Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by Laws Whiskey House. 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 towards the bottom of this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.
Laws Whiskey House started in Colorado because of the hot days, cool nights, and thin mountain air. It was the first Colorado distillery to bottle bonded whiskey. There’s no “master distiller” because they say it takes a village to make whiskey, not just one person. Laws Village didn’t sell any whiskey for the first three years until they aged what they produced themselves.
Two family-owned farms supply the grains for Laws Whiskey House. One farm is owned by the Codys in the San Luis Valley, and the other farm is owned by the Ohnmachts in the eastern plains of Colorado. All of the grains are considered, low-yield, heritage, or heirloom grains. Laws Whiskey House believes that the climate in Colorado stresses the grains enough that it deepens the flavor.
The grains for Laws Whiskey House are used in a sour mash fermentation. They says that each mash bill gets its own optimal distillation process. Laws Whiskey House is not about shortcuts. The process to make their whiskey is time-intensive (and waiting until you have produced your own whiskey to sell anything is definitely not cheap or fast).
For this whiskey review we are diving into the second batch of the Henry Road Straight Malt Whiskey. According to the brand, “the mash bill for this second release of our Henry Road Straight Malt Whiskey is comprised of 100% malted barley. This includes a combination of malted heirloom two-row barley, a Munich malt punched up with some toasted Abbey and honey specialty malts all of which originate from the Cody family farm.”
The Cody family farm grows the heirloom two-row barley varietal that Laws Whiskey House uses as their base malts and claims it was “literally saved from extinction.” It had been too low-yield for commercial farmers but Cody didn’t want to let it go. Now the crop, grown on Henry Road, is just for Laws Whiskey House. Sounds like a win-win.
Tasting Notes: Laws Whiskey House Henry Road Straight Malt Whiskey
Vital stats: Batch #2. 100% heirloom malted barley grown on Henry Road. Over five years in new 53-gallon charred oak barrels. 100 proof. Denver, Colorado.
Appearance: Burnished copper in color. I enjoy the square bottle shape and clean label design as well.
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Nose: The nose was quite interesting on this whiskey. It was sweet and fruity with a natural twist. I found sawdust, resin, alfalfa, green apple, raisin, prunes, and rich umami.
Palate: The palate was a bit different then the nose but equally interesting. I detected notes of fir, tannins, figs, raisin, and resin. There’s also a saccharine finish.
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