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Remus Bourbon Master Distiller Experimental No. 2 Review

What happens when you split a rare 95% wheat whiskey into four different wine casks and blend them back together? Remus's bold experiment delivers the answer.

OVERALL RATING

8
$69.99
  • Charles Steele is an attorney and whiskey enthusiast with a penchant for the peculiar.
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Tasting Notes

About:

Remus Bourbon is releasing their second in the experimental lineage. I had the privilege of speaking with Master Distiller Ian Stirsman via video call. It was a distinct privilege to learn, from the man himself, what this whiskey means to Remus and why they felt compelled to create it. Remus is no stranger to specialty releases, many of are allocated. This was, however, is something a little different. This release hits a little closer to the chest and shows off the unique stylings of Mr. Stirsman. In a presser he is quoted, “The Remus Master Distiller Experimental Series is our new creative playground, where our distilling heritage meets bold innovation. Our goal is to make our chapter in the long legacy of the Ross & Squibb Distillery one worth reading. I look forward to many unique releases to come.”– Ian Stirsman Master Distiller, Ross & Squibb Distillery

What’s interesting about this whiskey is, to my understanding, the base whiskey (2017 distillate) is split into four separate casks and finished before being blended together. The casks: Tawny Port, White Port, Oloroso Sherry, and Ruby Port. Each with unique stylings and flavor profile brought together to finish a 95% wheat whiskey.

What we end up with is an experiment from Remus and their parent company. It is a first foray into real finishing casks and, spoiler, should not be their last.

Finishing composition: Finished in Tawny Port, (least) White Port, Oloroso Sherry, and (Ruby Port) 75% O&R with 25% T&W (with white port being least).
Appearance:
Amber with slow thin legs
Nose:
Oloroso sherry and port cask are clean on the nose. Nice dense sugar and wine nose. There is a sweetness in the bite of alcohol on the back end.
Palate:
Dark tawny flavors with lovely depth of flavor. Dark sugars, aged oak sugars. Sherry wine appears about the mid palate and holds through to the finish. It’s a bit sharper with nice dried fruit like figs and raisins. Opens well and reveals much more of the port flavors you want in a finished whiskey. It has a great red wine quality of darker grapes combined with the sweetness of a wheat whiskey.
Finish:
Nice lingering finish with oily MF. bitter dark chocolate on the back end. opens nicely to reveal some nice dark teas.
Comments:
More from the interview:
The goal with this release was to be more creative and explore different parameters, casks, mashes, styles, maturation. Felt it was time to explore to because heritage distilleries don’t do enough exploration with their releases. Ian finds many of the bigger distillers don’t explore because they’ve ‘settled’ on what they’ve always done.

For the first few releases the whiskey will be taken from barrels they’re already aging. Usually older whiskey with MGP but are laying things down now which will be different for the future. This release for example – 2017 Wheat LKSB recipe (95% wheat whiskey) is first foray into finishing. LKSB represents a rare mashbill for this project. LKSB is light in nature and absorbs the nuance of each cask finish. Just under cask strength (~115 at cask) so just barely under proof.

Ian found himself a little surprised by the body and subtleness of fruit characters that appeared when compared to the straight whiskey that was laid down. He found White Port didn’t have the impact he expected but enjoyed the subtle nature of the casks influence. He feels it added to the total blend but wasn’t favorite on its own. Nice uniqueness but glad it wasn’t the primary cask.

For my part – really quite nice and an ABV that sets the drink apart. At the price point it is an easy win for consumers looking to have something different. bottle design and finishing are tremendous. It has a few rougher notes as the different cask finishes don’t fully align with each other and the wheat whiskey still has some tonicity from initial aging. However, a nice sipping whiskey and cool to have on the bar. Easy win.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or 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.

Charles Steele

Charles Steele, a Portland-based attorney, is a native of the Pacific Northwest. His legal background provides him with an analytical approach to understanding whiskey and other aged spirits. Primarily a legal writer, freelancing for The Whiskey Wash offers Charles a unique opportunity to showcase his versatility as a writer. Although his preference lies with whiskey and whiskey-based cocktails, he has a profound appreciation for all unique and unconventional liquors, from Malört to Ojen - if it's peculiar, he's intrigued.

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