If you like Jack Daniels #7 somewhat, Maker's Mark or Woodford Reserve, this stuff is even better and richer in flavour.
Michter’s US *1 Whiskey is aged in refill bourbon barrels - unlike bourbon and rye, which is traditionally aged in new American oak (and a legal requirement for bourbon). Maturing in whiskey-soaked barrels has made this small batch whiskey one of the creamiest, mellow expressions from Michter’s; think vanilla ice cream with cherries and white chocolate.
Tasting Notes
Nose : Pronounced candied sweetness, like Fruit Salad sweets, along with subtle peachiness, barrel-char notes and a faint buttery note. There’s plenty of sweet cinnamon and nutmeg and also a hint of fresh menthol and candied orange peel.
Palate : Soft mouthfeel, with a good balance between sweet spice and gentle fruitiness. The spiciness takes charge, accompanied by notes of barrel char and a pleasant note of leather and tobacco, but there’s more than enough toffee and butterscotch notes to sweeten things up. Very easy drinking.
Finish : Well balanced, with the sweet spices gently fading.
About Michter's
Michter’s is proud to honor a historical legacy tracing back to the founding of America’s first whiskey company in 1753.
The US★1 expressions, so named to honor Michter’s heritage harkening back to America's first whiskey company, founded in 1753, consist of some of the finest single barrel and truly small batch whiskeys available.
Originally known as Shenk's and later as Bomberger's, the whiskey company which ultimately became known as Michter's was founded by John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer, in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania in 1753. In its earliest days, Shenk's produced whiskey from rye grain, a favourite local crop in the Pennsylvania Blue Mountain Valley where the distillery was located.
According to Pennsylvania historical lore, commemorated by the Lebanon Valley Coin Club in 1978, this particular rye whiskey was so valued that when the Revolutionary War broke out, General George Washington visited the distillery and purchased whiskey to fortify his men as they hunkered down in their camp through the long, brutal winter at Valley Forge. Over 200 years later the Michter's Pennsylvania management would say Michter's was "the whiskey that warmed the American Revolution."
In the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania Dutchman Abraham Bomberger purchased the distillery and it became known for many decades as Bomberger's.
The passage of Prohibition in 1919 forced the distillery, along with other American spirits producers, to shut its doors to the public. Although the distillery did reopen after the repeal of Prohibition, it changed hands many times over the next few decades and frequently occupied a precarious financial position. During the 1950s, Lou Forman, one of the distillery's then-owners, created the modern Michter's brand name by combining portions of his sons' names - Michael and Peter.
In 1989, with the entire American whiskey industry suffering a prolonged downturn, Michter's then-owners declared bankruptcy and abandoned the premises, leaving its Pennsylvania operations in disrepair and the Michter's name - seemingly - lost to history... were it not for a fortuitous connection to two whiskey lovers with an abiding admiration for the old Michter's legacy and quality.
Modern Day Michter's
In the 1990s, Joseph J. Magliocco and his consultant and mentor Richard "Dick" Newman teamed up to resurrect Michter's. Magliocco, who entered the wine and spirits industry after attending Yale College and graduating from Harvard Law School, was intimately familiar with Michter's through his college days of imbibing, bartending, and selling Michter's.
Newman meanwhile, had followed up his service in the US Marine Corps (for which he earned a Purple Heart) with an illustrious career in the whiskey business, eventually running Old Grand-Dad, Old Crow, and Old Taylor for National Distillers before becoming President and CEO of Austin Nichols, the distiller of Wild Turkey.
Magliocco and Newman began with a simple strategy - to honor the Michter's legacy by producing the best whiskey possible, cost be damned! After filing for the unused and abandoned Michter's trademark, they made their first major strategic decision: to resurrect Michter's in Kentucky, in the heart of the modern American whiskey industry, to ensure access to the best whiskey talent and resources available.
Today, Michter's has three locations in Kentucky - a 78,000 square foot distillery in the Shively section of Louisville, the architecturally significant Fort Nelson Building on Louisville's Museum Row and 205 acres of farm land in SSpringfield.
