🥃Whiskey Frankenstein - The Dreaded Sticky Maple Knob

In the continuing war on the bottle of Knob Creek Smoked Maple that has been taking up space on my shelf since 2023, this 50/50 blend serves to kill the last bit of Dread River remaining after the creation of a rather excellent 75% Rebel Cask Strength Blend (the Cask ran out before the Dread). On their own, the Dread River suffers from extreme youth and lack of oak while it is charmingly sweet, and the Knob Creek is artificial candy sugar, a lot of maple and not much smoke. The hope is that the edges on the Dread River help balance out some of the sugar from the Knob Creek, though the result is still going to be very sweet. Not sure how optimistic I am going into this one.

Vámonos!

For the uninitiated, Whiskey Frankenstein is the practice of whiskey blending at home to create improved or interesting combos.

🧪Preparation

I mixed the two half and half until all the Dread was gone. No art or science this time. They mingled for five days and I shook the mix roughly before pouring. Sat out for a few minutes but didn't track the total. Rocks glass on deck tonight because I don't want as much of the nose.

👅The Tasting

Nose is very boozy even though these are both 90 proof but in a very much liqueur theme, almost like a buttery nipple. On the palate, I get the Dread River first with its sweet, wheated vodka-like profile which does meaningfully shift into the smoked maple for the back half and then the finish. The rough edges and extra heat from the Dread are definitely felt throughout. Finish is short and mostly the artificial maple flavor.

🏆Verdict

3 - Neutral - I wasn't much a fan of either of these to begin with. The blend is definitely not worse than either of the inputs. It is still overly sweet but the youthful astringency of the Dread River did succeed in distracting my tongue from the smothering saccharine of the Knob Smoked Maple.

Now that the hard work is over, time for a real quality PHD (pretty huge drink). Thanks for reading!

💀Scoring Reference

1 - Abysmal - Maybe I'm the monster? This is a war crime.

2 - Inferior - So preoccupied with the knowledge that we could, we didn't stop to think if we should.

3 - Neutral - A simple average of its parts. At least we did no real harm.

4 - Superior - "Jinkies Gang", we might be on to something here. Target whiskey is improved.

5 - Genius - Mad Science does have it's perks; this is a breakthrough. Better than all inputs.

🍺 Definitive Light Beer Tier List: Meta-Analysis & Ranking

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