American

Lost Lantern Shadow

$100

OVERALL
RATING

Whiskey Review: Lost Lantern Shadow

by Nino Kilgore-Marchetti
March 13, 2024

Tasting Notes:

About:

Blend of peated American single malts drawn from Colorado’s Boulder Spirits, Iowa’s Cedar Ridge, and Oregon’s McCarthy’s. Aged four years. Bottled at 126.3 proof. 500 bottles. Priced at $100.

Appearance:

It’s a nice, rich golden amber in the glass, showcasing pleasantly thick legs and solid viscosity.

Nose:

Bringing three-peated American whiskeys together shows off well on the nose, with definite notes of campfire smoke, brine, chocolate, oak, slight vanilla, and dried cherries.

Palate:

Given the higher proof, this has a smoky kick, carrying into your sensory palate smoked meat, dark cherries, rich chocolate, oak, a slight coffee nod, black pepper, and toasted almonds.

Finish:

This lights up in the finish, going smoky and sharp as it departs down my throat and lingers very long and heavy.

Comments:

This is the alpha candidate if you want to know what multiple, heavily peated whiskeys with an American take taste like blended together. Intense, smoky, and decadent, it will definitely keep you warm on a cold night.

Lost Lantern Shadow review — We review Lost Lantern Shadow, a blend of peated American single malts drawn from Colorado’s Boulder Spirits, Iowa’s Cedar Ridge, and Oregon’s McCarthy’s. (image via Lost Lantern)

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

American independent bottlers are a new and emerging category on the domestic whiskey scene. Mirroring practices of similar outfits in Scotland, this niche of producers seeks out high-quality expressions from distilleries across the United States, making them single bottlings or blended whiskeys. They also tend to believe in transparency, putting alongside their brand the name of the distillery, where the whiskey came from, and as much other relevant information as possible.

One of the leaders of this movement is Lost Lantern, who is out of Vermont. Founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, they were recently named Independent Bottler of the Year at the global Icons of Whisky Awards in London. They take very seriously where they source from and the transparency of information, regularly releasing blended and single distillery expressions with unique identities.

This past November, they offered four new expressions as part of their Lost Lantern Winter 2023 Collection. Crafted “specifically to be enjoyed during the coldest season of the year,” the one I’m reviewing today is Lost Lantern Shadow. It is a blend of peated American single malts drawn from Colorado’s Boulder Spirits, Iowa’s Cedar Ridge, and Oregon’s McCarthy’s.

This whiskey, which has a stated age of four years, has components ranging from four to seven years old. It is non-chill filtered and natural in color, having been bottled at 126.3 proof. Only 500 bottles were released, and they were priced at $100.

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