Review #63 - Angel's Envy Bourbon

Port Cask Finish Mini-Series: Part 2 of 3

The second whisky in our port cask series is a bourbon - Angel's Envy, specifically. This bourbon is finished in port casks, so we'll be looking for some of those sweet dark fruit flavors along with the classic bourbon notes.

One of the things that Angel's Envy is known for is their cask finishes - their two most common products, this bourbon and their rye, both use finishing casks after their initial maturation. The rye, which is finished in Caribbean rum casks, has quite a strong sweet rum flavor, and we generally liked that about it, even if it could be a little overpowering compared to the base spirit itself. Let's find out if we like this bourbon's finish as well.

Angel's Envy Bourbon

USA - Bourbon

Current Locally Available Price: USD 40 (2023)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 43.3% ABV

Cask Makeup: Finished in port casks

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 15 months; bottles at 60% and 20% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: There's a bit of spice to start, like clove and brown sugar, with a bit of mild oak creeping in as well. It's decently rich and rounded, and now the sweeter notes come in: cherry, plenty of cherry, along with a bit of cola and some other reddish fruit. It can be a little mellow and reserved, but it ends with a backbone of more spice: nutmeg and black pepper.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel, maybe medium-thin; there is a more pronounced dryness and spice on the palate. There's black pepper and oak, which is balanced by sweetness of brown sugar and orange fruit. The red fruit is now more tart like a cranberry, and the whole experience ends feeling slightly watered down.

Finish: The finish is medium length, and the oak is still a little spicy, but not too astringent. The black pepper is transitioning more toward white pepper, and while the whole thing is a bit mild, there is a nice cranberry kick once more.

Final Note: This was alright - the classic bourbon profile definitely still comes through, it isn't entirely covered by the red fruit of the port finish. That said, this feels a bit watered down; yes, the proof stated on the bottle isn't exactly high, so we could have expected this to a degree, but we still would have liked a greater concentration of flavors. Still, this isn't a terribly expensive bottle, so the value is okay.

Our Average Rating: 5.8 / 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: 6.73