Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by Doom’s. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review.
If there was one industry that I never thought would develop a synergistic partnership with whiskey, it was pornography. Yet, Doom’s American Whiskey is just such a partnership between Joanna Angel and Small Hands – a “power couple” specializing in alternative adult entertainment – and Oklahoma-based Scissortail Distilling.
While this isn’t the first marriage of whiskey and porn we’ve covered – that distinction goes to Whiskey X – it does seem like a unique partnership that has had very little coverage from whiskey-focused publications since its release in October, 2017.
Adult entertainment-focused outlets, on the other hand, gave Doom’s plenty of press, such as an XBIZ article in which Angel described how she met Hands and took on his enthusiasm for boutique liquor. This particular whiskey has been a “secret passion project for years” prior to its 2017 release.
Angel typically gets more attention in these articles for her relative prominence in the industry – she founded alternative, tattoo-heavy, punk-focused Burning Angel (NSFW) in 2002 and is credited on her Wikipedia page as being an important shaper of alt porn, whereas Hands told Vice he is a graphic designer by trade and only reluctantly started in porn at Angel’s insistence during a website malfunction.
An AVN article gets into more specifics of the whiskey itself, reporting how Hands and Angel sampled whiskey throughout development as they sought to create a luxury product. It goes on to quote Angel, asserting “we have our own distillery, in Oklahoma. We own a little part of it. This is ours.” This is presumably referring to Scissortail.
As for specifics, the most concrete details come from a Barrels & Mash post that included an info sheet, which seems to indicate Doom’s starts with a mash bill of 80% rye and 20% corn, is aged for 26 months in American White Oak, and is then blended with half-and-half with another rye. Based on other articles, the added rye is un-aged and the product is non-chill filtered.
The final, 100-proof product is sold for a recommended price of about $47 per bottle, though that was when Doom’s first hit the market in late 2017.
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Tasting notes: Doom’s American Whiskey
Vital stats: Doom’s is an American whiskey that’s heavy on rye, reportedly starting with a mash bill 80/20 rye-to-corn ratio, which is aged for 26 months and blended 50/50 with another rye. It’s non-chill filtered, 100-proof, and a bottle costs roughly $47.
Appearance: Packaged in a tall, slender, austere bottle with thematically ominous grim-reaper imagery, Doom’s has a standard amber hue that I would place as right about average with only the faintest tint of red to it.
Nose: The first waft into the nasal passages brings a pleasantly delicate mix of bright, slightly acidic vanilla that’s balanced by earthier notes of rye and lilac. After a moment, the rye aroma smoothly edges ahead of the other scents to form a sweeter, richer bouquet with butterscotch at its core as well as notes of nutmeg, banana, and a touch of coffee.
Palate: On entry, a sip of Doom’s has a creamy caramel character to it – creamy and sweet but not as earthy and rich like the end of the nose – with a hint of baked pear and allspice in the background. That core caramel flavor doesn’t change much as it sits on the tongue, but the spicy rye notes assert themselves as they grow into moderate burn with a character of nutmeg. Swallowing briefly abates on the strong but tolerable burn on the tongue before that sends a gradual wave of that spice throughout the mouth before fading out into a finish of decadent caramel and smoky rye.
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