From the company that brought you venison-flavored whiskey and trout-flavored brandy comes Spruce & Goose, the latest oddball flavored whiskey (base whiskey unknown, but made at Tamworth in New Hampshire) from the House of Tamworth, which “captures the essence of a true Dickens Christmas with an intriguing blend of white spruce tips (sourced locally), savory roasted goose from a nearby family-run farm, and lush plums.”
The gist here is pretty straightforward: an old timey English Christmas in whiskey form.
As with all things Tamworth, this is a weird little experience, but one which, in the end, works better than you’d expect. The spruce element dominates right away, giving the nose a brisk, piney quality that rides on top of a sweeter character driven by vanilla, peanut butter, and milk chocolate. There’s a Christmassy spice quality here that goes beyond the evergreen character, including a few notes of ginger and cloves.
On the palate there’s quite a bit of fruit here — all those lush plums, perhaps — with ample vanilla and milk chocolate and a strong edge of cinnamon. This is overlaid throughout with those piney spruce notes, something like a whiskey cocktail that’s been laced with a juniper-forward gin. The whiskey is surprisingly buttery, which helps develop the dark chocolate notes that perk up on the finish. This cocoa nib character surprises — but helps the whiskey come off like the dessert on your holiday table. (Alas, at no time does the whiskey evoke anything that I’d say tastes like goose, aside from a salty and vaguely savory quality somewhere in the middle.)
Better than a lot of Tamworth’s mad scientist experiments. Sorry we didn’t get the review up in time for Christmas, but there’s always next year. Pick one up and hang on to it.
100 proof.
B+ / $65 (200ml) / tamworthdistilling.com
The post Review: Spruce & Goose Flavored Whiskey appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider's Guide to Good Drinking.
