Review #163 - Stranahan's Single Barrel Cask Strength
In this new wave of American single malts, there are a few distilleries that have established themselves as the leaders in quality and age, helping to push the category forward. In our opinion, this is one of them: Stranahan's, out of Denver, Colorado, founded in 2004. Unlike most other American whisky distilleries, Stranahan's is focusing solely on single malts.
One of their less common bottlings is the single barrel product, presented at cask strength - according to the distillery's website, they've been released in quite limited numbers. Our bottle is from a cask that was picked by the local Total Wine branch, and was aged seven years and one month before being bottled at a cask strength of 57.77% ABV, or 115.54 proof.
Stranahan's Single Barrel Cask Strength
USA - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 52 (2023)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 54 (2023)
Age Statement: 7 Years
Strength: 57.77% ABV
Details: 2016 vintage, barrel 16-1960
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 6 months; bottles at 100%, 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Quite sweet - a range of desserts. Strawberries, cherries, cherry Coca-Cola, chalky chocolate, lots of chocolate and malt, and then some syrupy caramel. A decent amount of oak as well - both dry and sweet, and it gives lots of baking spices: cinnamon, clove, and dry vanilla, as well as some sawdust. Interestingly, later on, we got a bit of tart lemonade, but the star of this nose is really the grainy, malty chocolate.
Palate: A decent spirity kick - it's warm, and has a medium-thick mouthfeel. Again, there's a lot of sweet, malty chocolate notes, along with sweet oak and some underripe strawberries; then, more spice comes to the front, with black pepper, vanilla pods, and cinnamon. With more time to open, the sweetness really expands: warm caramel, brown sugar, oranges, decadent smooth chocolates, and cola. Quite complex and layered, and generally leaning sweet.
Finish: Medium-long finish, and it's all sweet now. Brown sugar, cinnamon, white chocolate and milk chocolate; there's orange fruit, malt, and caramel as well. The oak is still somewhat strong, and comes in the form of sawdust, and we end with a soft tannin and some sugar cookies.
Final Note: What did they age this in, ex-chocolate milkshake barrels? This must be the maltiest, most chocolatey whisky we can remember trying. It is good, but it also needs a lot of time to open up and reveal its complexities; our first rating didn't yield as high of a score, but this is getting better all the time.
The strong malty and chocolatey notes are a theme we're finding with American single malts aged in new charred oak barrels - could be a good bottle to look out for if you like sweet whiskies, although all single barrel products will have some natural flavor variation. Good value, too, with a price just over $50 for a 7+ year old cask strength whisky.
Our Average Rating: 7.1 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 7.53
