Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Cask Strength

Misses the mark – A decent experience but not worth the cost of admission

DISTILLERY	Redwood Empire
REGION	Northern California (Graton, CA)
AGE	A blend of 4 to 12 year old Bourbon
STRENGTH	58.4% ABV (116.8 Proof)
MASHBILL	74% Corn, 20% Rye, 4.5% Malted Barley, 1.5% Wheat
MSRP	$70

---

GLANCE

Clear with medium intensity. Polished wood/oak hue

NOSE

Its evident that majority of the mashbill is corn. Clean with pronounced intensity. Sweet oak, rich vanilla, hazelnut and notes of caramel with brown sugar. The ethanol comes through interjecting at times with the other aromas as they show themselves. Some notes of dark cocoa & cinnamon.

PALATE

Creamy and silky texture with medium sweetness and medium intensity. It tastes on the younger side, as the nose suggested. Some nice flavors here initially. I got pancakes with fresh butter, hints of maple syrup, vanilla and brown sugar. As it coats your palate the flavors become sour almost? The brown sugar becomes almost burnt, raw oak and some earthy flavors enter (A couple times I got coffee grounds mixed in with pine). Towards the end of the palate, thankfully some sweeter flavors develop from the milk/dark chocolate with graham cracker.

FINISH

Short and simple overall. Sweet oak, chocolate and almost like toasted cinnamon + some odd medicinal notes.

CLOSING REMARKS

Hmm, this one is a bummer when we zoom out. After enjoying the Emerald Giant, I was excited to dive into the Pipe Dream CS. Now I am out of $70, but hey this is all part of the spirits journey we are all on! Age isn’t the “IT“ factor that makes a whiskey delicious but in this case it seems the youth has taken the winds out of the Pipe Dream’s sails. At all three levels of the tasting experience Pipe Dream CS fails to close on the deal (and on the finish drops the ball completely). At times, I enjoyed the nose, and the palate but the youthfulness of the whiskey really interjects what could have been great. At times the whiskey felt flat and it was difficult pulling out any credible notes. The medicinal and ethanol interjecting stopped from any of the delicious flavors from really developing fully. I haven’t tried the regular Pipe Dream and it will be interesting to taste it at a lower proof point. I don’t think there is anything amazing here. It was decent dram that left you wanting more. If you are a fan of Redwood Empire and their products you might not mind this bottle and maybe enjoy it. This won’t deter me from trying their other offerings. The distillery was started in 2015, which is not long ago at all. I feel their products are helping to bring new life and excitement to the Bourbon/American whiskey scene, and that’s something I will always be a supporter of. Cheers!