky, you are sorely wrong.
We tasted the High Bank Whiskey Company Whiskey War Barrel Proof expression, which is a blend of small batch handcrafted straight whiskeys. This is batch number 107 and according to the ditillery, has an age statement of at least 5 years. This was actually honored as the Best Blended Whiskey in America a few years ago at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. No pressure here, but this bottle need not rest on its laurels. We gave this the once over and admittedly...... it is deserving of all the praise.
The color of the whiskey is sunflower disk florets with streaks of gold. The nose presents some abundant mixed fruits - think Apple Jacks or Fruit Loops cereal! Joining in are aromas of cinnamon, vanilla bean, carmelized sugar and tanned leather. In the mouth is more of the same but adding drops of soy sauce and dustings of white pepper on a very memorable finish that you immediately want to go back and re-visit. There's a nice viscous coating and despite the nearly 119 proof on this batch, you only get a suble hug and not a searing burn, which can happen with higher proofs.
We hope that this is only the beginning of a beautiful friendship with High Bank Distillery Company. It is easy to see why they are awarded so many accolades. This is a beautiful bottle!
ABV: 59.43% (118.86 proof)
Distillery: High Bank Distillery Company
Suggested retail price: $60.00
Drink The Bottles score: 94/100
