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.
I taste a lot of whiskeys–which means I see a lot of marketing kits for whiskeys.
And like a restaurant with a view, the better the surroundings, the worse the caliber of what you are served.
The marketing kit for Silverbelly Whiskey sat on my table for months.I was dreading it. Marketing kits bode ill will for reviewers. Especially large marketing kits. It was large, the size of two shoeboxes fused together. In a nest of foam padding rested a bottle of the whiskey, printed promotional materials, two plastic coasters wrapped in plastic, and a haphazard handful of golf tees tossed in like an odd, sport-attempt afterthought.
To all alcohol marketers: Why do you do this?
Kits like these are a literal waste of space, money, and resources. This will sit in a landfill until my great-great-great-great grandchildren unearth it (and I don’t even have kids). Just stop. Please stop. Send whiskey to reviewers in a padded envelope and use extra padding inside made from old draft press releases about said whiskey. I’m envisioning something like fish & chips snugly ensconced in wrapped UK tabloids. Sustainable!
So…Silverbelly Whiskey. What did I learn about it in researching it? Well…we discover 1) Silverbelly is the color of Jackson’s hat. And 2) every batch of this whiskey will represent one of Alan Jackson’s #1 hits, in chronological order, beginning with Alan Jackson’s first #1 song from 1990, “Here in the Real World.”
On the more um, whiskey side, Silverbelly is a bourbon produced in partnership with Silver Screen Bottling Co and DSP-KY-10 (Green River Distilling) and that it earned its first award—an 89-point bronze medal by the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC). Also, I learned from a Newschannel 5 report out of Nashville that the whiskey selection process “started with a trip Jackson and his team took to Owensboro, Kentucky, home to the 10th oldest registered distillery in the commonwealth: DSP-KY-10.”
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Tasting Notes: Silverbelly Whiskey
Vital stats: No mash bill available, but at least 51% corn; aged a minimum of two years in new oak; 91 proof; about $40.
Appearance: In the bottle: extremely pale gold. In the glass: barely there. It reminded me of the manilla paper they used to give us in second grade to draw on and which received the misnomer of “vanilla paper.” Also, my glass had flecks of cork after pouring. It happens, I suppose, but I fear this will not “set us up for success” as my fave Peloton instructor likes to say.
Nose: As with the color: barely there. I poured more in the glass to see if that would procure a scent. It did not. I sniffed deeper. I have not ever been close to paper pulp, but I have lived near a paper mill. This smells ever so slightly like a benign whiff of that aroma on days the wind would blow just right. Otherwise, there is truly nothing there. I find this impressive, actually. It’s like a scented version of those quiet rooms that will drive you insane if you spend too much time there.
Palate: This is..unpleasant. I have tasted moonshine of dodgy origin; that tasted better. This tastes like whiskey that someone had to hustle off the fermentation track. Whiskus interruptus. Not only does it look and smell completely unaged, it tastes that way, too. If I strain, like really, really, really strain, I can distantly locate some elements of caramel, but again, it’s more like sweetness that has just barely begun to caramelize. More like sugar cubes you’d feed a horse.
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