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Breckenridge Buddy Pass: Imperial Stout Cask Finish Whiskey

$55.00

OVERALL
RATING

7

Whiskey Review: Breckenridge Buddy Pass: Imperial Stout Cask Finish Whiskey

Tasting Notes:

About:
Mash bill undisclosed; Breckenridge Bourbon finished an extra 13 months in Breckenridge Imperial Oatmeal Stout barrels; 114.7 proof/57.35% alcohol by volume; Batch no. 2 reviewed here; around $55 for a 750 ml bottle.
Appearance:
The color of a penny. Leaves a watery line on the side of the glass.
Nose:
Root beer, cream soda, honeysuckle, and milk chocolate. A little sweet and a little spicy.
Palate:
Has a definite bourbon sweetness, edging toward brown sugar. There’s a thick, velvety mouthfeel, too. But there’s something tart underneath the bourbon sensibilities; unripe watermelon comes to mind. The finish is a little abrupt and metallic for my taste. is sensitive enough to taste the family resemblance in either one. I enjoyed them both – I just can’t say I could taste the barrel influences crossing back and forth. As for the whiskey on its own merits, it’s solid. For $55, in fact, I think it’s tending toward good. There are other whiskeys in the same price range and with the same quality profile, but probably not a lot of other whiskeys that give you a chance to buy a beer and a whiskey as a match set. If you find yourself in Breckenridge, for the novelty value alone, I’d say that pairing would make it worth the price. (One caveat: The cork on my bottle broke off inside the bottle. That forced me to use a corkscrew, and then pour the whiskey into a decanter. I have no idea whether to chalk it up to just bad luck, or a problem with Breckenridge’s corks.) Sending User Review 0 (0 votes) Buy A Bottle Share: XFacebookLinkedInEmail Drinks Aizome Island – Tropical Style Minor Cobbler Strawberry Rhubarb Julep Crimson & Clover Club Wynken, Blynken, & Nog Related Articles Whiskey Review: Highline Triple Rye Whiskey Editor’s Note: This whiskey was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whiskey Review: Highline Triple Rye Whiskey American / Reviews Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke American Whiskey Editor’s Note: This whiskey was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke American Whiskey American / Reviews Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Octomore 14.3 Editor’s Note: This whisky was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Octomore 14.3 Reviews / Scotch Whisky Review: Glenglassaugh 12 Years Old Editor’s Note: This whisky was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whisky Review: Glenglassaugh 12 Years Old Reviews / Scotch Whiskey Review: Highline American Whiskey Editor’s Note: This whiskey was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whiskey Review: Highline American Whiskey American / Reviews Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke Rye Whiskey Editor’s Note: This whiskey was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke Rye Whiskey American / Reviews Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Octomore 14.2 Editor’s Note: This whisky was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Octomore 14.2 Reviews / Scotch Whisky Review: Glenglassaugh Sandend Editor’s Note: This whisky was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whisky Review: Glenglassaugh Sandend Reviews / Scotch Whiskey Review: Highline Straight Kentucky Whiskey Editor’s Note: This whiskey was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whiskey Review: Highline Straight Kentucky Whiskey American / Reviews Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke Bourbon Editor’s Note: This whiskey was… READ ARTICLE ? about Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke Bourbon Bourbon / Reviews Scott Bernard Nelson Scott Bernard Nelson is a writer, actor and whiskey reviewer in Portland, Ore. Scott works in higher education these days, but he previously spent 22 years as a journalist, covering 9/11 in Manhattan, crossing into Iraq with U.S. Marines and contributing to The Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of sexual… More by Scott Bernard Nelson Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Connect with on on LinkedIn About Advertise Subscribe Editorial Standards Privacy Policy Terms of Use
Finish:
Comments:
I tried the stout and the whiskey side by side, and I don’t think my palate is sensitive enough to taste the family resemblance in either one. I enjoyed them both – I just can’t say I could taste the barrel influences crossing back and forth. As for the whiskey on its own merits, it’s solid. For $55, in fact, I think it’s tending toward good. There are other whiskeys in the same price range and with the same quality profile, but probably not a lot of other whiskeys that give you a chance to buy a beer and a whiskey as a match set.rnrnIf you find yourself in Breckenridge, for the novelty value alone, I’d say that pairing would make it worth the price. (One caveat: The cork on my bottle broke off inside the bottle. That forced me to use a corkscrew, and then pour the whiskey into a decanter. I have no idea whether to chalk it up to just bad luck, or a problem with Breckenridge’s corks.)

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.

Despite similar-sounding names, Breckenridge Distillery and Breckenridge Brewery are two distinct enterprises. Based only a couple of miles apart in the ski-resort town of Breckenridge, Colo., the pairing seems like an obvious opportunity for collaboration.

And so we get Buddy Pass: A barrel-exchange program between the brewery and the distillery that gives us complementary beer (an imperial oatmeal stout) and whiskey (an imperial stout cask-finish bourbon). Breckenridge Distillery’s flagship bourbon ages from 3-8 years normally, then the freshly dumped oak barrels are trucked down the road to the brewery, where beer is aged in them 3-4 months. The barrels are then trucked back up the road, where the whiskey goes into them for another 13 months.

The idea, of course, is that the stout will have traces of whiskey flavor and the whiskey will have traces of stout flavor.

For the uninitiated, “imperial stout” is stout beer with a double dose of grain and hops – and an abnormally high alcohol content. The Buddy Pass Imperial Oatmeal Stout weighs in at an impressive 11% alcohol by volume. A friend who writes about beer for The Oregonian and Oregonlive.com dropped by my house to help me decide if it’s as good as it is strong.

We decided the stout is “big and chunky,” which I definitely like. I don’t drink a lot of beer, but when I do I want it to have a forceful personality. Buddy Pass easily clears that bar. The downside of the powerhouse flavor is that it was hard to detect any whiskey/barrel influence.

My beer-writer friend’s assessment: “That’s a decent imperial stout. Not off-the-charts spectacular, but solid and good.” He couldn’t discern the whiskey influence, either.

The more interesting question for readers of this website, of course, is whether the whiskey picked up any elements from the beer.

Breckenridge Buddy Pass: Imperial Stout Cask Finish Whiskey review
We review Breckenridge Buddy Pass: Imperial Stout Cask Finish Whiskey, finished an extra 13 months in Breckenridge Imperial Oatmeal Stout barrels. (image via Scott Bernad-Nelson/The Whiskey Wash)

Tasting Notes: Breckenridge Buddy Pass: Imperial Stout Cask Finish Whiskey

Vital stats: Mash bill undisclosed; Breckenridge Bourbon finished an extra 13 months in Breckenridge Imperial Oatmeal Stout barrels; 114.7 proof/57.35% alcohol by volume; Batch no. 2 reviewed here; around $55 for a 750 ml bottle.

Appearance: The color of a penny. Leaves a watery line on the side of the glass.

Nose: Root beer, cream soda, honeysuckle, and milk chocolate. A little sweet and a little spicy.

Palate: Has a definite bourbon sweetness, edging toward brown sugar. There’s a thick, velvety mouthfeel, too. But there’s something tart underneath the bourbon sensibilities; unripe watermelon comes to mind. The finish is a little abrupt and metallic for my taste.

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