These two finished 10-year-old bourbons recently caught my attention for very different reasons.
The Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 10-Year-Old, finished in port casks at a hefty 61.3% ABV, and the Trail’s End 10-Year-Old, finished in toasted Oregon Garry Oak at 52.5% ABV. These aren’t an apples-to-apples comparison by any means, but placing them side by side revealed something I wasn’t expecting: my scores flipped from where I thought they’d land.
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The Angel’s Envy impressed me from the moment I first cracked it open. The nose is unmistakably sweet, with a strawberry and berry fruit character that clearly comes from the port cask influence. On the palate, it’s super viscous and syrupy, but what keeps it interesting is the charred oak backbone from its original barreling cutting through all that sweetness.
The finish balances port-driven fruit with barrel char without becoming overly drying. Most impressive of all, this bottle doesn’t drink anywhere near its 61.3% proof.
For a cask strength bourbon, the heat is remarkably tamed. It has all the things most people love about bourbon with a slightly enhanced sweetness layered on top. At around CA$200 on sale (down from $275), it’s a significant investment for a 10-year-old, and that price is really the only thing holding it back.
The Trail’s End, on the other hand, took some time to win me over. When I first opened it, I wasn’t blown away. But after letting the bottle breathe over several sessions, it opened up considerably.
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The profile is decidedly wood-forward, with prominent tea-like notes and plenty of oak from its double wood treatment. I’ll be honest: I didn’t get the softness I typically associate with toasted oak finishes, like what you find in certain Jack Daniel’s Heritage or Maker’s Mark toasted oak releases. It’s more tannic and structured than I anticipated.
That said, it’s not a flaw so much as a different direction, and I think the distillery achieved exactly what they set out to do. At roughly $90 Canadian, and even less with available discount codes, it’s an easy buy-again bottle.
Here’s where it gets interesting. I walked into this tasting expecting to give the Angel’s Envy an 88 and the Trail’s End somewhere around an 82 or 83. After tasting them together, the Angel’s Envy settled at an 87, and the Trail’s End climbed to an 86. The gap between these two is far narrower than the price difference suggests.
The Angel’s Envy is not delivering double the quality for double the cost. Both are genuinely worth buying, but the Trail’s End is the easier recommendation simply because of its accessibility and value. If you can only grab one, your wallet will thank you for choosing the Trail’s End. But if you spot the Angel’s Envy on sale, don’t hesitate.
So here’s the question: when it comes to finished bourbons, do you prefer wine cask influence or additional oak character, and how much does price factor into your final verdict?
To see my full tasting, watch my YouTube video.
