Review #251: Cedar Ridge Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch 11

MASH BILL: 74% corn, 14% malted rye, 12% 2-row malted barley

AGE: blend of 3-4 year barrels

PROOF: 116

COST: $48 for 750mL bottle (Blackwell’s online)

Iowa claims the thrown as the #1 corn producing state in the USA. It has held that spot consecutively for over three decades and 47 of the last 48 years. But even with all that corn, Iowa did not have a licensed distillery producing bourbon since Prohibition for a long time. Then in 2005, Cedar Ridge opened. With their big mid-west pride, the Quint family asked the question, “Why are we growing so much corn to ship to Kentucky to produce bourbon to send back to us? Why don’t we just make our own bourbon?” and that’s exactly what they set out to do. To bring it full circle, in 2020 Cedar Ridge became the number one selling bourbon brand in the state of Iowa to go along with being the #1 producer of corn in the country. This made Iowa the first state in the USA to have a non-Kentucky bourbon producer as its number one bourbon brand sold in the state. That wasn’t just a 2020 COVID fluke or anything like that either. Cedar Ridge has maintained their status as the #1 bourbon brand in Iowa for the past 5 years, and they are only strengthening that grasp.

Today, I’m checking out their barrel proof bourbon, specifically, batch 11. While their barrel proof bourbon is a small batch release, Cedar Ridge trickles out batches 2 or 3 times a year with the intent of keeping it available and not just a limited, hard to find, release. While batch to batch these releases have received various degrees of praise, they have a 3-4 year age statement with them. This is partly driven by the intense maturation conditions resulting in more barrel interaction than “normal.” But I feel like there are some flavors and notes that simply require time to resolve. This has been a bourbon I’ve wanted to try for a while, so I’m excited to finally get into it!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Light red cedar color (1.4), extremely viscous looking very slow, thin teardrop legs.

NOSE: Sweet with earthy spice. Roasted sweet corn, loads of cinnamon and ripe red apple lead off. Burnt sugar along with some charred oak give this a smoky sweetness. There are some signs of the youth of this whiskey with grain forward notes such as rye bread and cereal highlighting the malted rye and barley. Orange extract provides a nice citrus note along with a tingle of proof.

PALATE: This has a thin simple syrup mouthfeel. Spicy cinnamon and burnt sugar from the nose are immediately apparent on the palate. White pepper and a piquant pepper spice ignite the palate. Bold vanilla bean, barrel char, and some bitter tannins show signs of the intense 100°F annual swings these barrels see really pulling out barrel character in a short time. There’s a consistent note of maple candy that goes hand in hand with the tannins helping balance them out.

FINISH: Short to medium length finish. A slight astringency tingles the palate after the swallow and comes with a light hug with notes of brown sugar, barrel char, and a touch of caramel apple sprinkled with cinnamon powder.

RATING: 6.3/10

OVERALL: I’m pleased with this with only a 3-year age statement. I feel like more times than not, 3-year-old whiskey is proofed down to knock off the volatile notes that haven’t fully transformed through esterification and oxidation as well as young grain notes. This bourbon isn’t completely free of those, but they don’t come across as flaws as much as they do character of the 3-year-old bourbon that it is. While I got some definite grain notes on the nose, I was surprised that they didn’t follow through to the palate. And the astringency didn’t have off flavors as much as it did just have a bright, clean proofiness to it.

It seems the brutal aging environment these barrels are aged in allowed a lot of barrel character to show through while tamping down those youthful grain notes on the palate and finish. I read somewhere that these Cedar Ridge barrels give off about 18% of their volume to the angel’s share in just 3-4 years. That’s around 5% evaporation a year, significantly higher than the 2-4% that most Kentucky distilleries claim. I think of the angel’s share as a direct correlate to how much the liquid inside is interacting with the barrel, and in this case, that’s true based on the amount of barrel character this whiskey has with tannic oak, charred notes, and wood sugars. It has a good balance of spice, earth, and sweetness, but perhaps leans a little more into the spicy and earthy notes than the sweet. I really look forward to trying this with another year or two of aging.

Behind the Bottle

Cedar Ridge uses a consistent mash bill for their bourbon consisting of 74% Iowa yellow dent corn, 14% malted rye, and 12% malted barley. Early bourbon batches used corn entirely produced on the Quint family farm, but Cedar Ridge has outgrown what their family farm is capable of producing. However, they are still dedicated to using only Iowa grown corn today. An interesting choice though is using malted rye instead of unmalted rye as is traditionally used in bourbon. The malted rye provides softer, earthier notes such as rye bread and toasted notes versus the spicy, peppery notes that unmalted rye provides.

After the mash is made, the solids are separated from the starchy, sugary liquid in a process called lautering. The liquid is then fermented while the spent grains are used for livestock feed. Once the fermentation is complete, the beer is then distilled using a system more similar to Scotch or Irish whiskey production using a double distillation method with a stripping still and a finishing still. This distillation process helps provide the syrupy mouthfeel. It also provides a relatively clean profile even for a 3-year-old whiskey due to the high amount of copper contact in the process stripping away harsh compounds.

After distillation, Cedar Ridge puts their distillate in barrels with a #3 char. These barrels age in non-climate-controlled warehouses where they see over 100°F temperature swings over the course of a year. This wild fluctuation in temperature forces the whiskey deep into the wood extracting a lot of flavor but also filtering the whiskey of congeners that give off undesirable flavors. But this high rate of interaction comes at a cost…to the tune of 18% of liquid loss to the angel’s share in that 3-4 year period. This high rate of barrel interaction also results in a need to be sensitive to over-maturation as the whiskey can be prone to becoming overly tannic sooner than if it were to age in a more moderate climate.

 

1 | Disgusting | see my 1/10 ratings

2 | Poor | see my 2/10 ratings

3 | Bad | see my 3/10 ratings

4 | Sub-par | see my 4/10 ratings

5 | Good | see my 5/10 ratings

6 | Very Good | see my 6/10 ratings

7 | Great | see my 7/10 ratings

8 | Excellent | see my 8/10 ratings

9 | Incredible | see my 9/10 ratings

10 | Perfect | see my 10/10 ratings

 

Check out all my reviews: Woodgrain & Whiskey.