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.
Maybe it’s the barrel aging, which emphasizes time itself. Maybe it’s sentimentality about a distillation process that hasn’t fundamentally changed since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Whatever the reason, whiskey brands tend to lean hard into nostalgia when releasing their labels – distinct from other industries that, for example, like to highlight what’s cutting edge and new.
Joseph Washington Dant was by all accounts a pioneer in the Kentucky bourbon scene. In the 1800s, he founded what became Dant Distillery Company, and he and his children operated it until after Prohibition. That was the end of the story until Heaven Hill Brands bought the rights to the J.W. Dant brand name in 1993. It eventually released a new budget label: J.W. Dant Bottled in Bond.
The problem was that an actual Dant descendant, Wally Dant, decided in 2020 that he wanted back into the family business, too. His Log Still Distillery liked to boast that it was “reviving the Dant legacy one barrel at a time.” That led to a legal dispute, which ended earlier this year with an agreement that guaranteed that Heaven Hill would have exclusive rights to the J.W. Dant spirits but that both could keep doing what they were doing.
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Log Still created the Fifth District Series to honor the historic distilleries of Kentucky’s fifth tax district, and the Series II offering is the second release. It’s an eight-year-old high rye bourbon finished in toasted barrels.
Tasting Notes: Monks Road Fifth District Series II Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Vital stats: Mash bill of at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak barrels; available in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina; MSRP of $99.99 for a 750 ml bottle.
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Appearance: Dark copper, like a dirty penny.
Nose: Buttered brown sugar, before it’s caramelized. Banana, sugar, and cinnamon.
Palate: I was surprised to find a buttery mouthfeel. I taste chocolate, a cinnamon roll, and cherry cordial on the finish. There’s a nutty flavor in there, maybe walnut.
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