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In what is in my mind one of the great collaborations in the history of whiskey, Atlanta's ASW distillery has teamed up the legendary Big Green Egg to put out a series of individual barrels, riffs on ASW's Georgia Heartwood bourbon plus hand harvested staves toasted or charred on a BGE ceramic cooker. Master Distiller Justin Manglitz selected these staves from timber in Habersham County, GA before toasting (indirect heat) or charring (direct heat) on the egg using hickory charcoal. So far, they have done a number of single barrels and eggspanded to the current small batch product, each varying slightly in design, intent, and taste. This is bottle #743 from the "Short Toast Release" (barrel picks with ASW usually yield around 190 bottles). To my knowledge, there have been at least three single barrels and the same number of batched editions, so I imagine they'll keep the series going.
🛒Sourced: $79.99 Tower Beer, Wine & Spirits, GA 750ml - a third Atlanta icon
🧪Proof: 120.8 proof, 60.4% ABV - bottled at cask strength
🎨Color: R7 - a dark pecan brown, leggy
🥔Mash Bill: 51% Corn, 45% Wheat, 4% Malted barley. This uber high wheat recipe is "Foraged" from our favorite Indiana Overloads at Midwest Grain products. The distillate sits in char 3-4 American white oak barrels for around four years before being rebarreled into a second new white oak barrel for another two years. The last few months of maturation see the addition of the 15-30 hand-harvested white oak staves. They call this being "triple-oaked". Total age is between six and 7 years, no age statement. Non-chill filtered.
As the name implies, I believe the Green Egg staves in this batch were given a little bit shorter time on the grill. Typically a toast is a light level of thermal decomposition of the various wood polymers (e.g. cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) without reaching the point of charring or carbonization. A shorter toast should give us more green or vegetative notes but runs the risk of astringency. In barrel chemistry, heat acts as a filter, breaking down some chemicals like 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine (sap flavor) or ellagitannins (astringency). It may also not be quite as sweet since hemicellulose may not degrade into the same concentration of wood sugars, but this is also an already aged and finished bourbon so that may not be of consequence.
👃Nose: Deep vanilla and caramel, some proofiness but less than merited by the ABV, Green wood and field grass alongside some more fragrant wood, cedar to me. At the very end, I get hints of charcoal and sweet BBQ smoke. It's right in that transition zone where the scents pull you in but your nose flairs in protest.
😜Palate: Thick and funky. I'm used to the finished fiddler editions being surprisingly smooth for the proof, but this one shakes things up in an interesting way. It is very punchy on the tongue but more from a tannin bite than outright alcohol. There is a strong initial thrust of coconut (raw lactone) and vanilla, rowdy instead of the usual mellow toasted coco, before the whiskey sits prickling on the tongue with aspects of cut vines and molasses.
💦Finish: Long and full throated, less of a belly warmth. I get the campfire/charcoal note from the nose again in transition from the aft palate which fades into a dusty old wood flavor that I quite enjoy, definitely cedar chest adjacent.
🏆 Overall: 7/10 - Great, but know what you're getting into - The Big Green Egg Short Toast Release is a bit weird but in a way that keeps me coming back. I do think that the toast should have been longer and that the tannins are a bit over extracted, but this is balanced by a few interesting vegetal flavors and a unique mouthfeel. Realistically, it's a step down from the standard Heartwood release but MGP makes good juice and ASW knows how to manage barrels with the best of them, so there's only so far it can fall. I would start the night with this bottle as it is a strange one to transition to after something more traditional.
💵Would buy again? Yes, I'm very interested in what they're trying with these releases. Hopefully I can find some more of the precursors to compare as well. That being said, I'm not sure I would seek out a backup of this particular edition.
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously