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Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon

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Bourbon Review: Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon

We review the Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon, a bourbon produced by a New York distillery making use of a special barrel aging technique.
  • Tony Mazelin is a bourbon and rye enthusiast exploring the world of American whiskeys.
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Tasting Notes:

About:
Appearance:
Nose:
Palate:
Finish:
oak, caramel, rye, vanilla, a bit on the short side.
Comments:

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.

Hillrock BourbonEditor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a free sample to review by the party behind it. The Whiskey Wash, while appreciative of this, did keep full independent editorial control over this article.

The solera aging system is quite simple. While mainly used in cognac, ports and sherries, the process involves filling a series of casks at different intervals over a long period of time.  As the whiskey from the oldest cast is bottled, the cask is re-filled with the equivalent amount from the next oldest cask.  This is repeated until the youngest cask is filled with new whiskey.  No cask is ever emptied, and the youngest whiskey ages and cascades through the solera while it continues to age and grow in complexity in time.

Hillrock Estate Distillery, making use of the solera technique in its bourbon, is one of a few field to glass whiskey producers in the world.  They also claim the throne of being one of the first American distilleries since before Prohibition to floor malt their estate grown grain.  Located in upstate New York in the Hudson Valley.  Hillrock is led by former Maker’s Mark head distiller Dave Pickerell, who is the mastermind behind the idea of using solera aging for whiskey.

Here are my tasting notes for the Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon, which I found to be light to medium amber in my glass.

Nose: caramel, spice, rye, slight oak.

Palette: nice mouth feel. almost a velvet softness, cinnamon, caramel, rye, slight heat- from the rye, smoothness.

Finish: oak, caramel, rye, vanilla, a bit on the short side.

I give this solera aged bourbon an overall score of 87.

[graphiq id=”k17U1Ugc1WR” title=”Hillrock Estate Distillery Solera Aged Overview ” width=”700″ height=”514″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/k17U1Ugc1WR” link=”https://whiskey.underthelabel.com/l/671/Hillrock-Estate-Distillery-Solera-Aged” link_text=”Hillrock Estate Distillery Solera Aged Overview | UnderTheLabel”]

Tony Mazelin

Tony Mazelin is an enthusiastic bourbon and rye drinker with a passion for exploring new flavors and expanding his knowledge of these whiskeys. Though not a self-proclaimed expert, Mazelin has immersed himself in the world of bourbon and rye through extensive reading and dedicated tasting. His journey is driven by a genuine curiosity and a willingness to invest time and resources to discover his personal preferences within the vast and exciting world of American whiskeys.

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