Bourbon

Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bourbon

$99

OVERALL
RATING

10

Whiskey Review: Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bourbon

We review Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bourbon, distilled from an ancient heirloom corn grown on a plot of California farmland 35 miles from the distillery.

Tasting Notes:

About:
It is bottled in bond bourbon, distilled from ancient heirloom corn grown on a plot of California farmland 35 miles from the distillery. It is bottled at 100 proof and priced at $99.
Appearance:
The color is quite stunning. It’s a vibrant variant of amber brown in glass with thick viscosity and moderate legs.
Nose:
This high-malt bourbon, lacking wheat or rye as the secondary grain, is a rarity on the nose, with a distinct malted vanilla note. The sweetness is very subtle, joined by notes of sugar plums, oak, a bit of toasted almond, and some caramel.
Palate:
This is slightly akin to drinking candy corn in that there’s a distinct vanilla sweetness, but it has more of a confection-type sweetness to the palate. It is joined with some oak, a bit of malted bread, some toasted almonds, a bit of smoke, and a backbone of hot cinnamon.
Finish:
The finish on this is warm, carrying a bit of smoked sweetness into the home stretch as it lingers for a moderate time.
Comments:
The combination of super rare heirloom corn, a secondary grain (and the only other one) that’s malted barley, a higher-end cooperage’s barrels, and hitting the bottled-in-bond mark make for a unique expression here. This is a bourbon to approach with careful thought and consideration, and for a four-year craft bourbon, it is one of the best at this age I’ve ever had. Well done.
Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bourbon review
We review Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bourbon, distilled from an ancient heirloom corn grown on a plot of California farmland 35 miles from the distillery. (image via Savage & Cooke)

Editor’s Note: We received a review sample of this whiskey from the brand. However, in accordance with our editorial policies, this has not influenced the outcome of our review in any way.

Savage & Cooke has emerged in recent years as one of the more interesting craft whiskey outlets in California. Its current iteration, which opened on historic Mare Island in 2018 under the ownership of Napa Valley winemaker Dave Phinney, distills, ages, finishes, and bottles a range of brown spirits, including bourbon, whiskey, and rye. Often, these have a wine cask influence, owing to Phinney’s wine industry experience.

One particular interest Savage & Cooke seems to have for at least some of their whiskeys is local grain sourcing. All grain is grown within 50 miles of the distillery via direct relationships forged with local farmers, and it is grown to precise specifications.

What’s in the bottle

A more recent subset of releases from Savage & Cooke takes the local grain model even one step further, working with more ancient heirloom varieties and meeting the bottled-in-bond criteria. The whiskey being reviewed here, Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bourbon, is a one-time release with just 31 barrels having been produced.

The Howling Mob heirloom corn from which this bourbon was distilled hails from a particular plot of land in Winters, California. It’s just 35 miles from the distillery and was chosen “for its nutrient-rich soil, maximum sun exposure, and access to water.”

“When we began distilling in 2018, we knew we only wanted to use the best ingredients in our whiskey. Now that we are at a place where they are ready for release, we can really see the value in this attention to detail,” said Phinney at the time this bourbon was released. “The heirloom corn we get from nearby Winters, California is the perfect example. It makes these bottled in bond whiskeys so special. It was a long wait, but with each new release, we see how our patience paid off. We can’t wait to get them into the hands of our fans.”

Howling Mob makes up 86% of the mash bill for this offering, with the remaining 14% being malted barley. It was aged four years in Seguin Moreau char #3 barrels before being bottled at 100 proof. It is priced at $99.

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Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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