**Grizzly Beast Bottled in Bond Bourbon**

“California bourbon” just doesn’t sound right to someone born and raised in the bluegrass state like myself, but that’s what we’ve got here. I’d heard good things about the whiskeys coming from Redwood Empire, a craft distillery named after the gloriously massive trees near where they make their whiskeys. 

Still, Redwood Empire wasn’t really on my radar at all until the wifey got me this bottle for Valentine’s Day. So it was a pleasant surprise and a good opportunity to explore what they have to offer… and maybe reconsider my purist notions that the good stuff only comes from Kentucky.

This particular bottle is from batch 4, distilled in Spring 2019 with an interesting 4 grain mashbill (68% corn, 18% rye, 9% wheat, and 5% malted barley). It’s aged five years and clocks in at 100 proof to align with its bottled in bond designation. Let’s see what we’re working with here.

**Appearance**  
Normally I just skip over this because it’s rare that I can really discern different shades of amber. In this case it feels worth mentioning: this is the lightest colored bourbon I’ve ever tasted. More like a diluted honey color than amber. 

**Nose**  
First I get some kettle corn or caramelized sweet corn… like when you’ve cut some fresh corn off the cob to fry it up in butter, and it just starts to turn golden brown. There’s also some light butterscotch, caramel, and confectioner’s sugar. Promising start.

**Palate**  
That confectioner’s sugar note carries over from the nose, but slightly transformed into cotton candy. The first several pours I had, the only things that stood out were that cotton candy and maybe some cherry jolly rancher. The mouthfeel was noticeably thin too. It just didn’t interest me, so I set the bottle aside for months. 

Fast forward to this review, and luckily time and oxygen have uncovered a tropical fruit note. It’s like pineapple but not as sweet. So maybe papaya… but not as earthy? I can’t pin it down, but it’s intriguing. I’ve only gotten something like this from two other pours: a Green River cask strength wheated single barrel with an intense pineapple and coconut on the palate, and a Bowman single barrel with a more subtle note like this (which isn’t surprising: they’re both 100 proof). 

**Finish**  
It’s gone in a flash, possibly the shortest of anything I’ve critically tasted. The very light appearance hinted at it, but there’s little to no oak influence here. The finish doesn’t really reinforce the notes on the palate either. There’s just a mild sweetness that doesn’t develop into much of anything. 

**Conclusions** 

The first few pours I had met my relatively low expectations going in. Then the tropical fruit notes that developed once the bottle opened up left a more favorable, redeeming impression. Those confectioner’s sugar and cotton candy notes were fun to explore too. I’d read other reviews mentioning them but never really “got” it until this. The finish is where things really fell apart. There’s just very little to keep the attention after the sip. 

That weak finish is the main reason why this gets a 6/10 on the t8ke(ish) scale. 

It’s a bit better than “just fine” but the whispery finish keeps it from being anything more. When I’m fortunate enough to have much more interesting pours in my cabinet, this bottle feels destined for cocktail duty. 

Value is also worth noting too. I try to think of ratings separate from pricing but can’t ignore that this bottle cost $85. Since its purchase, its price in my market (Denver metro) has dropped to $60ish, but even at that price point, there are so many more satisfying pours. 

All that said, I appreciate what Redwood Empire’s doing and won’t completely count them out. So which other bottles from Redwood Empire are worth hunting down? I’ve heard some rave reviews on Pipe Dream… might have to track down a bar pour of that somewhere! 

Review #2: Redwood Empire Grizzly Beast