Journeyman Three Oaks Single Malt Whiskey Aims To Amaze

In my personal collection of American single malt whiskies, given my obsessive love for craft whiskey in general, I have a strong cross section of what’s out there from most distilleries at the moment. One glaring hole in this collection, however, is Michigan-based Journeyman Distillery’s Three Oaks Single Malt.

Journeyman Three Oaks an extremely limited edition bottling which sold out rather quickly I understand when the first batch was released in the fall of 2013. Luckily for me, and you, there’s a new batch of it coming out from the distillery on July 4.

According to a press release provided to The Whiskey Wash by Journeyman this newest version of Three Oaks, made from 100% organic barley, was aged in three different oak barrels. Specifically,

the spirit spends its first year and a half in used Featherbone Bourbon barrels. From there it is moved into used Road’s End Rum barrels for nearly a year and then is finished for two months in used port casks imported from northern Portugal. The whiskey spends a total of 32 months in the barrels.

Can you say yum? The port casks, according to Journeyman distiller Doug Babcock, “besides adding a red tint, bring a touch of dark red fruit to the initial caramel, toffee, and smoky molasses flavors found in the spirit after its time spent in the bourbon and rum casks.”

The distillery is having its annual “Corsets, Whips & Whiskey” party on America’s birthday, at which time the less than 1,000 90 proof bottles produced will first be made available in what’s described as two waves, the second of which will hit retail about a month later in California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Washington, DC and Wisconsin. . Pricing is set for around $60 per 750 ml bottle.